IF EINSTEIN WERE A GOLF THEORIST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17757, 29 January 1926, Page 4

IF EINSTEIN WERE A GOLF THEORIST.

Tf Einstein were a golfer he would have nothing on any other in the matter of theories (writes “Lud ’ in the “Westminster Gazette.”) Every golfer could write a book on the game, and every one would produce an entirely different yet equally self-satis-factory theory. In books and articles I have come across at least twenty in the past few months, and now and again I have mentioned them in this column.

“The club-head should lead.” “The hands must lead.” “Start the swing from the feet.” “Let the left arm do all the work, and keep the body still. “Use the wrists.” “Don’t use the wrists.” And so they go on. Recently I have come across two more theories. One is in the current Golf Monthly, by “Forty Odd.” He produces a belief that the secret of the successful golf swing lies in the palm of the right hand, and the pressure of a certain section of it against the left thumb.

Needless to say, the writer has reduced his handicap considerably by his method—they always do. I have tried dozens, and always failed to justify mine, except when, in a careless moment, I forgot all about them and just tried to hit the ball.

The second theory is in a book issued bv Methuen, called “The Foundations of Golf.” bv 7. S.' K. Smith, F.R.C.S., D.W.R.E., and B. S. Weastcll, Welsh Open champion in 1924. Here we are told to build our swing upon a left-hand swipe, “a long or wide sweeping blow.” “a back-handed swing from the left shoulder joint.” It reads very plausibly, and the book generally is thoroughly sound, and one to be recommended for the beginner who has room to practice and cannot afford three lessons a week from the professional.