AIDS TO GOLF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22769, 1 July 1937, Page 19

AIDS TO GOLF

RECOVERY FROM SAND

SECRET OF ALL SHOTS

WEIGHT OPPOSITE THE BALL

BY PERCY AI.LISS

No. 'VII.

| The secret of all recovery shots from sand can bo summed up in one single phrase: "Keep the weight opposite the ball." When you play the ball off tho left foot make sure that the weight of tho body is borne chiefly, by the left leg; when you play tho i ball from the middle, the weight should be borne by both feet equally; when you have the ball opposite the right loot, tho right foot has to take tho biggest part of your weight. It is through failure to observe this rule in attempting a long shot out of sand that players so frequently hit the ball straight into the face of tho bunker again. For a long shot out of sand they correctly stand with the ball either mid-wav between their feet or a trifle nearer their right foot, but they fail to maintain the corresponding distribution of weight throughout the stroke. In their eagerness to force the ball out they throw their weight forward on to tho left foot too soon, so that at tho moment of striking the weight is actually in front of the ball, and it never has a chance to rise.' j

The opposite fault is almost equally disastrous. You see a player attempting a short, high shot out of sand, standing with the ball well forward opposite the left foot,, and at tho same time keeping the weight well back on the right. Of course, that' is simply asking for trouble. Tho most probable result will be to take the sand much too far behind the ball and produce a fluffed shot that leaves it whero it was before.

Common Mistake Another common mistake of the long handicap player is that he is always inclined to take too much sand. Never forget that the more sand you take, the more of the force of the blow is being lost. So if you want a long shot out of a bunker the best plan is to take Hp your stance with the ball fairly -well back, so that you can bring the club directly on to the ball, taking the sand directly after the ball has been struck. On 110 account should the blade of the club be allowed to come in contact with the sand before the ball. Even in the short shots, which should be played with the ball farther forward, it is a mistake to take too much sand. 1 should say that it is never necessary to aim more than about an inch behind the ball. When you do aim as far behind the ball as this, make sure that you drive the club well through. You will not get the ball out by merely hitting the sand.

Modern lofted clnbs have made the recovery shots very easy for the longhandicap golfer, and in fact out of an average good lie in sand, the recover} shot is for all practical purposes tlia same as an ordinary high mashie-shob from the fairway. It is a mistake to alter the grip or stance in any way with the idea of getting the ball up. If the bank of the bunker is so high or so close in front of you that a quickrising shot is needed, you can turn tlia blade of your niblick out a triile, but otherwise you can use the same stance and grij) and swing as usual, and the loft of the club will do'the rest. Foot and Body Aciion

Take the club back with a stiff left arm and pull through with the left in bringing it down again. With all bunker shots the foot and body action should be as much restricted as possible and the head kept absolutely still, with the eyes looking at the exact spot, where the blade of the club is to strike. Keep a firm wrist and hit through the ball in the direction in which you want it to travel. You will often see a longhanded player stop the club the moment it touches the sand, but that is entirely wrong. The ball will never rise unless the force of the blow h>i3 travelled through it. Finish the stroke with the weight on the left log and the right shoulder down, and remember to keep your head down until the stroke is complete. Two types of bunker shots that can be used with effect 011 special occasions near the hole are the cut shot and the chip shot. I have said that in shots from the sand you should swing the club straight through in the direction in which .you want the ball to go, but the cut shot is an exception. In this case, the blade of the club is drawn 'across the back of the ball from right to left instead of going through in a -jtrai"h'fc line, and von must therefore aim a trifle to the left of the flag to allow for the tendency of the ball to •'break" to the right when it pitches. It is not a style of shot of which I am particularly fond, hut when you want a short, quick-rising shot that will drop up. quickly it is often the most effective way. For this shot I stand a little further away from the hall and take the club back with a more upright swing than usual. On the back-swing the left arm is allowed to move out from the body, and is brought back again coming down, so that [ am actually "hitting from the outside inwards," and so causing the clubhead at impact to cut across the ball.

Use of Wtist \ In nearly all bunker shots care .should bo taken not to play with a loose wrist, but to this rule, too, there is one exception. The wrist action plays the chief part in the "chip-shot" from a blinker, which is a particularly useful shot for getting out of one of the shallow hunkers that you often meet with around the greens. In this >shot, the player should be well in front of the ball, which should be pretty well opposite his right foot. The ball is struck with the same sort of wrist action that you would use in playing an approach •"'t.t, taking no sand at all or only i ln> merest tenspoonful along with the kill. It is just this that makes tho shot a risky one, for in your anxiety to take the hall without touching the sand you arc quite likely to top it. The only cure for that, of course, is practice, for practice begets confidence, and this is one of tho shots in which confidence is half the battle. It is one of the shots moreover, in which practice will be well repaid, because with practice the length of tho shot becomes surprisingly easy to judge, and when the chip shot is "on," you will often find yourself able to get down from the hazard in a chip and a putt.