IMPROVING AT GOLF

Evening Star, Issue 19410, 19 November 1926, Page 12

IMPROVING AT GOLF

APPROACH SHOTS [W ritten by Harry Vardon, for the ' ‘ Evening Star.’] The art of approaching the hole has been simplified in recent years by the introduction of the mashie-niblick. It is a club which we all find indispensable for the task of hitting a shot of moderate length up to the pin. Its particular use is on hard groundj for it is built to lift the ball so high into the air as to produce something in the nature of a vertical fall, thus militating against the run which otherwise would often take the ball over the green. In the old days, we had to produce the stopping effect with an. ordinary mashio by applying the maximum degree of back-spin or cut-spin to the shot. It was a far more difficult stroke than the mere lobbing of the ball up into the air with a mashie-niblick, and there- can be no doubt that the discounting of it has taken something out of the liigher science of the game — something which has resulted in players of limited gifts producing results as good as those of real artists in the striking of the ball. However, we have to take things as wo find them, and there can bo no question that the mashie-niblick has established itself as a prime favorite. So strong has become its appeal that many thousands of golfers are reluctant to use anything else for an approach shot. They select it when they are at longer range from the hole than the club itself is adapted to serve, with the consequence that they have to rely upon a full swing to . achieve the. purpose. This way frustration lies for ninety-nine players out of every 100. It is not a club for longe-range approaches. A few distinguished mortals have the ability to control it tolerably well in such circumstances I have read of Mr Cyril Tolley playing short holes of 160yds or 170yds with this club, and Edward Ray used to employ an ordinary niblick in the era before the present more facile club was evolved at amazing distances from the hole. This procedure, however, is not to bo recommended to the average golfer, whether he is an average long-handicap player or an average scratch man. The chances are that, swinging nearly to the full, he will hit the ball in any direction save the right one, usually though the sole of the club coming into contact with the turf at the wrong spot. THE MASHIE PROPER.

The mashie-niblick is a club for a swing of well-regulated length. So, for that matter, is the thoroughbred mashie, but it is in favor of the latter for approaches of lohger-range that by its nature it propels the ball farther than its all too frequent usurper is constructed to do.

Indeed, I would say that the first necessity, so far as concerns this department of the game, is to learn how to use the mashio, and to. work out sufqess with the mashie-niblick on. the basis of the knowledge thus acquired, taking the latter club only when the player is confident from his own experience that ha can pitch the ball up to the hole with it as the result of a. wellcontrolled half-swing or less. / Whichever club is in commission, it is important to remember That the shot is accomplished- rather differently from that with the mid-iron, cleek, or any of the wooden clubs. It is different, because it should .be dependent very largely on the action of the knees, with foot-movement reduced to a minimum.. First as to the stance.. For an ordinary pitch-and-run shot with the mashie, the hal l should be opposite the player’s left heel, with the toes of that foot turned well outwards. Those toes should be about 19in from the intended line of the shot.

Extending that line behind the ball, the toes of the right foot should be pointing straight to raids the lino, and about llin from it. The feet should also be a trifle closer together than for the mid-iron shot. Thus the general tendency of the stance is to turn the body more towards the line of play than for any of the preceding—and longer—strokes. It is an essentially open stance. And the tendency of closing in on the ball should he accentuated when the mashie-niblick is in use, assuming that the club possesses—as it usually does, and certainly ought to do —a rather shorter shaft than that of the legitimate mashie. A SHOT FROM THE KNEES. Now, as to the manner of executing the shot. In the address, the right knee should be appreciably bent and relaxed, and bearing virtually all the weight of the body. There should ho also a distinct element of slackness in the left knee. As the club is taken back, the right leg should stiffen, causing the loft knee to bend inwards slightly towards the right. In this way, the even pivoting of the body at, the hips, is promoted, for if the player keeps his head still—and the perfeT’y still head is even more important for this shot. tha..' for the longer ones—and works his knees in the way I havSI*described, 1 *described, the only thing that can happen is for the body to screw round at the hips. » When the right leg is straight, the up swing is finished. Tha player may have turned the left foot over slightly, so that its inner side is resting on. the ground, and raised his loft heel in a small degree, hut this should be about the extent of his foot action in taking the club back. If he allows the foot movement to become free h - is going to lose control over the shot. The down swing consists mainly of returning the knees to their- original position of the address, so that at the impact the right knee is again bent and' the left leg straightens, with the foot resting flat on the ground It 's best, I think, to aim at a spot half on inch behind the hall. And it is never too Into to remark upon the vital necessity of swinging through the ball just ns one would do with a straight-faced club.

It is an old story that.human nature *•'" -■v'i.-o-.'i’etihle disposition in countless' cases to make the player think

■ Jjft of the mashie or mnsliieniblick is intended for use as a kind, of scoop. Nevertheless. . the warning against falling into this error is- one that the. instructor has constantly to •proclaim.. Forget the loft of the club, and it will do its own work. ,