How to play

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 246, 8 June 1932, Page 6

How to play

J. MC

:CORMICK 8

i BY

SPECL4XLY WRiTTEX FOR THE « MOHNING POST '» = BY J. McCORmCK, 1 Officiae Coach to the Rotorua Goef Cltjb | (All Rights Reserved) = ARTICLE XI. | PRACTICE. | Having taken you right through the uses of the- various | ! clubs the question now arises as to ho\r you-are to get the best S ! results from the information given. The answer lies in two words, £ "practice and concentration," I say this with a certain amount = ! of reservation, however as there is such a thing as over much | ! practice with attendant staleness as the inevitable result. Too | ; much practice may be worse than too little, as, in the latter event, | ! there is always the fact that you will approach the game feeling | i fresh and keen and consequently" will be ahle to concentrate | ! better and put life into your shots. My counsel therefore is to try S ! and strike the happy medium, but I fully realise that thi's is no § j easier with golf than with other things. | The average golfer to-day has only week-ends or holidays | [ free in which to play so that there is always a strong temptation | ! for him to forsake practice in order to play an actual round. If | j he would only realise that one liour's practice on the right lines | 1 is worth more to his golf than a dozen laborious rounds then he S | would adopt a totally different procedure. Consider how you | \ would feel if you had been plodding for years going round and | I round the links with no pretence to a correct swing and showing | : no consistent improvement in your game, to see a comparative | i novice who has had the advantage of tuition and practice, come | i out and leave you far behind in handicap. If you are to play good | | golf your best plan is to let a first class professional mould your | i style to suit your natural propensities, then work on his advice | I both in practice and actual play and occasionqlly consult him | l again to see that you are following instructions correctly. | = Before commencing a round try and get at least a few | : minutes on the course in order to get the feel of your clubs. | 5 Warm up your muscles by swinging the club backwards and 5 : forwards about a dozen times without pause. Then have a few | l quiet swings as though you were hitting the ball, remembering | E to keep the head down and your shoulder hitting your chin either | = way. After this take two easy shots at a couple of balls and | § then follow up with about four full speed shots. When you are | i waiting on the tee or elsewhere for your turn to play don't mere- = = ly stand and wait but keep your club moving in some particular | = ' way all the time. For instance try the turning of the wrists move- | \ ment by just brushing the club head back and forward along the | i ground about a foot past the spot at which you are looking, at the | \ same time noticing the action of the wrists. When you are prac- = = ticing a full swing don't always keep your eyes fixed on the ground = I but occassionally look over your right shoulder at some object 1 = in the distance. You will be surprised how this will give your club | = the required swing back. Vary this by looking at your objective | = in order to ascertain if the motion feels the same as it did when | = you were looking round. This advice holds good for both the back = 5 swing and the follow through. \ | Mashie shots can be practiced at home. If you have room = | on the lawn take half a dozen balls, placing them in a line about | 1 a dozen yards way- from some selected object. Play the first ball | = to this object and without looking to see where it lands proceed 1 5 to play the second and so on. When all are played check up on the = = result of your shots. If you have played them correctly all of the 1 = balls should be close together near the objective. Practice on 1 | these lines will aceustom you to keeping your head down and will = | improve your control and judgement of distance. I I Another method of mashie practice is to place a few balls I i clos8 together. Slope the club well back and keep it at the same i = angle all the time, then strike the ball firmly underneath by using a \ | short easy swing, letting the club head come down slowly from = | the top so that its own weighfc carries it through and under the = | ball to finish practically on the ground just past where the ball. I | was lying. The idea of this practice is to make each ball jump over E | the other so that you develop peifect control. This is a very inter- E | esting shot to have at your command and may often be used to = | negotiate a stymie or a ticklish bunker. j i You can also get valuable practice by putting a box on the jjj | ground and playing pitch shots at it from any angle wherever = | the ball may land until you get it into the box. It is a good \ | policy to have a golfing net with pockets on it and to practice I | with all your clubs in an endeavour to hit your ball in a straight = | line into the pockets. If you haven't a net, a rug on a clothes E 5 line or a tarpaulin on a fence will serve just as well. You can* E Ej stand close and drive a ball into them with confidence. Captive = | and parachute balls also have their uses particularly with regard = | to teaching you direction and method of hitting. = | Always keep a club in a handy position so that the sight E = of it will remind you to pick it up frequently so that you retain E 5 your touch. Swing it as often as you can even if only for a few j | minutes at a time, as thereby you will develop consistency in your ' = | swing. A dozen swings on a cold night or eaidy morning is a good = | means of taking warming exercise and serves the purpose also e = of improving your golf. You will find this better for your health = = than patent food. Practice with the irons is absolutely essential, E = so cut a game out of your regular week's play and devote an = | hour or two to iron practice. Select an object for your target = | and try iron shots at it from all distances. You must develop dir- \ ijj ection and control of length with your irons or you will never i | make a good golfer. I have often practiced on a football field by \ | getting in a straight line with the goal posts and playing iron j = shots over the cross bar. This is a good test of direction and well I | worth trying. \ | It is even possible to practice without a ball. Try this. ; | Put your right hand out and place your left over the palm of it j | with the left thumb on the outside of the right one, take up your \ 5 natural stance then push your left arm back in a straight line I S until your shoulder hits your chin. You will find that you can j | obtain a perfect arm swing, with the hips and body also as they j = should be in a real stroke. You can also practice the hip move- ; | ment independently by placing your hands on your hips and brac- [ | ing your hips and knees backwards and forwkrds. When you get [ | this movement correctly you should be able to take your left foot \ | off the ground when the weight is on the right and vice versa. ; = To sum up I would strongly advise you not to be a one shot j E exponent able to do a fair to indifferent round but, by intelligent j = practice, to develop a repertoire of shots which will improve your j | whole game. Don't make a fetish of your score card, get the j E shots right and your score will come right. Don't neglect your j E putting even if you have to do it on the carpet with a tumbler. • = Don't practice until you are tired but don't imagine that you are I E exhausted after a dozen or so practice shots. If you feel jaded \ l have a spell and then start in again. Generally it is the good : | golfer who steals every few odd moments for practice and the \ : novice who is wondering about the score card figures. If you : use common sense, keep in touch with your coach and practice = on the right lines, you too can be numbered amongst the good e j golfers. i My next article will be "Hints on the Rules." ; iililllllllillliiiilllllllii!lliilJii:itl!llllliiniiillilllliiiiilili)li;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiii."