Putting tempo 2:1 means your backstroke takes twice as long as your through-stroke. For a 600 ms backstroke, as in Striped’s Putting pace, set your putting metronome BPM to 100, with one beat at takeaway and one at the top. The putter then swings through in half a beat, 300 ms, and that steady rhythm can help your distance control.
What 2:1 putting tempo means
Putting tempo is a ratio of two times. The backstroke runs from takeaway to the top, and the through-stroke runs from the top to impact. At 2:1, the backstroke takes twice as long.
Grober’s arXiv preprint on resonance in putting describes a 2:1 stroke whose time does not depend on the length of the putt.
The PGA of America’s putting rhythm lesson makes the same point. Rhythm, it says, “should be the same whether you have a 3 foot putt or a 30 foot putt.” Only the size of the stroke changes.
Treat 2:1 as a description of good putters. No study shows that it causes better putts, so aim for a ratio near it that you can repeat. Striped’s full-swing paces run at 3:1, and the golf tempo guide covers those.
Why a steady putting stroke tempo can help
When the time stays fixed, a longer putt needs only a longer stroke. That can help you judge distance, because you change one thing instead of two. A good putting stroke keeps the same beat on every length.
Sound can help you hold that beat. A 2021 study of sound-guided putting in novices found that auditory guidance reduced how far strokes strayed from each golfer’s own average stroke. One sound condition also reduced variability in stroke timing.
What putting metronome BPM to use
A plain metronome plays even clicks, but a 2:1 stroke is uneven. Three even clicks for takeaway, top and impact give you 1:1, not 2:1. There are two simple ways to set it up.
- Two beats at 100 BPM. Click at takeaway and again at the top, 600 ms apart. Let the putter swing through on its own, in about half a beat.
- Even clicks at 200 BPM. A click every 300 ms. Start back on one click, reach the top two clicks later, and strike the ball on the next.
A GOLF.com lesson on metronome tempo gives another count. In it, instructor Nathalie Filler suggests practicing chips, pitches and putts to a metronome “around 70 beats per minute.”
The BPM sets the speed; the 2:1 split is the part to keep. If a count feels quick, slow it down and let the through-stroke still take half a beat.
Striped’s metronome does the math for you. It plays three tones, for takeaway, top and impact, already spaced 2:1. The free web metronome plays the same Putting pace in your browser.
Striped’s 2:1 paces
| Pace | Back | Forward | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Putting | 600 ms | 300 ms | 2:1 |
| Short Game | 533 ms | 267 ms | 2:1 |
| Tour | 800 ms | 267 ms | 3:1 |
Both short paces keep 2:1, and Putting is the slower of the two. Chips and pitches use Short Game. Tour, a full-swing pace, shows the longer 3:1 split for comparison.
How to check your stroke in Striped
Striped works with your iPhone in your front pocket, AirPods in your ears and Apple Watch on your lead wrist. Striped times your hands, and your Apple Watch times every stroke, putts included. Setup help is on the support page.
Put your iPhone in your front pocket, your AirPods in, and Apple Watch on your lead wrist. Profile Devices shows whether your Apple Watch is ready.
On Practice, pick Putting and a metronome pace if you want one. The Putting mode’s metronome plays 2:1.
Start the session, lock the screen and putt. Stop from iPhone or Apple Watch when the block ends.
Open the report. Tempo, Back and Down show the average; step to a putt to see its own. On a putt, Down is Through.
Check Hands, your hands’ top speed, and Wrist turn, how far your wrist rotates through the stroke. The drawing shows your hands from above, from address to the finish.
Look for a Tempo that stays close from putt to putt, on short putts and long ones.
Three putting metronome drills
- One length, then many. Putt to one target on the Putting pace until your stroke lands on the tones. Then change the length every few putts and keep the same tones.
- Tones on, tones off. Putt one block with the metronome and one without. If Tempo holds in the second report, the rhythm is your own.
- Tick, tock. Swap the tones for the quiet “tick, tock” count the PGA lesson suggests. A count in your head keeps the rhythm without any sound.
To build putting into a short routine, see how to practice golf at home.
Sources
- Resonance in Putting (Grober, arXiv preprint 0903.1762)
- Be a better putter through better rhythm (PGA of America, 2019)
- Sonification of Golf Putting Gesture Reduces Swing Movement Variability in Novices (O'Brien et al., Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 2021)
- Back to Basics: How using a metronome can improve your tempo (GOLF.com, 2020)
- Rule 4: The Player's Equipment, Rules of Golf (R&A)
- Striped: The paces the Striped metronome plays (backswing and downswing, in milliseconds).
- Striped: Striped times tempo at the hands. The top is where the hands reverse, read by Apple Watch on the lead wrist.
Cite or embed
Cite this guide: Nick. “How to set your putting metronome BPM for a 2:1 tempo.” Striped, 31 Oct 2026. https://stripedgolfapp.com/guides/putting-metronome-bpm/
Embed a diagram
The diagrams are free to use with credit. Copy the code for one:
When the three tones of Striped's Putting pace sound
<a href="https://stripedgolfapp.com/guides/putting-metronome-bpm/#figure-putting-pace"><img src="https://stripedgolfapp.com/guides/putting-metronome-bpm/putting-pace.svg" width="420" height="148" alt="A time axis with marks for takeaway, top and impact. The span from takeaway to the top is twice as long as the span from the top to impact."></a><br>Diagram: <a href="https://stripedgolfapp.com/guides/putting-metronome-bpm/">How to set your putting metronome BPM for a 2:1 tempo</a>, Striped