How to play GOOD GOLF

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 223, 14 May 1932, Page 6

How to play GOOD GOLF

| J.

McCORMICK

1 BY

i specially written for the « morning post » | | by J. mccormick, * | 1 Oeeicial Coach to the Rotorua Golf Club § | (All Rights Reserved) E 1 ARTICLE IV. | = £ | THE ADDRESS AND THE DRIVE. | | Now that you have the grip and the stanee very much at = | ease, and feel that you can hit the ball 250 yards down the fair- jjj | way, I am going to try and help you put your intention into | | operation. It is from this point onwards that you will get the | | thrills, the victories, and also the disappointments of the royal jjj | and ancient game. = | ■ You have the driver, the club which any player knows = | plays the sweetest and most exhilirating stroke of the game when = | correetly used, and it is worth many disappointments to exper- | 1 ience the thrill of a long straight drive soaring towards the green. | | You must, however, bear in mind that it is not hard hitting = 5 that gets the greatest distance, or long driving that wins matches. = | Long driving and hard hitting are quite useless without direction | | and control. I want you to learn control and if you can do this, | | then distance will automatically f ollow. When time permits, study | | quietly all the movements I have already outlined, and will out- | § line in future articles. Keep a club always'handy so that you f | can pick it up, practice your grip, etc., and by that means, thor- 5 | oughly accustom yourself to it. Remember before attempting to jjj | digest the advice that follows, that the game is all in the touch, | | and the touch is in the fingers. Try and handle your club with | | the same sensitive touch that you would apply in giving expres- jjj = sion to violin playing or finesse and judgment in billiards. § = In addressing the ball, players adopt many and varied | § styles, and this is one of the points of golf which a player will = | develop to suit his particular requirements. Some players — gen- = | erally the novices — stand absolutely still, others waggle the wrists | I and arms, some again shuffle the feet, while others swing the club | | up and down as though they were winning the standing chop. | = Personally, I like to see a player tee his ball, take a quiet look | = at the line he wishes it to go, place his club by the ball, work jE | himself into an easy position by waggling the wrists two or three | | times, again glanqing at the line as he does it, at the same time jj | working his feet into a firm and comfortable position. This sounds | | a lot as I write it, but in actual practice, it takes very little time. | jjj One of the problems of the novice, and even of the more | = experienced player, is to judge the correct distance to stand from = 5 the ball in order to get an easy drive. A simple method is to jjj | bend the left knee towards the ball, keeping the heel on the | | ground, placing the face of the club behind the ball and the end | | of the shaft, three-parts of a span above the knee. Another effee- | | tive method is to put the face of the club behind the ball, laying 1 I the shaft on the ground with the end level with the heels. Under | | no consideration tauten the muscles when addressing the ball, or jj | your swing will be stiff and jerlcy. . | | Do not waste time addressing the ball, as this is a bad jj | habit to develop, and when developed, it is hard to break. The | | man who dwells unnecessarily over his stance is a course irritant. jj jj He not only annoys his opponent, but very often holds up all those jj = following. He who hesitates his lost, even more quickly in golf = I than anywhere else. The psychological effect of over-dwelling = | on a shot usually results in a blind, hurried stroke that is gener- = | ally duffed. My opinion is that the first sight of the ball is the = § best. I | | We now come to the swing. First of all you must try and e § picture your left forearm as part of the shaft so that when you E = commence the swing, the'y start away together. The first move- = | ment is carried out by pushing tb e club. head away with the thumb l | and knuckle of the left hand 'and the elbow; at the same time the = = club must brush the ground, and the face of the club turn out- \ 1 wards. The face of the club moves outwards in the same manner = § as the swinging of a door. Try and bear this in mind and you ■ e I will find it helpful. Do not move your left foot until you are e = forced to do so, and that should not be until you are well into = | your swing. In the second move ment, continue to push your left \ I arm back through the line that you started on, until you feel a \ = strain on the left side. When this happens, let the whole of the e E left side move, from the shoulder to the heel, simultaneously = I bracing the right hip and knee. This is the completion of the e I second movement, and should find the left arm fully extended, E I the hands slightly above the shoulder, the weight on the right \ § side and the left side slightly turned so that the heel of the left j | foot is slightly off the ground, and the left shoulder hard against j § the chin. The third movement follows naturally by keeping the [ | little and third fingers slack so as to enable the club to come e = away from the hands and rest along the fingers, the first two # e I fingers and thumb of the left hand only gripping. This move- \ 1 ment is purely a wrist one and allows the wrists to act as levers \ § for the swing. With the first half of the swing completed, you j I should look at the position of the club. If you have followed the E I instructions closely, it will be lying in line with th# right ear in jj 1 height and just behind the shoulder point for direction. It will \ | he well away from the palms and gripped only by the first two i 1 fingers of the left hand, the toe of the club pointing down to- jj | wards the tee, and the weight all on the right side, which should E I be well braced back. The first half of the swing must be correct \ § for without control and balance at the top of your swing, it is j = nearly impossible to hit the ball consistently and confidently. The : § swing should come down as it went up and a bad backward swing : 1 must put the downward swing out of gear. Practice this half of jj = the swing in your spare moments, and you will be pleasantly sur- e | prised by the rapid development in your game. The first move- \ = ment of the "downward swing is the most important, but again I \ | want to remind you that you can only get this from a correct j | back swing. In this downward movement, you must stand abso- \ 1 lutely still, pivoting on your right side. Bring the club down j | slowly from the top, until it is opposite to the waist. You j | will now feel it coming back into the knuckle and thumb of the : I left hand. It is at this point that the speed commences. Deliber- = I - ately pull with the knuckle and thumb of the left hand and you j I will find tha your left foot begins to come down with the result \ 1 that it reaehes the ground as the club-head meets the ball. Your j | arms are now straight and the club-head is square on having auto- j 1 matically recovered from the outward turn of the up swing. The : 1 position at the moment of impact should be exactly the same as , 1 when you started. That is, you should have both feet firmly on j | the ground, the body facing the ball, and the club straight. As j | the club head passes the ball, it is turning inwards like the clos- j = ing of a door and is gathering speed all the time. By this method, ; 1 the speed is much greater after the ball is struck than at any j | other part of the swing. Keep your right heel on the ground as j 5 long as possible, and the club-head travelling low as though you , r were hitting down hill. Let the club pull the arms out to the j 1 full length, and when you feel the tug on the right side, then let | I the whole of that side go so that the weight will be transferred to j 1 the left hip and knee which must be braced firmly at the finish of \ 1' the stroke. • jj 1 The chin must be kept still all the time so that the right i i shoulder is hard against it at the finish just as the left was at j 5 the top of the back swing. The club should still be lying in the : | fingers and not in the hands, and the toe of the club be pointing [ = to the ground with the line of the club following the shoulder point ; 1 exactly as it did at the finish of the back swing. I | Glance again at your position and see if the left hand has | 1 pulled the right one over it; feel if the balance is all on the left = = side, tho club away from the palms and pointing towards the e I ground. Your driver is the master club so far as your swing is | I concerned, for being the longest shafted club, it naturally has the \ = longest swing. If you can master the swing of the driver, you e | will find the hints on the other cltibs which will be dealt with in j | subsequent articles, very easy to follow. My next article will be j | on the brassie. jj