ON PLAYING GOLF

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 115, 17 May 1930, Page 7

ON PLAYING GOLF

HOW TO DRIVE

STROKE THAT APPEALS

WOMEN'S WEAKNESS

By James D.'A. Scott.

Driving has been aptly described as being the "champagne of golf," and I am very sure "that, if golf were played entirely with iron clubs, it would lose much of its fascination for the vast majority of players, and it is even probable that tho game would never have arrived at the high point of popularity that it enjoys to-day. The great majority of reminiscences that are overheard in clubrooms have for their . theme prodigious feats with wooden clubs, and there is no doubt that, from this department of the game, most players derive by far the greatest pleasure; and I think that nearly every golfer really does feel more satisfied with a drive right off tho "meat" than with a hundred-yard approach laid dbad. Theoretically, driving should be the easiest of all departments of the game at which to become proficient. There is less to distract the attention from the actual details of hitting the ball than is often the case with other strokes. You may tee the ball and select any stance you may consider perfect, and in every way everything is in you!1 favour." ■ ' If onco' tho player has taken up his stance on the toe, but' finds that he is not as comfortable as could wish, ho should have no hesitation about selecting a new position, and toeing up afresh. The point may seem trivial, but frequently leads to bad results if neglected. The stance for the drive should be slightly open, that is to say that the right foot should be in advance of the left, by a matter of some four to six inches.' The open stance tends to facilitate the follow-through, which is of even greater importance with wooden clubs than with ,the irons. The right foot should be at, right, angles to the line of flight, and a line drawn at right angles to the line of flight from the ball should pass' just behind left heel. The position of the hands shouldbe low, with the left arm straight and the left shoulder raised slightly higher than the right. The swing with the driver is going to bo fuller and more complete than in tho case of the iron, and there will be a natural tendency to overawing which will require very careful watching. THE PRELIMINARY WAGGLE. The chief characteristic that must bo built into the swing is smoothness, and it is found that a certain amount of preliminary "waggling" materially assists tho rhythm of the swing, besides automatically adjusting the position of the feet and the accuracy of the distance from the ball. The "waggling" should be conducted with considerable freedom of the wrists, but should not be indulged in more than three or .four times at most. George Duncan, of the lightning execution, once told jne that before actually commencing his Swing he pressed slightly on tho ground behind the ball with the club head, a movement that seemed to ' him to start the .whole movement smoothlyand took the place of the forward press of the hands, so dear to many players. The back swing must on no account be a hurried affair, but a controlled rhythmatio movement that must, however, not be so slow as to suggest a lift, but just sufficiently fast to ensure that the club is definitely being swung. The majority of the weight commences on the right foot, the ball of which supports it, and as the right hip starts its initial. turning movement of the pivot the hips carry over still more weight., until almost all is supported by tho right. The, greatest care must be taken that any shifting of weight is unaccompanied by a body sway "which will alter the whole poise of the body and-destroy the rhythmof the movement. As the pivot is taking place; the right leg and side should be braced up until finally the right_ hip locks and prevents any further pivoting, thus regulating the back-swing. . Immediately the hip movement has commenced the left hand starts the club head on its backward journey, and it should be kept on the line of flight (produced backwards) 'as far as possible and close to the ground for about two GThe left heel is slightly raised so that a pivot of the left foot may ,be made on the ball of the foot with the left knee turning in towards the nght,_ in order to accommodate the pivoting movement of the hips. TOP OF THE STROKE. The left arm, which was straight at. the commencement of the stroke, continues backwards close in. to the body and is kept straight until a slight bending is necessary to. conform to the distinct bend of the right elbow and the wrist action which will bend under the shaft and bring the club head over teo that the nose is pointing straight to the grpund. During all this movement the weignt should be maintained. on the forepart of the right foot, and if it is found that much weight, is on the heel the player can be fairly sure that, in transferring his weight by hips, he has, at the same time, swayed backwards. The club' should not be permitted to go back past the horizontal position. Useless energy is wasted both getting it there and in bringing it back, and the usual result is that the stroke is commenced too early, resulting in a complete mistiming of the application of the maximum of power. The down swing is in no way so complicated as the back swing, and does not require the same amount of thought expended upon it. And, indeed, this is just as well, since there is not the time to spend. The good stroke is made rather in the baekswing than in the actual hit, since the. latter depends on the gaining of the easiest position to apply the power from and the gathering of the power in a position from which it may most advantageously be dispensed. And this is accomplished in Jhe back swing. If a smooth back swing is brought to a stop -without jerk or effort the return on the same arc will follow almost unconsciously, and the only things that, the player need really concern himself with are, where he shall start to apply the speeding-up, process, and the production of a follow through; It must not, however, be assumed that a' good shot is the result of a follow through; rather put it that a follow through is the result of a good shot. IMPORTANCE OT "FOLLOW THROUGH." But let us examine this statement, and follow the sequence of events whifh lead up to the "follow through" and observe the .importance of its accomplishment. Place a ball lightly on the face of your driver and notice the infinitesimal part of it that is actually resting on the club. You will no doubt have, noticed, frequently that there is the impression of the surface of a Ball, either in paint or young grass, on the face of the club, and it is perhaps almost as large as a shilling. JThe obvious inference is thM, -cm con*.

