NOTES BY BULGER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 72

NOTES BY BULGER.

The following article by a writer In tner London Times will be read with interest by golfers: —

THE CURBING OF THE SWING-. Some few years ago the golfer who had began to play in early boyhood, who had been "teethed on a club," as it has been happily expressed, was regarded! as a supremely fortunate beinpr nay, more. 16 he' ever made a bad shot be was regarded as being very much to blame, "and his elderly critics made sure, if they had env joyed his advantages, they would never so have erred. These advantages consisted" of • a knowing and rather flamboyant-, method of waggling the club, the art of. pitching a ball into a tee .box after the manner of a caddy with. his. master's iron, an -elaborate knuckling of the knee in putting, arid a tremendous full swing-, in which? the club whirled lar round the *nape of the. neck.

No "one would deny that to begirt joune is advantageous; 'but it 'becomes -apparent thai*h« who-'<was-:eery young '20 years a-gtf was beset by -pitfalls that neither he nor his 'eldters appreciated. -Of those treasures of his early education but one thing now oertainly remains to him — the art of pitching easily and naturally, which is but rarely acquired' in later life. ' The floricß exuberance ol wa.ggle is no longer counted a virtue, but is 'rather held to be a shadow cast before a coming swing, far too slashing and vigorous for 6afety. Anyone beginning golf nowadays would be better; advised to imitate the address of the present amateur champion, whose waggle i« co • rudimentary as to be almost nonexistent, and is, moreover, performed t rith, a body kept mest rigidly still. The writer was discussing the other day with a very fine professional player of the younger school the merits of a brother professional and opponent. His remark was that the adversary was a good player, but had "too much style," which, being interpreted, was found to mean that his method! of address was too florid, a criticism, no' doubt, perfectly sound, but essentially modern. The "kncklincr" habit in putting has lontr been exposed as fallacious ;• but he wlio has once acquired it with infinite pains and not a little pride in his youth finds it terribly difficult to subdue. It will break out a.gain and again, and fch« ball i 6 not clearly hit, but is pushed' out by* a forward lurch of the body to the right of the hole. There can be no better proo of -he utter, vioiousaess of f'knucklinc:" than that afforded by tvhe extraordinary improvement in Braid's putting since he "gave it up, and became, instead of a most indifferent- putter," a 'player, to be feared- almost beyond all others on the £-reen.-Frnallv, the"" long full swing- is goiner the way of those other vices. thatr'were once accounted virtues ; and -those with whom j it i has become a second 1 nature realise with [ eorrow that they have tied- somefchinir <?f t n. milletone round their necks, which is Ijkely forever to retard their , progress. ; They might -b«s pardoned if they turned on t.hoso who havp begun' the o-ame after athainino- years of discretion, arid retorted: "Ah! if we had had- your advantages— if we- had b°o>un at an ace when we could dis--oviminte between right and wron.y w*» should not now--be swinging ourselves off cur legs." Some years ago, when Mr Maxwell first appeared on the horizon of first-class golf, his three-quarter swing created a distinct feeling of surprise among -the general golfing public, though not perhaps among tha more acute critics. "Of the latter, indeed. Mr Everard was said to have remarked that here at last was what he had- been . expecting for a long time — a really good player who did not play with c full swing. Mr Maxwell's swing has other peculiarities besides its shortness, which mak-c it almost unique, but nowadays a good young player with a short swing is no -great rarity. t . .

The beginners of the last few years have had the advantage of distinguished models, who do not swing the club very far back, noticeably among the piofessionals-, such as Braid and Taylor, although, indeed, t» imitate the style of the latter is an almost hopeless task. Those who began the game a good many years ago, on the other hand, had practically no models, save those who revelled in the exaggerated slash of thd "St. Andrew's swing" ; and many of them are now repentin.g the follies of -their youth in eackcloth and ashes. The writer was discussing this question the other day with one of .the finest players who ever lived, than whom- none. lias a greater knowledge* of the game, who declared that he had himself suffered! in youth from an exagger- . ated length of swing, and that he l-.houghfc ho had cured it by the practice of goiiitr out with a wooden club and playing lOtir show of pome 130 yards up to the hole. By this means he acquired the art of controlling th-a club in the back swing, and then discovered that with the controlled swing ho could, if he wished-, send the ball practically as fai v.-ith a full one. There are probably very few golfers who have thip requisite nar.ionce to go out alone and practice half shote with the driver; but ths advice to do so came from a quarter that compels respect.

The great difficulty in the way of the long svm'.-gsr, who is trying in his middle agt to curtail his swing, is that he has almost eerrainlv acouircd the habit of losirvj the control -of his club with his right' hand durin? some period of the up-swinsr. He has l°arnt when joung, either by imitation or by rather pernicious instruction, to let the club rest at ths top of th 3 swing rmon - the w°h eavwn Ik's foi'Pfinger and thumb. When he begins hi* swing the club is held firmly enough in his fingers, but in order to get it into Ihe renuirpd position at the ton _ of the swine? he relaxes the fingers of his risrhfc harJ and lets it go with soniflthinfj lik<x a jump, thereby losing for a fraction of tirr^ nil cor.tioL of tha club as far as higr'ehj- hand-i* concerned, -and- ailowing -th<* clul> to "-rtop" (tb«ro !•? on. better word) much further roun-J Iris ne^k than can _ba of any service to him. To get out. of this hpbit is a long, almost hopeless. bui=inc; ? : hut tV? secret of not over-swirur:Tipr probably lie? in the rontinuous control of tho ritrht hard mare than in any one olbeu. rerr.^dy. Thr, ever-swinc^r ha^? got to -\ork rmt tho problpm for himself as best !»° ran, and should have rrany sympathies. Tho following are the best scores in {&•

Otago Ladies' Golf Club Junior Medal com- 1 petition yesterday; — I

Mrs Reynolds Mrs- Gilray Miss D. "Williams Miss I, EaFtray ... Miss Orbell Mrs Black Miss M. .Reynolds Gross. ] 108 102 -T ... 106 ... ... 117 ..' ... 124 .~ ... 109 12> Hep. £»et. 50 78 20 — 82 22 — 8* 30 87 30 — S4 15 — 9430 — 94