IMPROVING AT GOLF

Evening Star, Issue 19388, 23 October 1926, Page 19

IMPROVING AT GOLF

STANCE AND CRIP [Written by Harry Vabdon, for tho 4 Evening Star.’] Since the victorious visit of the United States amateurs to Britain this season tho attention of golfers has been directed very considerably to the question of the stance. It has been -proclaimed by several usually good judges of the game (and the theory has spread to the magnitude of an established truth) that the Americans have a manner of standing to the ball which is markedly different from that adopt . by British players. It is said that our rivals and—for the time being—conquerors have their foot closer together, and also stand nearer to the ball than we do. This impression has become so widespread _ that tens of thousands of golfers in all parts of the country have been putting the idea into practice. So far as I have been able to observe it is only Mr Bobby Jones who lias tho trait mentioned in a degree that distinguishes him from the leading British players. The other Americans stand pretty much’ as our golfers do, with tho feet ordinarily wide apart and just about as far from the ball as we have become accustomed to seeing. Presumably it is because Mr Jones is the bright particular star of his country so far as concerns golf that his methods have been accepted as the model of American methods in general. But they are not. They' are as different from the principles favored by his compatriots as they aro different from ours. . It would be very nice if we could all copy Mr Jones faithfully, and produce his effects, but I fear that it is little use attempting the task. His swing is the acme of grace. He makes the game look supremely simple. But the secret of it certainly is not coiv tained in the closeness of his_ stance. He achieves it in spite of this peculiarity rather than because of it, and for the average mortal to attempt the imitation of it is likely to be not only futile but fatal to his chances of success. And yet vast numbers of players have been trying to emulate the champion in this respect. FOOT ACTION. Mr Jones must ho built differently from the great majority of people, or ho would never he able to stand with his feet so close together for full drives, and long iron shots, and yet swing tho club so beautifully with a maintenance of perfect body-balance. He must have a wonderful pair of hips that give his body all the play it needs in turning on its own axis, for it looks obvious that the feet cannot assist in the promotion of this freedom of action, as it does with most of us. To be sure, we do not allow our feet to turn out of position, but the process of screwing the body round at the hips and then back again for the upward and downward movements of the club extends to the very ball of the foot. . Air Jones has his feet so close torretlior that it appears impossible for him to give them the necessary play, although it may bo that his physical constitution enables him to do what would bo impossible to other people. During the address hiS stance makes iiim look cramped. It is the only stage of his golf at which an element of constraint asserts itself. It dissolves' into easy grace directly he begins the swing, but it could not do that unless he had uncommon gifts of physique. Almost everybody else with his feet so close together would be tied into a knot and thrown off his balance before he had taken the club halfway up. , I hope at some future time to sot down approximate measurements of the distance that the feet should ho apart for various kinds of shots in tho case of an ordinarily-built person. At the moment it is sufficient to emphasise the unwisdom, unless the player is one of very unusual physical attributes, of trying to imitate Mr Jones by standing as he docs. It is just as unsuitable for the average golfer as standing very straddle-legged. There is less harm in copying Mr Jones’s tendency to be near to tho ball—nearer than the normal—for he is at least well over his work, which is better for anybody than reaching out in a strained way to address or hit tho ball. It may be remarked, however, that Mr Jones evidently adopts this position near to the ball because Nature prompts him to stand in a more erect way during tlxe swing than most people do. Thus disposed, he had to be close to the ball. _ THE FINGER GRIP. Conjointly with the question of the stance we may consider that of the grip, for if we can stand correctly and grip the club properly we aro at least favorably started on the way to efficiency. It is surely a striking circumstance that nearly all tho great golfers of the present day favor the overlapping linger grip. Abe Mitchell does not adopt that system, but his manner of arranging his hands his grip a finger grip, the distinction being that ho does not overlap. The main essential is, I think, to hold the club in the fingers rather than deeply in the palms of the hands, and it is only by overlapping that most people can be induced to do this. It they decline to overlap the club slides into the depths of the palms, and perfect control of it is blunted. _ Everybody who has studied golf knows “the overlapping principle—the right thumb resting on the left thumb and the little finger of the right hand riding on tho forefinger of the left. It is important to remember, however, that the backs of the hands must tend to be over rather than under the shaft; it is this that promotes the finger errip. I strongly recommend everybody who wants to improve to give it a protracte 1 trial. It is well worth making this grip the subject of a lesson from the professional.