HARDEST SHOT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 946, 16 December 1933, Page 17

HARDEST SHOT.

I American Critic Discusses Golf Difficulties. TESTS OF SKILL. A 20-year camp follower of golf in all its varied and changing aspects (writes Grantland Rice) has this query to offer: —What, in your opinion, is the hardest shot in golf? The hardest shot to play’- with consistent correctness?” More than one duffer will rise up and answer, “ The next shot—whatever it The query at least opens up an interesting argument. Among the harder assignments in the game, the following should be listed, with no attempt at any orderly ranking: (1) Brassie shot from a close lie. (2) Full iron shot into a cross wind, especially blowing from left to right. (3) Short pitch, 20 to 50 yards, from close lie over bunker to green. (4) Long approach putt—6oft or over. (5) Chip shot out of rather shallow bunker. (6) Chip shot from the rough. Here are six shots that may upset the skill of first-class professionals or high-ranking amateurs. Five of them at least are shots that rend the soul of the average golfer as he faces the test of skill which they demand. Outside of the long approach putt, they are not shots to be fluked into winning results. At least not often. There is more than one crack professional who will tell you that the shot from this list which gives him ihe shivers is the long approach putt. After any open championship you will hear any number of first-class professionals tell you of their three-putt greens. But most of these three-putt affairs were due to approaches which left the ball from 50ft to 80ft from the cup. To get such a putt dead over a keen-rolling, sloping green under the strain of a championship is no easy matter. You Need Confidence. One trouble in playing most of the harder shots named is lack of confidence, which in turn leads to greater tension. And greater tension l.ads to head lifting and to hurried hitting. This axjplies especially to the short pitch over a trap where the lie is close or hard. It is one of the most delicate of all shots, for the slightest mistake means going over the green or into the guarding trap just ahead. It must be played largely' with hands and wrists working together, with a head as fixed as “ a painted ship upon a painted ocean.”

There is no other shot that builds up higher tension, that seems to lock every flexible muscle so tightly. There is also a strong tendency towards stiffness or tension in playing a brassie shot from a close lie—and a long iron into a cross wind. The pivot, or body turn, is usually reduced in these two cases, the back swing is restricted or shortened, and the head is rarely held in place. These two shots cry loudly for smoothness and ease, for they demand accurate swinging. In the case of the brassie shot from a close lie one must hit down more upon the ball—where the tendency' or temptation is to hit it up—almost an impossibility. The Chip from the Rough. When it comes to playing a short chip or a short pitch from heavy rough just off the green, the main mistake is a tightened grip and tightened wrists. I have seen no one play' this shot better than Harry r Vardon once did. “ The basis of this stroke,” he told me later, “is a somewhat lighter grip and flexible wrists. You must let the clubhead do most of the work. Start the back swing lazily and let the clubhead fall naturally. The grip must be firm, but there is nothing vice-like about it. Be sure also to take the blade of the mashie or mashie niblick back far enough. Most golfers shorten up this stroke too much. And then they' merely jab or poke at the ball.” For the average golfer, for 90 or more per cent of the millions who play, the hardest cure in golf involves the slice. The professional or the star amateur may have more trouble with a hook or a pull. This is easier to handle. One effective method is to address the ball in the heel of the club and think of hitting with the heel. Another is to opei» up the face of the club to a greater degree. But there are many’ more angles connected with a bad slice. It may result from any number of faults. One chief cause is lifting the club with the right hand—taking the club back with the right hand in control. This causes one to swing the right shoulder around —outside the line of flight. One helpful remedy is to be sure to start the back swing and the down with the left hand and arm—to swing the club inside the line of flight and aim at a target to the right of the course—to have a mental picture of hitting the ball away from you. The cocked left wrist at the top of the swing will also be a help, especially when the left shoulder and left hip are allowed to turn sufficiently and are not held locked.