GOLF

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 12075, 14 October 1933, Page 11

GOLF

A CimiSTOH'UECH GOLF - • STORY.

A piquant story, declared to he authentic, is going the rounds of golf club’s in Christchurch. It concerns a golfer who is also a cricketer, although in the summer sport lie is not a very prominent player. He is rather a stickler for rules, and sometimes is a little peremptory in his manrier. This player, whom wo shall call A, was in a foursome. A dispute occurred over the scoring at one, hole. At the next hole B teed his ball. Exclaiming “My honour.” A kicked the ball away. That hole was halved. At the next, B teed his ball again,and again A, ejaculating “My honour,” kicked it away. Then B opened the floodgates of his wrath, and! for some minutes told A, in very lurid language, what ho thought ctf h iin. At the end of the round G told bo that lie should not have sworn at A as ho had done. When B wanted to know why, O explained that the member of the foursome was a parson. Tlien ’B felt contrite, and, going up to T>, isaid, “I owe you an apology, sir. Will you accept it?” The parson asking what the apology was for, B explained that it was for hi 3 swearing at A. “We 11,,” replied the parson, “I do not think an apolo gy i,s necessary. He deserved all you you said! to him.”

NATURAL STYLE BEST

STRAIGHT LEFT ARM CONDEMNED.

One. of I,lie profound secrets of life is to be natural ; to ape other people is to make oneself appear ridiculous. It is the same in golf; but, in addition to looking .foolish-, we also destroy whatever shred of a game vrc possess (writes the golf correspondent of the London “Observer,” in reviewing John Duncan Dunn’s book, “Natural Golf”). Dunn, who is a descendant of tbo famous golfing family of Musselburgh Dunns, lias been resident in the United States for*” 37 years, and during that time lias witnessed every phase in the development of the present-day American pre-eminence in golf. He has spent a lifetime playing, studyingand teaching golf. In the foreword w P are informed that Dunn has to his credit the denunciation of miftm false doctrine, including that, greatest of all nonsense, the so-called “lateral hip shift” in the hack swing—--i non-existent Ihing. advocated by IboSo who should know better. Dunn himself “finds it very romforTing to consider that, since sneli Wonder n-olfors ns Walter ITageii. Macdnnnlfi Rmilh. p.0.l TTorton Smith all swnv move Ilian T do. ADo T am got lo worry about that. Also lam pleased to observe that Hagen's left arm is more, bent "than mine at the top of the back swing ; so there goes another worry. . W. Mncfarlnne’s shooting a 77 with his right band envy, and also driving 2■'">"> yards with bis right, makes it unnecessary for me to concentrate on trying t n make my left arm do more than it is capable oi by nature. Observation of most of the great, golfers show’s mo that their hip pivoting is rotary; so that loaves practically but two things—to keep the same bend of the body until after the ball is bit, and not to press.”

THE BENP OF THE BODY

This is simplicity itself. Dunn has a good deal to say on the bend of the body, which, apparently, is one of his fundamentals. “The most important thing in golf." lie says. “is to endeavour to keep one.' hend to thp body until at least (he end of the follow-through. For most people it is best to go clean through to the finish, of the swing in a somewhat bent position like R. T. Jones And be sure you use your muscles on on p plane only. All beginners allow the lifting muscles to got in their bad work before the impact, and topping is one unfortunate result. “But oven if successful in connecting with the ball, hitting in the act of rising is the commonest form of slicing, because it draws the head of the club across the ball; in ant’ case, the drive, if not sliced, will be all carry and practically no run. For instance, if yon want to throw a ball in the air you do it in the act of rising. On the other hand, to throw it a long wn.v along the ground von Mlow-throngh bent, as in th<j case of a good golf shot.”

Dunn’s foundation shot is a halfshot with an. iron, which is practised before any attempt is made to use a wooden club. Tbo follow-through is completed in the bent Position with tlie club pointing straight at the objective, a position bold for as long as will take tlie ball to reach its appointed goa'l. In order to cure the disease of topping, Dunn advises sinking down even lower "'itji both club and body after the shot ilia.s been made. ,

-.This will help to drill tho player into the correct action. Jn the foundation shot, when shooting at a, target at a range of 10 yards, count the number of consecutive shots you can put on the bull’s-eye, which should be about three feet in diameter. There should be no hurry, says Dunn, to indulge in a. longer swing until the player is capable of placing 50 shots on tho bull’s-eye. It is not surprising that Dunn should advocate the natural grip with both thumbs round the shaft, as against the overlapping. Tho golfer will - be told, of course, that most, of the leading players use the latter, but it is an astonishing .fact how many championships have been won bv players -using the natural grip. For example, there are John Ball, with nine national championships to bis credit; Harold Hilton with seven; Jerome Travers with five; Walter Travis with four; Ale-x Smith with three, and Chandler Egan with two. Hero is a Tittle group of six men, who, between them, have accounted for 30 championships in Great Britain and America.

A REMARKABLE RECORD

It is a remarkable record when considered in the light of the long parade of starp. who have used the Yard on 'form of grip. But Vardon has big, powerful hands; indeed, someone once remarked that Vardon, walking down the fairway, appeared to be carrying a 'bunch of bananas under each arm. James and Hagen have big bands, while Armour has long, steel-1 ik© fingers which arc entwined round tbo shaft in a grip like that of an octopus. The modern fetish of the straight left arm is condemned- Hagen.' w o are told, gets along pretty well without a straight left, while the left of Jones is not so straight as t-liat <‘ T Horton Smith. If gol.furs would only call it extended, as in the address, and not straight, they would avoid the rigidity whieli comes from trying to keep a straight left at the top of tlie swing. “What is achieved by straightening it in the back swing?” asks Dunn. “The distance from the left shoulder to the bead in the club is lengthened, thereby making it easier to hit tbo ball on the heel, or to dig up the turf.”

In establishing a compulsory rigidity'l t is impossible ten be relaxed, a condition which is absolutely necessary beforct the supreme effort I s made. Dunn points out that Braid, Vardon, and Taylor, who bad bent arms at the top of the hack swing, were able to bring in the whiplike crack so imperative to correct hitting. The wooden-like left arm is not an improvement by anv means, says Dunn. THEORY OF THE DRIVE. In a. chapter devoted to the theory of the drive, he makes the rather unusual statement that at the top of tlie swing the club!wad doe ss not point toward the ground, but has the face turned slightly up ward. Fmther, the left wrist is not under the club. In the case of -loiies, Macdonald Smith, ihe tO pf!T ' stylist. Densmore Shiite, the new British champion, and many others these very tilings that Dunn negatives are features of their respective styles. I agree that tlie cluhhead at the top of tlie back swing does not point in the direction of the hole, but passes more to tlie front, the hands being almost behind the bead. This ensures an extra wind-up, and removes one cause of slicing.