GOLF AND HEALTH

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19162, 19 November 1927, Page 13

GOLF AND HEALTH

AN AGE OF BETTER LOSERS. (spicullt warm* tor Tin mms.) (By Harry Vardon, Six Times Open Champion.) Somebody recently pat forward the pleasing assertion that golfers nowadays are better losers than they used to be; that they do not seek to explain away their defeats as their predecessors were wont to do. Certainly it was something of a dition iu a former era that the golfer in his hour of discomfiture would remark to the victor that he had not expected to play well that day because of an attack of rheumatism or some other ill, or that, at any rate, he only pursued the game for the fun of tiie thing, and cared not a tinker's condemnation whether ho won or lost. It was a gross libel upon tens of thousands of enthusiasts, but I suppose it had some foundation in tho attitude of a goodly proportion of golfers. Perhaps the explanation was that, in thoso days, nino out of every ten players were middle-aged or elderly people, who had taken up tho game late in life. Golf is now as much n young man's game as an old man's game. And young persons do, as'a rule, know how to lose cheerfully, for the simple reason that, being young, they aro more or loss care-free. Even tho modern veterans a great many instances, started whon in their prime, and so grown up in the spirit of being able to lose with a good heart, besides laying in on the links a storo of health which renders untenable n claim to twinges, aches, or incipient influence when defeat is their portion. Consequently, young blood in its innocence has done much to Brighten the best of all possible worlds. Animal Spirits. Being primarily an individual game, golf thiows nil the onus of defeat upon the individual, nnd here and thero you still may meet a man who, in the depressed frame of mind which sometimes attacks the beaten, thoroughly enjoys bad health. But ho is rapidly disappearing. Be it said that on the links animal spirits and rude good health may bo associated with a bad displav of golf. Perhaps that is because'the game calls for careful and measured methods of execution. It rewards tranquillity rather than exuberance of tho vital forces. % It demands canny consideration ami a capacity for moving steadily to the goal; it is an invention of the Scots. Extreme buoyancy and its corollary, tho desire to succeed by the dnsh horn of great good spirits, is about, tho worst complaint from which the golfer can suffer. It make, him swing too fast, _ and n goads him to think that he is capable of performing feats for which he is physically unfitted, He takes the club back like lightning, and sends it nearly down to his heels. It may be slipping in his grasp, and he may be losing his balance, but what does care? He feels so well. He recovers the club whirlwind fashion, lashes round at tho ball, and sends the shot to perdition. That man very reasonably might grumble Ho feels so violently fit and cheer u that he hj» no chance of playing ".thinking" shots. There is a certain mediocrity of spirits, which is the best thing imaginable for one's golf. It is something between brightness and gloominess. Lucky is the roan who possesses it.. . There is a consensus of opinion among habitues of the links that, for the*nan whose daily duties involve a strain which is almost entirely mental, golf as a diversion is incomparable. Indeed, there are learned and diligent individuals who declare that they simply could not work so hard as they do unless they ceased at frequent intervals in order to play golf matches. It is one of the greatest of gifts to know exactly when to stop worrying about I business and start playing games It is an even more valuable provision of Nature that enables a person to postpone a pressing professional obligation with the conviction that, for the sake of his health, and therefore, in the interests of his wife, his children and others who love him, he ought to give his brain a rest by engaging in a day's golf. It is possible to detect a certain spirit of noble self-sacrifice in such a man; he know* that hj« ought to be working, and vet he feels that further to harass his already jaded brain would be unfair to his domestic circle and to those people who rely upon him to preserve clearness of intellect. He does not mind about himself, and so, for the common good, he betakes himself to the links and there qualifies himself for his business duties. Blithsome Blanks. The manner in which this game absorbs the attention is in itself an interesting subject for study. Golf has ite value from the physioal point of view since two rounds of it involve the tramping of some seven miles. But it is mainly a thinking game. As to the latter circumstance, all its devotees are agreed. And yet it constitutes an | ideal rest-cure for a tired brain. The explanation is, I suppose, that when one is playing golf it is impossible to think of anything else. . For two hours oh end the intellect is lulled to sleep so far as affairs of the outside world are concerned. The only brain cells that operate are those which govern the execution of shots. Best of all, there are occasions when even these senses slumber, and the fortunate player walks along thinking of nothing. Could there be any better condition for the man who needs both, mental repose and physioal exercise? Let us recall the time when we have driven a ball over a high bunker or some other obstacle. It has disappeared on the other side of the hazard, but we know that it has flown straight and finished in the middle of tlbe fairway.' All is well. The opponent has pnlled or sliced and marched off at a more or less acute angle, leaving us as our only companion a small caddie who takes no interest in anything. At such a period it is possible to walk a hundred yards without thinking at all. The ball that is in sight provokes consideration as to how the next shot shall be played, but the ball which is temporarily hidden from view, but which unquestionably is safe promotes that perfect state in which the brain is ivide awake, and yet doing absolutely nothing. It is the acme of the restcure.