tact with the club, the ball expands and is pressed out on the face of the club. The club-head, therefore, ■ must have been in contact with the ball during this period of expansion and, although the time during which this actual contact is taking place is only the minutest fraction of a split second it is sufficient to have a Very great influence on the iliglit of the ball. It can be easily appreciated, therefore, that, if the club head is actually increasing in speed at contact, ana can even accelerate after contact, since it is carrying the- ball on its surface whilst so speeding, certainly during the period of flattening out and probably whilst in its normal shape, it must produce considerably more power than if its maximum speed was reached before contact, or even actually at contact. It can be argued that nothing can affect the ball after it has left the club; this is perfectly true; I do not maintain that a follow-through makes a good stroke. - , There are numerous players who nave apparently a very beautiful followthrough, but yet seem to obtain poor distance. This is usually because they have hit the ball with a club-head diminishing in speed. The ball leaves the club without any additional shove, and the player's naturally good style has produced an effective looking followthrough, almost as an after _ thought. But a- shot that has attained its maximum speed at or after contact, and is trying to get ahead of the ball, must inevitably result in a follow-through' which is really effective. SPEEDING UP. The point to decide, then, is where shall one start this speeding up process?. Obviously it must not bo commenced at the top of the swing, since this would only be possible by employing a jerk "down. The club must be set in 'motion gradually, and when the hands have reached somewhere about the level of the knees and weight transference is about to take place the wrists must bo brought into action to accelerate the club head. Just before contact the right hand will assume the role of hitter-in-chief and tho left will function by guiding tho club lwad along the line of flight and throwing the club well out after the ball. As the right hip descends and pivots it will transfer the weight of the, body from right to left foot to conform with the movement of the club-head in order to produce a synchronisation of tho head and weight passing through the ball. The left heel will have been brought down firmly, and the left leg and side braced to receive the shock of the weight and impetus of the stroke, and the shoulders will be facing square on to the line of flight at the completion of the stroke. From the very start of the stroke until well after the ball has actually left the club the player's head must not move even a fraction of an inch. At tho completion of the back swing the left shoulder will drop under the-play-er's chin and at the completion of the stroke the right sliouldef will have taken its follo.w's place. DIRECTION VERSUS DISTANCE. Although distance is very much to be desired, and, in modern golf, is essential in the, make-up of a first-class golfer, it must on no -account be sacrificed to direction, which may often be obtained by a shortening of tho swing with a scarcely noticeable diminution of distance. Distance can be obtained either by ( extreme carry or by a ball with a low trajectory and considerable run. The means of obtaining tho different effects' and the practical value of being able to control the trajectory of the ball will be dealt with fully later. ' . The height of the tee is largely a matter of choice but, personally, I have- little- use for the high tee, chiefly because it renders wood shots through tho green so vastly dissimilar to the drive, and consequently tends to multiply, rather than minimise, the countless difficulties of the game. A beginner may observe during some open meeting where a number of first-class players are engaged that no two of those experts seem to swing in 1 the sanies manner, but if a slow motion picture' of each player were to be made I fancy it would be found that the completion of the swings from half-way down, at least in essentials differed in no respect. ' . *•• i / The greatest of all long drivers, Ted Eay, open champion in 1912, has a peculiarity that is foreign to all other great players. He deliberately sways his body backwards and forwards, but he does not recommend, it as a practice for others. Nevertheless he maintains that it givos him additional length, and since his sense of'timing is so perfect it makes little or" no difference to his accuracy. This is all' the more surprising in his case, since he is'6ft lin tall and weighs close on 17 stone. Photographs of Abe Mitchell'usually depict him finishing a drive ate if he had just played a three-quarter iron shot, with his arms out rather straight in front of him. But Mitchell has followed through as completely a.s, any man living and deliberately checks his follow-through, but only after it has done its devastating work. Ladies, are, for some reason, more prone than are men to overswing with their wooden clubs, with disastrous results. I am inclined to think that much of it is due to the fact that a large percentage of ladies use clubs very much too heavy for them and, when turning their wrists at the top of the swing, lose control and allow the head to carry on further than intended. The, three main features in driving, as I see ify are an absolutely immovable head, a slow steady back swing, and a determined follow-through.