HOW TO PLAY GOOD GOLF

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 254, 18 June 1932, Page 6

HOW TO PLAY GOOD GOLF

1 J-

McCORMICK

3 BY

| Specially written for the « Morning Post » _ | 3 by J. McCORMICK, = | Official Coach to the Rotorua Golf Club | 3 (All Rights Reserved) - 5 | | | Having taken the reader through the uses of the various | | clubs and given hints on match play and etiquette, etc., I will | | be sorely disappointed if my efforts to write as I coach do not | 1 bear some tangible result in improving the standard of golf in 3 3 New Zealand. Not that I do not consider the standard already 3 I relatively high, both in ladies' and men's clubs, but with the 1 I improved conditions and courses and the wider interest that is | | being manifested in the game, the standard must yet improve | | greatly, and I look to the day when New Zealand will take her f 3 place with credit in International contests. 3 5 Golf is the game of the future and I would advise parents 3 | to have their children taught young. The recent success of the | 3 youthful N.S.W. and Victorian champions well illustrates the | = strength of this contention. Teach a child the correct swing and | 5 grip and it is remarkable how they will improve in the other | | departments of the game. Children are natural mimics, and | | enthusiastieally copy adults who are at the top of the tree. 3 | To sum up the main essentials which go to make the 5 | good golfer, I will retrace, on general lines, some of the points | 3 dealt with in previous articles. Although modern golf courses § | abound in bunkers, hazards and traps, in my opinion the greatest | | hazard to be overcome is the mental one. What perfect swings | | and easy styles many players have when there is no little white | | ball to be hit, but what a change comes over the scene when 3 § the ball is teed before them. . Gone is the easy rhythm and the | 3 light grip is turned into a hard, stiff one, the head lifts, the | | feet leave the ground, and the whole stroke is converted into I | one big, blind hurried hit. | | The cause is purely psychological and can be easily cured. 3 | Without the ball the player concentrates simply on the swinging 3 | of the club with a free and easy mind. He concentrates on a | 5 fixed bit of grass or an inoffensive daisy, knowing that it is to be | 3 taken in the swing and the result is a free and easy shot with- 1 | out any misgivings as to the result. When the ball is there | | the mind unconsciously focuses upon it and the main desire | | is to hit it good and hard, with usually a sad disappointment to | I follow. | | You must remember the fact that the sight follows the | | mind and the hands will follow the sight. Frankly, I am of the 3 | opinion that very few golfers realise this, and consequently their 3 3 golf is of the trust to luck variety which gets them anywhere | 3 except in the first flight. = | In my coaching experience I have found the mental | | hazard the hardest of all to get my pupils to overcome, and it § | takes hours of hard work to eliminate the fear of missing the 3 | ball. I often ask a pupil what he is conscious of seeing at the 5 5 moment the club head hits the ball, but it is only on rare occas- § 3 ions that I find one who is abie to give an intelligent answer, | | and many are frankly surprised at being asked such a question. | 3 At the risk of . becoming tedious I repeat that you must § 3 realise that sight is number one in golf, and you must concen- | 3 trate on a spot under the ball and k'cep your gaze fixed on that | | spot until the club has hit the ball and passed on. Many shots 5 | are topped, half-topped, sliced, pulled, etc., through altering 3 | the sight at the moment of impact or closing or blinking the 5 3 eyes, while many players are often seen to flinch in the act of 5 3 striking the ball. This is another mental hazard and is caused | | through nervous tension stiffening the muscles and checking the § | club in its swing. If you are afflicted with this fault remember I = that the ball is a harmless object to be hit, and swing at it as if it 3 | wasn't there and just as you would do in an easy practice swing. 3 3 Slicing is a common mistake in golf and in order to effect § 3 a cure it is often necessary to actually study a player in action. f | The swaying of the body, too tight a grip, too fast an advance | | from the top of the swing so that the force of the swing is 3 | spent before reaching the ball, or lifting the head, may cause | 3 it. If you are inclined to slice try gripping lightly with the 3 J right hand, opening the face of the club in starting the stroke, 3 | and coming down slowly from the top of the swing, at the same | | time holding the left foot up as long as possible, and turning | | the face of the club in after hitting the ball, keeping your chin f | absolutely still right throughout the movement. Standing stiffly 3 | too far off the ball with the wrists held too high is also a common 3 | cause of slicing. I 3 Another common fault though not so serious as slicing, | 3 is pulling. The main cause of a chronic pull is usually shutting f | the face of the club on the back swing. If thq club head comes | I down in a shut fashion it is turned right in at the- moment of 5 | impact with the ball which is consequently pulled from a straight 3 | line of flight. Other causes are breaking the wrists back as jj 3 the club strikes the ball, smothering the ball with the body, or | 3 bringing the hands too far forward. § | Piave a look at your club head when it is at the top of = 5 the swing and make sure that it is pointing to the ground. If I 3 you get this perfect you will go a long way towards curing a | 3 tendency to pull, especially if you think to press your left thumb | | firmly through after striking the ball, thus checking any break f | of the left forearm. 1 | Topping is commonly caused through allowing the sight § 3 to go to the top of the ball. Consequently the club head, in- | 3 stinctively guided by the hands, goes to the spot at which you | | are looking. Raising of the head during the course of the stroke § | also causes bad topping. The cure is simple. Keep the eyes | | open and on a spot under the ball, the head down, and don't 3 I rush matters from the top of the swing. § 3 Socketing is also a general fault and is caused by the f | hands coming away from the body on the down swing; this is | | usually started by the chin coming forward. A good prescrip- § 5 tion for chronic socketing is^to hold the chin and head back, | | keeping the hands and arms close to the body during the swing, I | allowing plenty of turning over of the left wrist as the club | | strikes the ball. If you hold the right hand very loosely you 5 | will find that the left will pull against the body and turn natur- 5 | ' ally and easily. 3 | To sum up I have propounded ten commandments of golf § 3 which, if followed, will put any player on the high road to suc- 3 3 cess. Thev are: — 3 n = | 1. Concentration of sight with the eyes open all the time. | | 2. Keep the chin still. | 5 3. Grip with the first two fingers and thumb of the left 3 | hand. ' 3 | 4. Open- the face of the club in starting the upward s | swing. | | 5. Keep the left shoulder hard against the chin on the | | top of the swing. | | 6. Bring the club down slowly from the top of the swing. | 3 7. Keep the head and heels down when striking the ball. § I 8. Give the face of the club a closing movement . after | | striking the ball. = § 9. Keep the right shoulder hard against the chin at the 3 3 finish of the swing, and the left side braced. § | 10. Keep the gaze fixed before, during, and for an ap- | 3 preciable interval after any stroke is finished. 3 I * r ! ufiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmiiiiimmiiiiiuiiiumniiiiumiiiiuiHiummiiiiiiiiiiuiiiMuiiuuoiiiuiiiuuiiiuuiiiuiiiuiuiiiiiiin.