GOLF

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 22 May 1914, Page 2

GOLF

CHE AT IXC, THE WTXD

ADVICE BV JATuES- BRAID

| One of the greatest difficulties, encountered by players, and especially by inexperienced players, is thaj; of the wind, and James Braid, five tinies B>' it - ish open champion, has bee.n giving some advice 011 the point. Ihis is of the more value inasmuch as Braid ic= recognised as -it fine player iiv a high wind probably in such circumstances the finest player there is. "While his opponents are iu trouble with balls blown away to left or right into the* rough, he adapts himself to the hostile conditions, and, though probably his round puffersi to the extent of a stroke or two, that is little in comparison to the losses sustained by others, even by experts of the class of Vardon and Taylor. Mnny nriexpeqted failures in tournaments •.have been due to inability to cope -with wind problems. Players do not know what- to do. In the ordinary course, when ihey hit. a. hall down the centre of the fairway, if it has a trifle of slice, and there is' a little wind from the left-, it simply goes to ruin in the rough on the right, and they have p. natural fear of wind and slice being allowed to work together. But Braid declares that it is absolutely fatal, in so far as distance, at any rate, is concerned, to set wind and eithei' pull or slice working against one another. He holds that the wind,.*iri'd the stroke must be on the, same side, and that t when the wind comes from the right the player should play over to the right with a pull, and that, -when it is from the left he should play over to the left with a slice. There is a popular conjecture that whatever may be gained when the wind and ball are working together towards the end of the journey has been more than cancelled by the exhausting effectthat the ball as sustained in forcing its way through the resistant air in the early part of the carry ; but Braid maintains that, if the stroke has been made properly, the ball, during the first portion of. the flight, is low and is escaping much of tile resistance of the wind, and that, when it has risen it has come into alliance with- the • elements, and is thus assisted on>'its way. This is often mot realised. foi~- the reason that players are more apt to notice the carry than the run. Braid states that the per- | feet, or nearly perfect, golfer can use all kinds of winds, "like the skipper of a sailing boat on the sea" ; anS it is certain tliat- he himself is able to obtain amazing distances in winds which are baffling everybody else.

Uu to this point the advice seems to be simple and intelligible enough. 'But the difficulty is that the ordinary amateur breaks down badly on the practical part of pulling and slicing. He finds it hard, perhaps impossible, to do this wilfully, 'though it is dreadfully easy to do it bv accident. This is realised by Braid, and he has something to say about it. For the slice, lie explains, "art exaggerated open stance" is required. The ball should be as nearly as possible opposite to the left heel, and the upswing should be "rather vertical" in character, with less body twist thnn usual, and more arm work. He also insists that the ball should be hit dead from the centre. Most people, he points out, make ,-x mess of the wilful slice through heing possessed of the idea that the face of the club must necessarily be dr ( awn across the ball. They try to draw the club across accordingly, and the result is that the ball is frequently hit with the toe. Where a pull is wanted, the player, . Braid advise;;, should adopt a square stance ■with the ball close up to the right foot. The swing should l>o fiat; there should be more thin the ordinary amount of bodytwist ; the right shoulder should be well kept- up, and the rierht hand turned round a little towards the under side of the handle shaft. Finally, Braid stipulates that, in order to carry out these instructions, it is necessary to practise conscientiously. "There is no practice so good." he adds, "as that for half an' hour with a dozen balls, when the wind is blowing almost at right angles to | your line, but just a shade more in your favour than that. It would be impossible not to learn something good, and inevitably you would find something oat about yourself.'