ARTICLE VIII.

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 238, 28 May 1932, Page 6

ARTICLE VIII.

| THE MASHIE. | | Probably the most interesting and usually the most elusive | ■ | stroke in golf is the approach to the green for which that very | | useful club, the mashie, is generally employed. Confidence is the | jjj key-note of successful mashie play, when bunkers and traps must | | be carefully negotiated in order to reach the green. | | The mashie is a wonderful little club, and when you mas- = | ter it you can make it do almost anything. Personally, I( have § | always liked the mashie approach stroke, better than any other = | stroke in the game, and I rcgard my ability with this club as one | | of my most useful assets. As a small boy, I used to practice mashie f | shots by the hour, pitching the ball. into a box f orty yards away 1 | and reducing the distance gradually. Undoubtedly, this early = ' | practice and concentration has stood me in good stead, and I can | | confidently recommend it as a method to all beginners and | , | and players. | = With the exception of the mashie niblick or the ordinary 1 | niblick, the mashie is a shorter club and has more loft than the = = other irons, consequently it hits a higher and a shorter ball. | | The distances for which it is used vary greatly. Men use it from | | 125 yards right up to green 'edge shots, and women hit shots of | | 110 yards. Like the irons, efficient use of the mashie, calls for 1 | perfect control, rather than for mighty distances. It is very nice = | to hit long drives from the tee when you are faced with a wide = open fairway to play to, but it is a different proposition when | | you have a well and cunningly guarded flag as your objective. The | | approaches to most greens are so guarded to-day that it is only 1 5 the correctly hit stroke which will get you there, and the virtue jjj 5 of the mashie is that it is so lofbsd that the ball when struck, rises § | high in the air and is so spent when it strikes the ground that its | | tendency to roll is checked. On the other hand, it can be so | | manipulated as to make the ball pitch and run, after landing | | if necessary. = | If you aspire to be a good golfer, you must learn these | 1 variations of the mashie stroke. When you have bunkers to f § negotiate then you must loft the ball, but if you have been for- f § tunate enough to play straight, and have an open fairway, then | | you will be well advised to play a pitch and run shot. You will I | find when reading this article, that the main difference in man- | | ipulating the stroke, is in the variation of the turning of the 1 | wrists. | = In playing all iron shcts, you should take the ball and the | § ground together, and with this, the mashie is no exception. As | | the club-head follows through, the turf should come out as the 5 | ball is struck. | I ' We will commence the descriytion of the stroke by | | ajsum ng that .t is a full masiiit , of, say, 125 yards from the pin | I You must remember, however, that if you use the mashie for | 1 longer or shorter distances than this, the swing is just the same. | I As the mashie is a shorter ciub than any described so far, you | I naturally stand closer to the ball, feet closer together, the knees § 1 quite at ease, hands closer to the body, the ball a shrade closer to | 1 the left heel, and the club retting on its heel, with its centre | 1 only a fraction away from the ball. In all long strokes, I be- | | lieve in addressing off the toe for it allows the speed and weight | I of the club to pull out slightly at the moment of impact, and so | I meet the ball with the centre oi' the head. Having settled your- | I self to hit the ball in your own manner of address, the club | I should be firmly held in the fh-ff two fingers and thumb of the | | left hand and using the grip described for other strokes. You | 1 should be facing straight at the ball and can check your position | 1 by looking down the shaft. K(-ep your body still. As with the | I other clubs, you push the mash':e back with the first two fingers = i and thumb of the left hand, at the same time turning the back | | of the hand and the face of the club over as a door opens. Con- | | tinue bringing the club back in this manner until you feel the tug | | on your left side. Now ease the whole of your left side until § 1 your shoulder meets your chin, at the same time bracing the right 1 1 knee. The hands are npw opposite the chin, and arms straighten- § I ed but not stiff. Now ease your grip so that the club comes = | away from the palms and rests on the first two fingers and thumb | | of the left hand. This corapkies the back swing. Glance at | | your position which should be: — Wrists slightly under the shaft, | 1 so that you can see the back of your hand and the time by your | § wrist watch if you wear one. The toe of the club should be f pointing to the ground in a line just below the right shoulder f * | point, the right knee firmly braeed, the left foot turned inwards, = " | but barely off the ground. Your left shoulder should be touching = . | * your chin and by looking over your shoulder, you should see your I | waist, hip and knee line. Bring your shoulder away from the f ■ | top of the swing quietly and evenly, at the same time keeping | | the whole of the body absolutely still until you feel the weight of | * | the club close back into the knuckle and thumb. This should | ■ | occur when it is about opposite the waist and hips. Now com- = s 5 mence your speed by pulling at the spot you have sighted direct- f « = ly behind the ball and do not, on any account, take your eye off f | that spot. At this stage of the swing, the club should have reach- | ' | ed its objective so that you should be back at the position you = l E were in when you commenced the swing. Let your swing follow I 1 through on its natural course, ly the continued pressure of tKe § ! = thumb and knuckle. Keep the light foot on the ground until it = . | is forced over on the inward side by the weight and speed of the § | club at the finish of the stroke. At the top of the follow through, | - jjj the whole of the right side should ease bringing the weight on E = * to the left side and the chin hard up against the shoulder. You | E should then be looking down in the same line over the right side E E as you were down the left at the top of the swing. = 2 With the short mashie, always bear in mind that the short- | | er you grip, the shorter your stroke will be. Never be afraid to | E swing your club right back, for it is only from the height of your | | back swung that you can obtain control of your down swing. As | 1 an instance, we will take the ball lying 30 to 40 yards off the jjj | green with a bunker to be played over. Bring your heels right | | together for this stroke, with both toes pointing outwards slight- | | tywand holding the body slack and easily. The weight should be | 1 slightly on the left side and the closer the ball to the green, the | I nearer it should be to the left toe when you address it. For this | I stroke you should vary the grip by resting both the third and | | little finger of the right hand on top of the left, as it gives the | | lighter touch that is required for this short shot. When striking jjj | the ball, turn the back of tKe left hand outwards so as to slope the | 1 club backwards and at this angle, it will more easily give you | | ' the desired loft. With these strokes, you should always remember E * | that your stance is so loeked, and the ball is so close to you that | * | the margin for error is very small. Swing the club back, keeping § : | the face slanted all the time, until you feel comfortable and can § * | go no further. The knee work depends on the height of the | - 1 swing so that if you feel a tug on the knees brace yourself as | - 1 you would for a full shot, for this is a full shot on a small scale | | Bring the club down quietly from the top until nearly the moment = | of impact when the speed gathers slightly by pulling with the | „ | - -Same two fingers and thumb of the left hand. Keep the face of | | the club slanted all the time, and after striking the ball, see that | | the club head brushes along the ground, finishing very low in such E I a way that the head is tugged forward. Summed up, this stroke = •| is really dropping the weight of the club upon the ball controlled | '§ by the left hand. Keep absolutely still all the time and don't | *§ look up until the stroke is well finish ed.. If you want the ball to | -| run when it strikes the ground, play in exactly the same way | | but without sloping the face of the club to such an extent. My E ti . next article will deal with niblick and mashie niblick play. jjj imiiiiiiiniiiHiiii