GOLF.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17645, 23 December 1922, Page 11

GOLF.

SLIPPERY GRIPS. MAKING THE HOLD SECURE. (specially written for "the press."!

(By Harry Vardon.)

One of the essentials in connexion with the successful playing of golf is to have the grips of one's club 6 in a condition that will promote a secure — and yet not rigid—hold. Attention has been dii'ected to the subject by a situation wliich presented itself in tile final of tiie recent i.'iM professional tournament, Eany in .the niateii, Leacli iouud his clubs slipping m iik, lianas owing to tne iact umo they had been soaiied by rain on tlie pieeeding day ana not properly dxiei. xo counteract tins eiuoarraasment he applied piicii to the handles, but put it on so uoeraiiy that the remedy proved to be worse than tne original trouble.' His clubs stuck to his hands so tenaciously that his fingers became stiff and harassed; no doubt that was the explanation of a> number of erratic shots wiiich he made, as a rule, Leach is a master of the art of hitting tiie ball in a straight line. This question of grips is well worthy of consideration. Very many golfers handicap themselves because, althougn they may not be wholly conscious of it, their clubs do ■undoubtedly slip a little in their hands —sufficiently to spoil plenty of shots. Frequently one sees a player the grips of whose clubs are hard and almost as though they had been polished. That is a sure sign of danger to him. As a rule this golfer's clubs have been fitted with prepared grips—the kind l which are soaked in a preparation before being affixed. They are splendid when new, but with, use the preparation wears off, and thiy become hard and slippery. It happens as a rule that they look rather aice in that condition, and so their owaer refuses to have them, changed. He decides that the application of pitch will secure all the tackiness that he desiros. But it is a fact that a grip frou> which the preparation has been wo-n away, and which has become slippery, does not respond to treatment with pitch. It remains slippery, and on a rainy day or when the hands perspire, the lot of the golfer who has clubj of this sort is usu&lly an unhappy one He has to hold very tightly in order to prevent the club from turning in his hands, and nothing is more calculated to cramp a player's game and ihortjn his driving, than a vioe-like grasp of tha club. The hold ought be firm lauier than fierce, and exercised inostly with the forefingers and thumbs. Prepared grips are good for golfers with tender hands, but it is worth while watching for the development of slipperiness, and having new ones fitted at the first clear signs of it. An outlay of Is 6d or of 2s on a new grip may mean the winning of many a match which would otherwise be lost. Basils Best. Some people use rough indiarubber grips. Personally I have never had either a blister or a corn on the hands through playing golf, but so far as I can make out, those individuals who haVo a fancy for the rough indiarubber grips nearly always develop blisters.

There' is a natural fidgeting of the hands as one applies thenj to tne roug h surface, and there is consequently friction. Another common effect of this grip judging by .observation is to make the player hold the club first looselv and then tightly. He is riot on so 'sure a surface as with other gripe, and consequently varies his hold. . 1 When all is said and done, the best grip is, I think-, the ordinary basil. _ A rough basil has a comfortable security about it which is lacking from rough indiarubber, and it does not cause blisters. At least mine, which is fitted to my driver, has'never given me the slightest trouble. .In America, where the heat is apt te make the* hands—at any rate of a stranger—perspire freely, Edward Ray and I overcame the resultant slippenness during our last visit by inserting a pen-knife under the sections of wound leather and lifting up each section so as to obtain a rough surface., People used to say to us:—"You want your grips done," and no doubt they did Ictok exceedingly ragged, but they were good to hold- and Ve left them as we had made them until we reached England again. All my grips are basils, and I could ask for none better. How to Apply Wax. When the handles tend to become smooth, it is good to apply some pitch or wax—but in the right wgy. Take the head of the club under the left arm, and rub the wax upwards in a light manner along the sections of leather, turning the club under your arm as vou do it so as to follow each section. You do not need to go ov"er the surface more than twice—upwards each time and lightly. If, when playing, you find a club slipping in "our hands, and you have no preparation with which to treat it, rub it in the dry grass or take a little sand in your hand and pass the grip through it several times. Another expedient I have tried with success is to rub the leather up and down on every side with the milled edge of a halfcrown. This is a very efficacious temporary remedy.

Plain, smooth rubber grips are nearly sure to slip in rain. .It is on record that the Hon. Osmund Scott had them fitted to his clubs in the amateur championship of 1904 at Prestwick. He played splendidly until he reached the final. Then down came the rain, and his clubs began, I understand, to turn in his hands. Naturallv, the wise golfer affords his all the protection he can by having a hood , over the top of his bag, but he cannot help •them getting wet in some degree in a downpour.

Cork grips have been tried. They are supposed to absorb the moisture of perspiration, but experience shows that they soon become verv hard. Moulded grips that fit the finders are snares and delusions. At first blush the idea seems good—the handle shaped in such a way as to guide youy fingers to the right disposition snd keep them in nlace.

Their drawback is that they'are too comfortable. They are so comfortable that, without knowing it, one is lured into holding too tightly. In that way the_ muscles of the arms develop rigidly' which is precisely the state that m not wanted for a successful golf shot.