LONG DRIVING

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 104, 4 May 1937, Page 4

LONG DRIVING

JIMMY THOMSON’S ASSET HIS FAME AS A GOLFER BOBBY JONES MAKES AN ANALYSIS. In Reynold’s Illustrated News of March 28, Mr. James Riley, discussing long driving, says Jimmy Thomson, a Scottish-born golfer, now an American citizen, has risen to be one of the world’s most famous players. Fame has come to him because he has developed the faculty of driving the ball farther than any other performer. Thomson carries 250 yards, and, with the subsequent run, thinks nothing of driving a total distance of 300 yards. Holes of 500 yards in length which, to the ordinary player, means a drive, brassie, and a, full mashie shot, are reached by Thomson in a drive and a No. 5 iron—and sometimes a spade-mashie. The length Thomson drives is colossal. Naturally, he is a very powerfully built young man, but physical strength is only a small factor In his driving feats. His strength is used to work up the maximum speed of club-head, and it is speed, plus momentum, which governs length of shot. If you want to drive further than you are accustomed, it is imperative that speed of club-head at impact must be augmented. Under the X-Ray. For the benefit of golfers the world over, Bobby Jones has made an exhaustive examination and analysis at close quarters of Thomson’s methods. In addition to some minor matters, the analysis differs in one fundamental from that supplied by Thomson himself. It concerns the part played by the hands when the club has arrived at the top of tho swing, and when the return journey is about to be made. Thomson says that .the hands start the down swing at ’ the fastest speed possible, while Jones declares that the hips start the swing. This may not seem a very important matter, but, believe me, it is all-import-ant. Now let us take Bobby Jones 1 analysis step Dy step, because it tells the golfer what are the essentials in long driving. The analysis is divided into six parts, each dealing with a separate and essential movement. The first describes the ample turn of Thomson’s hips in making the back swing. The turn is so compiete that the shoulders and upper port of the back face the hole. ’This remarkable body turn makes possible a maximum power-delivery in the down swing from the great muscles in the waist and back. * Turn The Shoulders. Go to any golf course on any day of the week and you will find about 99 out of every 100 players scarcely make a turn at all of their bodies from the waist. They may think they do, but they don’t. They merely lift the club from the ball, and the result is a chopping stroke instead of a swing. In order to drive reasonably well, and to get occasionally that long bail for which we all strive, you must follow the example of Thomson—turn the shoulders from the waist so that your back at the top of the swing gj facing the hole. . No. 2 concerns the down swing, which is started not by the hands, but by' the unwinding of the hips. The “cock” of the left wrist, which is under the shaft, with the knuckles pointing directly to, the heavens, is maintained. Thus the left side ■ from the hip to the hand is pulled taut. No. 3 is the Jones' analysis of Thomson’s methods deals with a further stage of the unwinding process. The left arm is kept fu'lly stretched; the left wrist still remains “cocked" as the arm swings down, while the righted elbow drops in towards the body. The Hitting Positio, In analysis No. 4 we arrive at the hitting position. With the continuation of the pull through with the straight left arm, the gahering speed of he club pulls the wrist angle open, and the left leg suddenly straightens. In this order—hips, back, arms, hands and legs all contribute towards producing maximum speed of clubhead at impact. Speed of • club-head at impact is everything in long driving; and there must be no attempt to check speed when the ball is struck. This point is . dealt with by Bobby Jones in No. 5 of the analysis. Thomson’s left arm is kept at full stretch, and the head is still in position with the eyes looking at the spot from which the ball was struck. Only when the hands and the club pass well beyond the left side is the head allowed to turn—not lifted. No. 6 describes the full reach of tne arms in the forward swung, a position showing how the momentum of the club has carried Thomson to the finish of the stroke. Here he is standing upright with most of the weight resting on the left leg. There is no one specific for long hitting; a 300 yards drive is the result of a co-ordination of movements as above described.