Methods of Golf.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 26, 28 June 1911, Page 11

Methods of Golf.

ONE CAUSE OF SLICING AND ITS • • CURE. (By “Silver Sand” in "Golfing.") THE LEFT ELBOW. How I first began to slice I have not the remotest idea, but once I had begun there was no more inveterate slicer than myself to be found anywhere. My short game was as straight as heart could desire, but let me attempt a shot which called for any force in the stroke, and I was in the cart, or more strictly speaking, in the rough, right away. Now, there is no fault more disheartening, for not only does it land one into all sorts of unholy difficulties, but a bad slice takes all the power out of the stroke. A ball that is pulled even pretty badly will still travel a long way, which is some recompense for' the sort of lie that has usually to be negotiated at the next shot. But there is no shorter ball than a slice, especially if there be even the slightest breeze to assist it in its nefarious designs. Naturally, I tried all sorts of wrinkles that the experience of sympathetic but victorious friends could suggest. If all they said were true the faults of my style must have been legion, but that is, indeed, not unlikely, for I have found before this that a single bad fault disjoints the whole swing and makes itself apparent in all sorts of minor errors.

However, in spite of all the advice which I listened to —often with rage in my heart—l might have gone on slicing till doomsday but for a chance remark of one of my friends, who said that my left elbow seemed always to be very low down. This is, I daresay, a common enough error in driving, and is usually a sign of bad timing. The player swings his club back and his body goes round in sympathy, but he brings his club forward again too soon, with the result that his body is left behind, as it were, and the stroke is naturally thrown out of gear. In such a position the player is almost bound to undercut the ball. My friend, however 1 , assumed me that as far as he could see my- elbow remained at the same unusual angle throughout the stroke. By this time I was almost ready to catch at any straw, and set myself to try and keep that elbow up, which I did in the most obvious way by slipping my left ihand further round the shaft in the direction in which the hands of a clock move, and gripping with my hand there. I did not feel any awkwardness in the change, but the effect upon my driving was almost instantaneous, and in a week my slicing was entirely cured.

THE ANGLE OF GRIP. At the risk of passing out of the frying pan into the fire I continued the ex-periment-by gripping with my left hand still further-round over the club in the way in which many cricketers hold their bat, and was gratified to find that by doing so I could get away a ball with a considerable pull upon it. Since that time I have been able to slice or pull at will merely by shifting the position of that left hand so as to drop the left elbow down or keep it pointing skywards. 1 have since thought that too much is made of the question of stance as a factor in slicing and pulling, ami 'that changes of grip and their results have not been sufficiently looked into by the theorists. For look at it in this way. A ball is sliced because the club is drawn across it in towards the player as it touches the ball. This is usually assumed to be due to the fact that the club-head has passed the outermost point of its swing and is coining in again, but it may also be due to an even simpler thing—the club face may be slanting backwards across the line of the stroke at the moment of impact after the same fashion as a putter blade when the player is trying to putt with side spin.

Now. supposing the player has a habit of holding his ,elub with the left elbow dropped, it is more than likely that in the vigour of the swing it will tend to turn into a more normal position. It can only be so, however, by forcing the left hand round, with the inevitable result of turning the chib-face outwards. In ’these circumstances a sliced ball is no occasion for surprise. The cure u

perfectly simple. It is to hold the club with the left hand in .such a way that the left elbow is in-what I may call a medium position all the time. PULL AND SLICE. The advautagea of this method of pulling and slicing are obvious, though I admit that the method may not be found to work with every player. But where the player finds he can use it successfully it has virtues which the accepted recipe for pulling and slicing—that is by judicious alteration of the stance—does not possess. For one thing, stance is not always a matter of the player's own choice. Humpy ground or a lie among strange specimens of golf-course botany may force a player to take up a position very different to that which he would have chosen. And to have a means of slicing or pulling independent of stance gives the player, as it were, two strings to his bow.

For it frequently happens that the ball lies among rushes or long grass, or in a eart rut, in such a position that it can only be played with the hope of attaining any distance, in one particular direction. If this direction is off the true line, the obviously correct game is to bring the ball back into the desired line by imparting pull or slice, whichever is needed. But in the case, of such lies there is always a strong chance that the stance which would accord with the desired pull or slice may not be anywise comfortable or even. Clearly, if the player can adopt a slightly different stance and correct the change by varying the angle of his left elbow, he has a weapon in reserve which is certain to stand him in good stead. A WORD OF WARNING.

Of course; such experiments have their dangers. There are disadvantages in a multiplicity of strokes as well as advantages. And'for the average player it; is perhaps more essential that he should know one stroke well than that lie should play Several strokes indifferehtly. On the whole I would hesitate to recommend that any player should deliberately set himself to acquire the art of pulling or slicing unless he is perfectly certain’ first of all of his ability to play straight. But I hope that as a note upon one aspect of the slice, its cure and its use, this note may not be altogether useless.

MISCELLANEOUS. Colonials in England. LONDON, May 19. . Among the numerous colonial and American -competitors for the 19th Ladies’ Golf Championship, now in course of decision at Portrush, County Antrim, are Miss Vida Collins, of Wellington, and Miss 8.. Grainger, of New Zealand. To Miss Grainger- fell the unwelcome distinction of being the first colonial competitor to succumb, her conqueror being Miss Bertha Thompson, of Beverley, who •won the round by 3 up and 2 to play. Miss Collins survived the round, beating Miss Mona Miller, of the Royal Portrush Club, by 3 to 2, and on the morrow qualified for the third round by beating Miss S. Temple-, of Westward Ho! at. the 20th hole. In the next, however, she met more than her match, for Miss Bertha Thompson beat her by exactly the same. margin as she had in her match with Miss Grainger, namely, 3 up ami 2 to play.

Splendid Play by Sherlock, Playing against White, Sherlock at Stoke Poges, made a wonderful round. Certainly his play came nearer absolute perfection than anyone can call to mind. His driving was as straight as an arrow and good as it could possibly be, more especially his pitch-and-run shots which he played with the greatest judgment; and his putting may be said to have been perfect during the last nine holes and much better than perfect if such a thing lie possible in the first. Sherlock played -like a remorseless machine and finally beat Mr de Montgomery's record of 66, a record which of all records in the world one might have imagined have seen the very stars out. His score was: Cut, 4,3,3,3,4,3,3,4,4—31; in 3,3,4,4,4,4,4,4, 4—34; total <l5.