GOLF

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 234, 22 December 1927, Page 7

GOLF

THE FOLLOW THROUGH NECESSARY TO TIMING The great agent alike of the long ball and of the straight ball is what is known as the follow through, and if the player only would concentrate on cultivating it he should find that the hundred and one things he tries to remember in orde.r that he may execuate a respectable stroke would be all covered by this one magic movement.

The main reason the follow through is so rarely to be seen, except as part of the very short marker’s equipment, relates to the fact that the hit at the ball is generally made too soon. If wq take the circle of the swing as if it were the face of a clock —the ball being at 6 o’clock and the hands at the top of the swing at 12 —the mistake commonly made is to initiate the hit at about 12 o’clock in a snatchy sort of stroke and to begin to clip it on the club head nearing the ball. Thus perhaps 75 per cent, of all golfers swing the club from 12 o’clock to about 5, instead of swinging it from about 5 o’clock to 12.

Jock Hutchison, the 1921 open champion, says that he brings the club down leisurely until his hands are about opposite his right thigh. Then he hits with both hands—“both hands” is very important since in nine cases out of ten the left will be found merely a passenger—right through the ball humouring to the utmost the passage of the club head along the intended line of flight.

Of course we all know Abe Mitchell turns over his wrists somewhat abruptly, or rather his wrists turn over in spite of him in response to the action of the muscles of his forearms, which in the backward movement have paved the way to this reflex action, and apparently he clips his follow through. But Mitchell is a law unto himself, and in any case, although ho has been trying for 20 years to win a championship, he has not yet succeeded in doing so, nor has even been second o.r third.

So let the ordiifary golfer keep his eye on the ball, the muscles of his hips flexed, and hit from 5 o’clock to 12, instead of from 12 o’clock to 5, and trust to the follow through keeping him right. One hears on all sides the parrot cry, “it’s all in the timing,” but how is the timing to be obtained? Very few players really go into the question. This, however, is very clear thstt if the player starts to hit as from 5 o’clock his timing cannot be far out. PAYING FOR MISHAPS Four hundred and twenty-one %yas the number of accidents that occurred In America during 12 months in connection with the playing of golf, for which the Travellers’ Insurance Company paid some £12,000. That was the largest amount paid to followers of any form of sport. As might be expected, the 19th hole casualties were considerable. These related mostly to accidents caused by broken glass. Injuries by lightning were not uncommon. The storm comes up, players get under trees, and the lightning does the rest. About £I,OOO was collected on account of damaged eyes, and two claims for £SOO each were paid for the loss of an eye. Falling or slipping on irregular ground seems to be the most fruitful source of mishaps on a golf course. This doubtless is owing to the wellknown tendency golf balls have for getting into places where the footing is insecure.

Several kinds of accident insurance have grown out of the numerous mishaps on the links. One kind is where the player insures against the results of injuries he may cause others. One of the first to take out this form of insurance was a well-known member of a big American club in Brooklyn, who, noted for his long driving, was fearful that some of his terrific swipes might injure some distant passer-by.