GOLF

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12750, 4 January 1936, Page 11

GOLF

GOLFING FAULTS MIN'D 11 THINGS CO TNT MUCH KOMI: Fill ST PRINCIPLES IMPORTANCE OF “BALL SENSE’

The commonest cause of the average golfer’s failure to make progress is the adoption of wrong methods at the. .start, writes Sidney Easterbrook, the Irish open champion. I have seen innumerable cases of players who have mined their chance of being really good-class golfers by beginning on thpir own. Particularly is this so when they have been, or are, good cricketers, tennis .players, or experts at any other hall game. These, are just the players who arc likely to become good at golf because they have what we will describe as “ball sense.” Unfortunately, it is especially easy ‘for them to go wrong because they find it all comparatively •simple at first. But when they got » reasonable handicap and wish to improve to the- single figure class they find they are completely stuck and can make no,, further progress, because of their unorothbdox methods. When they do at last decide fo. have lessons some considerable time is

; lessons 'sornci ftiusiuei “uu; uiue , taken, in undoing perhaps montlis of . had practice before, one can really hqgin to pet the most important, points right. Moreover, it is much more difficult. to unlearn your had faults than to'begin correctly. So I advise everyone 'Starting golf to- take at least- n few preliminary lessons to have the grounding Correct, and also to In? 'able to go out and practice with a definite | idea of what to do. ,

IMPORTANCE OF GIMP

j , On© ‘of the’ points on which this type, of beginner, nearly a)\v,ays pops wrong is in,the grip. ..So mapy golfers will not put the right hand in tli.e proper position, invariably .having .ft far too much under or..at: the bo,ck of the'grip. There arc thr.ee reepgnigcfl grips, Jnit I. think, tjio overlap p easily the bpst.. Both hands must bp kept together with ,t)jp right well qn top,.of club, shaft, and well in the finger-tips, 'jhe . litti.e .finger, of the right, hand sfioulcl, rest ,'on the foyor finger of, tlip, left, hut it , must only rest there. No.pressure at- all {should he felt on the forefinger. This is one of the most common causes of s’f.cing, 1 although it is one you do not often ! see referred to. If your little finger , is exerting too much pressure, it is I impossible to allow the right hand to climb over the left, when striking the hall, and therefore the club face cannot be square, at 'impact.. Another, common fault is beginning I from what is known - as a “dead j start.” This means having a very dej cided stop -of . the club-head, and feet at the moment- before taking the club away from the . ball at t'no. back ■ swing. . The danger with this fault is that it)-tends to stiffen every part of the. swing and also makes one take the club outside the. straight line from 1 ball -to hole. It is essential. to- keep on the move. The club head should not.be still at any part of the swing. | Pept and-knees must always have a , slight “waggle” to keep rhythm and alpo. to . get full power at the right 1 moment:

CORRECT BALANCE Another trouble which originates in the still club-head is to take the club j back.'.with the right hand, instead of the left arm . The..left arm must have the feeling of control sp that it can load throughout the stroke. , , | , Balance of body /and feet is very essential for length and straightness, i So ’ many .golfers ■ lose tljeir . length j Jjynot moving .the weight correctly.. This is usually caused by keeping th,e body too still or having too much weight on the left- le% in taking the club back, with the rpsujt that they niust pull back on the right leg to hit the bnjl. This produces the same i result- as -a boxer gets in hitting an opponent who is moving away from him. The ,p.owf , r p? the blow is appreciably lessened- . To get ./into the right hitting position ,one.must transfer the wejght slightly on to the right lesi.One can then allow Jhe. body to sway forward with the club-head and

so get fjill pow.gr by haying every wince .of the weight of thp.hody comj inw on to the ball, with jtlic plulj-hca^. One morp fault .is the failure to eoe]v tjio left .wrist in the. hackswing. This is morp. apt to happen when tlto pjaypr has a .short swing—jvhat'is termed a .tjpep-b.unrfer swjng. The left, ( wrist must, hq...underneath the eluh-shaft 'pr.you, will get. 'a .‘.‘shutface, ’’ which invariably causes,,,,a smothered shot or a. very . epiick hook,. To get this, cpcking; of the wrist right the club- should he taken jjlwk with tjie clulwshnft and left {irin,; in a straight,, ling.gnfilnearly half-way, and then deliberately picked up. The toe of the club-head should then be pointing towards the ground. In the ease of a shut club the face will he pointing to the sky. 1 FORGET THE BAD SnOTS I When playing in competition golf I one’s temperament lias a tremendous bearing on the saving of shots. Not all of ns are blessed with the unruffled complacency of A. H . Padgham or the laughing care-free spirit of A. J. Lacey. But- one must try to forget the had shots at- once. If one has an explosive nature I, thing it is better to explode and get it over than to hold it and brood, after having said the few kind words forger .all about it and just remember how many easy holes there are where .you will be able to pick up the lost shot. In conclusion, T should .like to spy that although I have been playmg in competition golf for nearly f-5 years I still, find it very necessary to go back .to my brother who taqght me all I know about golf, to be “tuned up''- and have the faults that are alway creeping in ' put right- before starting the tournament season- This I think, is. the only way. to hold or improve one’s golf. Always have a good practical poach keeping his eye oil your game.