GOLF TOPICS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19918, 3 May 1930, Page 11

GOLF TOPICS.

NOTES ON THE STANCE.

(•JMCULI.T WltlTTlN *OB TUB PBXIB.) [By James D. A. Scott.]

In previous articles we have already dealt with the putter, which for more ; than one reason must be treated as a thing apart in golf and cannot be made to follow any very definite rules, and also the three approved methods of gripping the club. We have purposely discussed the putter early in order that the beginner, if he is following these weekly articles, may develop his putting from the outset, without in. any way interfering with the remainder of his game. Assuming that the question of grip has already been settled to the player s satisfaction, for the time being at any rate, he must now turn his .attention to his "stance," or his position in relation to the ball and the direction of its proposed flight. There are three distinct 4 'stances, known as the "open," "closed," and and as the player advances in skill he will come to recognise the important^ part the differences in these three methods of standing when addressing the ball can be made to play in the control ot tho trajectory and direction of the flight of-the ball. But for the purposes of the present discussion we can confine ourselves to the more simple aspects of the differing cases. The "square 5 which has been very popular recently in Ame rica, is effected bv placing the feet in such a manner that the toes of both feet are on a line parallel to one passing through the ball and the objective. The shoulders will necessarily be also parallel to the same line, with tho point of the left shoulder pointing direct to the hole. The "open" stance differs from . the "square" in that the right foot is advanced towards the ball, when a line drawn through the toes of both feet will form an angle with the ball-ob-jective line, varying," of course, as the stance is widely or moderately open. The shoulders will be found to have taken a corresponding turn towards the hole, with the right foot forming almost a right angle with the ballobjective line, whilst the left foot will be well towards the hole. The "closed" stance is, of course, the direct opposite of the open, and in this case the left toes are in advance of toes of tho right foot and the shoulders are forced slightly away from the line of flight and will be found actually to fane slightly behind the ball. The left shoulder then will point to a direction slightly to the right of the hole. For the purposes of a bfeginner the fclosed stance may for the time being be ignored; it is being employed by experienced players to produce draw or even a decided hook, or to overcome certain difficulties that may arise from the formation of the ground the player may be compelled to use in addressing the ball. .

The majority of teachers favour a slightly ogen stance, and a number are in favour of one that is decidedly open, giving as their chief point in its favour the very marked superiority it possesses over other stances in facilitating* the producton of the most necessary followthrough. With regard to the distance tho player should stand from the ball, this must necessarily. be a matter of individual judgment, but a rough guide, which is more or less accurate in ninety-nine cases in a hundred, can be taken by standing erect, placing the centre of the club head against the ball, and adjusting the position until the end of the shaft rests slightly against the left kneecap. Slight adjustments may be found necessary to conform to the difference in ratio of the length of the arm to the height of the player, but these should only be trifling. One point about which beginners have considerable difficulty in arriving at a satisfactory conclusion is the distance that should be allowed to separate one foot from the other. A scrutiny of the stances of fifty members of his club will, probably, leave him still more perplexed, as it is highly probable that he will find examples of stances ranging from an exaggerated straddle to one in which the heels are nearly touching. The height of tho individual must determine the eventual straddle of the feet, but it may be taken as safe to experiment with not more than 14 inches between the heels for a tall player or less than eight for a short man. These measurements can only be accurately determined by actual experiment, but the one essential in every case must be the maximum of comfort of the player, affording perfect ease and freedom of movement of knees and hips, and- ability to transfer the weight from one foot to the other with the minimum of body movement. When employing the " open'' stance the ball should, in making a full shot, be placed opposite the left heel, so that the angle formed by the two lines left heel-ball and ball-objective shall be a right angle. It will readily be seeii that, with the ball in this position, the club head must bo on the point of commencing its upward arc of .the curve it is describing during the swing, having reached the bottom of the curve at the point midway between the feet. It will therefore, with the assistance of such loft as it may possess, tend to facilitate the hitting of the ball upwards, which is especially valuable to give confidence to a beginner. In the case of a tee-shot, the ball, being already raised from the makes ample allowance for the clubhead meeting it when slightly on the upward arc. When the spoon and midiron are being used it is permissible, and even Wise, to bring the ball back slightly towards the centre of the feet, and to continue to do so as the loft on the clubs increases until the full niblick will be played, from but a little in Advance of the right toe. The open stance, therefore, may be regarded as the "safety" method, as tending to lift the ball more readily and to produce a follow through. It is the method resorted to by most good golfers when it is desired to produce the maximum of "carry." The square stance has as its supporters most of the leading American golfers to-day. The contention is that greater length can be obtained by its j use, as it produces a lower trajectorythan does the open stance, and, conse- | quently, more run. Its main danger to the less gifted golfers lies in its tendency to the cultivation of hook. There is, also, frequently to be noticed an unconscious antipathy to a good healthy follow through. This has always seemed to me to be caused by the fact that the right foot is further distant from the ball than is the case with the opeu stance, in consequence of which the right shoulder has furthe* to able it to reach and pass through the ball, and the follow through thus becomes a greater effort and; requires more concentration to produce. As the shots to be played become shorter, users of the 4 'open" stance will do well to-face the direction of the hole still further, until, in playing the short approaches • a h a if turn to the left may safely be indulged in. In dealing with these shorter strokes it will be found by most players, by actual experiment, that ■ the shorter the shot to be played, the closer together the heels may be brought together, and the nearer to the ball the player will have to stand. Having then determined the method of grip and experimented with the stance until he is standing in ft position of ab-

solute comfort, the player must take ereat care to ensure that his muscles are relaxed and that there is bo tenseness or rigidity of any jomts. The knees should have sufficient them for their owner to realise that they are knees and really do have joints, and the weight of the body should be evenly distributed on both less with perhaps the merest suspicion of a balance in favour of the nghtteg. This applies to either stance, and there is far greater importance to be attached to the preliminaries to a stroke than <!would be credited by a beginner; but I i would stress the point that a. lar £ e percentage of faulty strokes are directly attributable to neglect of the rather Elementary details of stance and balance ibefore the stroke is even commencedErrors galore can be made in the actual execution of a stroke, but there •is no reason why a matter of comparative simplicity, such as the stance, should not be perfected and every chance given to the stroke without the handicap of an awkward or obviously incorrect address to the ball.