Golf.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 135, 24 June 1937, Page 15

Golf.

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THE BACK-SWING Pause Necessary at The Top - . HASTINGS CLUB EVENTS

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The pause at the. top ofa golf, swing |g very noticeable in. some players' action, and it makes one ask why the pause and what effect does it have on the swing t Of Cotirse, in a golf stroke the club is being taken in one directioU in the feaek-swing and in the opposite diteetion in the down-swing, so that there must at some stage of the opera* tion be a stop of infinitesimal time at least, when it turns back ou its way to the ball. In most players this etop cannot be noticed, but in others- the pause is most noticeable. Horton Smith is one promiixent Cxponent of the pause at Ihe top of the swang and it" is partieulariy «videht in his iron shots. Lco Deigel is another who s.tar,ts slowly, pauses at the top and then ewings and follows througla A hurried impetUOUs swing will upset the timing and the player will probably get has body into the swing before the club-liead. That iittle pause appears to overcome this. Just as a player deliberates and sets out slowly on the. up-swing so should lie pause at the top of his swing and make up his mind what the down swing is going to be and do it. It xequires only a flash of the mind to earry a man's thoughts around the world, and it is in that little pause at the top that the vision of the down atroke comes in. The down stroke will then be made deliberately and the proper order of movements carried out as in the4up stroke. Everything 'eoming in proper order, the timing will be c&riect and a good shot the result. However, it is frequeiltiy the oppo•ite that takes plaee. A player makes np his mind to hit the ball befpre he. starts. Hia-'bp-swing is hurried, - his body is at ti* top position before the elub and is then lurched into the downawing before. the elub has reached its apex, thsa his head is up looking for the ball in flight before it has been •truck by the1 club. In effect, he has hit the ball with his mind before he could physically earry out his intentions with the club. It is to this nervous impetuous type of player that a deliberate pause at the top of the swing would be of distanct benefit, as it would tend to correct his timing and make him deliberate in his movements. The methodical. ordered type of individule has perhaps not the samo need of S decided pause and so goes about his •Wang without apparent elEort. He allows each factor cOntributing to the swing to fall into its' natural plaee, with the result there iS nothing to upset the timing, and the turn of the club at the top of the swing is so emooth that the actual stop and restart are not noticeable. The pause iu the atroke can.even be brought into the putting stroke with excellent results. It gives you time to make that deliberate even stroke that sends the ball direct into the hole, instead of jerlring or jabbing it, so that it takes f right and Shies pfC the line; Hastings Club. The bogey match on Tbursday resulted ih T. Garrod, squaring with bogey, ti) aecure • the trophy. R. Wright fiiied second place with a retura of one down, followed by three others equai With two down — namely, E. A. Tong, Ll Ei'sher and M. W. Howe. ;The*'1irst stage of play to fmd the club champion was opened on Saturday, but due to misunderetandmg regarding a postponement that was later cancelled, the. attendance was not up to the usual strength. On thc wliole tho ecores wero disappoinling, but good carda wero returncd by a selcct l'ew. T- Garrod (1), who has been playing well lately, struck his top forrn lo head the lisfc lyilli a nicely comju'lcd 74. 11. •J. Longstaff (-) was also on his gamc, tecording a 75. I. Elliott (0) Confined his recent halldicap reduction by handing in a card of 78, nett 72, whicb plaeed him at the -head of tlie tropny li-st for the day 's medal c'ompetition. V. Little, 8(3 — 144 72, was another player to show his true forin, his gross score ghining him a place, pro tein, in the first sixteCn and also plaeing him at the top of the intefmediate grade. He had to take second place to Elliott in the medal match on a count back, but if he repeats last yaturday'a performahce he should not be iong in claiming a trophy, and a sima'Jar score for his second rouud •would place hin) well in both the major grades. A. D. Murphy is another who gained a place in both grades, His 90 is not as good as he is eapable of, but it was sufficient for the day and a repeat performdnce should see him in the postqualafying match es. The junior. grade was headed by J. G. Esam, 92, a yoilng player who is show ing pfomise of better things. The 13 grade trophy was won by E. G. Welk, 72, J. G. Esam having to be eontent with second place with a nett 74, equal with G. T. Taaffe. The week-end. competition, a fairhall bogey match, regiilted in a tie between T. Garrod and 0. Vidal and S. Clark and 3. Leggatt, each pair returning a card Of 7 up. It would be hard to beat" tMs seore on* any day and the players showed good eombination to overcoine bogey 's sitting seore to the eitent they did.