WHY A BALL SPINS.

NZ Truth, Issue 873, 19 August 1922, Page 8

WHY A BALL SPINS.

(By Ja.3. Watt.) Slow motion pictures of professional players m action show that the ball at the moment of impact is flattened against the club. Golfers may have noticed the impression sometimes upon clubs by the ball. At times it shows a mark as big as a Shilling, and as the ball is perfectly round this will convey to readers the extent a ball goes out of shape at the moment at ■ impact. When an elastic substance is deformed by force It regains its shape as soon as the force is removed. Thus a player, hitting a ball clean through, causes compression m the ball, exactly m the centre and on the line of flight which makes the ball fly straight. A topped ball causes compression towards the ground, and the ball having regained its shape before leaving the ground, merely bounces over the ground and idoes not fly. A slice is originated by the club head coming -across the line of . flight and .so causing side compression m the ball at impact. The ball then flies with side spin, and the flight of the ball clearly shows the amount of cut. imparted to the :ball, slight or large as the case may be. In the push shot, the player hits down, but also through the ball, and so imparts to the ball the touch of top spin, but also of back spin — by the low follow through — whicn gives him the low trajectory ball which' falls almost dead* The*back spin shot is a low, straight hit through which causes compression m the ball, under the centre thus causing the -ball to jump up quickly and drop dead. Instances of this shot not stopping as the player tho.ught it would are simply because the ball has not been hit under enough and not firm enough to cause sufficient compression to give the bacK spin. The impression of the ball on the club may still be seen after, a faulty stroke, .but the fact remains that the ball goes the way it has been compressed—true, cut, or hit under. J. McCormick, the well-known Poverty Bay professional, put up a goodperformance recently, by putting m the fine card of 73 for the Gisborne course — Bogey being 77. As a tricky wind was blowing and McCormick has hadlittle or no practice this season, tho score is a g-ood one. Naturally a good match player, MoCormick must be hard to beat should he strike form at the "N. 2. Championships and, at the Wanganui v and Wellington tournaments where he^ hopes to compete. Golfers from all over the Dominion have written "Sammy" re the test question that appeared m these columns n. couple of weeks back. There is not sufficient space to print them all, 'but many of them make out good cases for both sides,' As "Sammy" stated at the time the correct decision is a halved hole. A prominent legal light puts tho case for a half thus: Rule 32(3) does not apply. -That, deals' only with tho case of the first ball, that of A, TvKich •was played and was m the hole, not on the lip. There is no rule to justify A, who has holed out, knocking Bs ball away. On the contrary, see Rule IS. Provided Bs ball falls into the hole m a. reasonable time, and what is reasonable time is determined under Rule 36; the hole is halved. The Heretaunga pro., Arthur Ham, went out to Miramar last week for a couple of rounds, and did a 77 m the morning: and a 72 m the afternoon. He looks like, giving a good account of himself m the Open at Palmerston North. ..;.;.. * (t :; :t The English Open Champion, Walter Hagren, is a man with original ideas, an earnest student of the game, and a player who possesses a style, of his own. He gets his weight well forward on the left foot for every stroke, from a drive to a putt, and always seems to have' the pin as his objective with the long approaches, and the hole as the haven for his first putt, however far his ball may be lying ifrom the cup. That is the great secret of his triumph. This strong point has enabled him to triumph over his opponents, too many of whom seem content merely to lay their approaches on the green and to get down m 2. Concentration and the will to win are virtues of Hagen, andhe was always dangerous when 'he knew what he had to do to win the championship. An interesting competition to be played at Palmerston North during the Championship meeting is the "Cha-1-lenger" Golf Ball Handicap Competition — for professionals. The maximum handicap -to be four strokes per round. Handicaps, to be declared after completion of the Open Championship. Prizes, £50, presented by Messrs. E. J. Hyams, Ltd., Wellington. Agents for j Messrs. J. P. Cochrane. & Co., Ltd., of Edinburgh. To be played over 36 holes, Stroke Play,-., with the X.L. "Challenger" golf balls. First- prize, £25; second prize, £15; third prize, £10. Entrance, nil. Entries for all events at the Open Championship meeting must reach the Secretary,. Mr. L, A. Abraham, by August 30th. . ' I! !! !« ■H. B. Lusk was playing well m hla Jast match at Auckland. His putting -was really brilliant, so evidently he has been reading the article m "Truth" on this very important part of. the game. :: :i :: The Hutt professional, Brooks, has been putting m a lot of hard practice of late, and he has' got m some very good rounds. . On his own links he would' be a red hot favorite for the Open.) . - . In the return match— Auckland v. Maungahiehie— the professionals, Moss and Blair, were again matched. Moss repeated, his previous performance, ari<A won by the same margin, viz., 3 and 2. The pros, both ' played excellent golf. Moss was steadier going out and secured a leakl which he held to the end. The i. scores -were:. Moss „ 38, 37 — 75; Blair 41, 36—77. ' «; :; ■ tj What is the most difficult stroke m golf? The question was once put to Andra Kirkaldy, who replied, "It's the blasted twa' foot putts," Every golfer will agree with him,' because every golfer knows his greatest failures occur, on the greens. Golf to some people seems to be more of a curse than a game, especially so when they get . an "inspiration" about one o'clock m the morning and get out of bed to practise a swing m the moonlight. It's never too la.teto start' golf. At Te Aroha a young .fellow of 70 has just taken up. the game. :: !! :: Golfers, is this true: For bad manners a K olf course is nearly the equal of a suburban railway or a tramcar. Golf is a game of science and science and still more science. Thu3 Abo' Mitchell, after the- open: Golfers who feel "shaky" m a \match or championship -will deserve lots of consolation from the following. The mental strain which a championship imposes is very acute. This should be obvious from my putt at the first hole m the third round, for I struck the ground and did little more than roll the ball over. It would, no doubt, seem an unpardonable' mistake, but Jim Barnes did a similar thing, and

worse, at the same hole on his second round. He swung the club and missed the ball altogether. Now that clvb 1 matches and championships are coming' alohg, players should , remember that ,the simplest way to win matches is to concentrate on each shot you play, instead of trying to beat each shot made by your opponent. Forget him and play your own game. : i / * : : : F. Q. Hood's article on "How to Play the Irons and Mashie" is unavoidably held over. :: :: :: The Auckland pro., Jas. Watt, was at Te Aroha last week, and got m a bit of practice for the Open. The bogey for the nine-hole course is 37/ and Watt went round m 34. His card read 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3, 4, 5 — 34. The third and eighth holes are bogey 3's, so he dropped two strokes there, but he got an equaliser by holing out with two run-up shots with the iron. t A great many players ' seriously handicap themselves when facing the wind by trying to hit too hard. That is the worst thing possible, as •if the ball be just a trifle off the line the wind will help to take it a good deal further off into the rough. This is especially the case with a bad iron shot, and nothing is more annoying than- to see the ball blown away when approaching the green. . Against the wind all the clubs, and especially the irons, should be pwung back slowly, and >a slight pause made at the top: That pause, however, *must" not stop the club, though a spectator may see the checking- movement of the head' and also its restart on the downward path. The whole movement is smooth 1 and the pause at the top only long enough to give the player a very short movement m which to steady the downward swing. j