GOLF

Taranaki Daily News, 18 November 1926, Page 4

GOLF

IMPROVING AT THE GAME * SOME HINTS ON DRIVING. (By Harry Vardon.—Special to News.) I notice that Mr. T. F. Ellison drove with a brassie when winning the English native championship for the second year in succession at Walton Heath last week. It appears that he arrived on the scene to defend his title without having had much practice, and that he therefore lacked the confidence in his clubs which comes of their frequent use. In these circumstances, he showed a great deal of wisdom in selecting the brassie for his full shots from the tee. Thousands of players would fartf much better than they do if they were to practise with the same club for the same purpose until, at any rate, they developed the confidence which enables the golfer to make any of his clubs serve him well. The driver having usually an element of whippiness in the shaft as well as a straight face, is naturally capable of gaining a little extra distance, but these circumstances are the very factors that make its use more difficult to the player whose appearances on the links are more or less limited to week-ends, and who therefore does not obtain sufficient golf to render the swinging of his clubs a kind of second nature. The brassie, with its rather stiffer shaft, is easier to control, and the slight loft on its face gives the player a certain definite faith in his ability to hit the ball into the air with it when the ball is teed up temptingly for him. Indeed, what further encouragement could he need 1 Therefore, in dealing with the subject of driving for the individual who is endeavouring to improve his game, I would first suggest that, unless he is on good terms with his driver and feels that he can depend upon wielding it effectively, he should concentrate for a time on his brassie for this purpose. The swing for these two clubs is, or should be, the same; and the clubs themselves should be of precisely the same length and lie Consequently, when the brassie has given the player a sense of confidence in his ability to hit the tee shots satisfactorily, it is possible for him to return to the driver with every hope of success. By this time, too, he ought to have accustomed himself to the use of a low tee. He does not need a high one when he has the loft of the brassie to help him, and so, when he comes to play the shots through the green, the ball does not seem to nestle so closely to the turf as when he is in the habit of driving from a high tee. HOW TO STAND. Now as to the stance. For a person of average build, I recommend the open stance —that is, with the left foot behind the right, so that the body is turned in a slight degree tow'ards the line of play. In my experience, this disposition facilitates the pivoting of the hips. A square stance —that is, with the feet in line—may be very well suited to lean people, but, in the turn of the body, it imposes a strain which by no means everybody can undergo without stiffening all his muscles, which is indisputably bad for the swing. Let us get down to figures. The measurements for the stance which, I suggest, need not be taken as obligatory to the last inch (something must be allowed for individuality of physique), but they will serve as a guide. Extending the line of play on either side of the ball, I would advise the player to stand so that the toes of the right foot are 27 inches from that line, while the toes of the left foot are 34 inches from it. The toes should be pointing outwards; more so where the left foot is concerned than in the case of the right. With the right foot thus seven inches in front of the left the body will be turned naturally towards the hole. Now as to the position of the ball. Mark a spot about three ipehes inside the left heel, and have the ball in line with that spot. That is how I have stood for full drives throughout my career, and it seems to have promoted an easy way of swinging as well as an accurate way. ESSENTIALS OF THE SWING. As to the swing itself, everybody who has made even no more than an elementary study of the science of the game knows that the ideal is to turn the body on its own axis at the hips, so that it winds up in the back swing and unwinds in the down swing, thus promoting perfect rhythm of clubmovement. There is no need in these advanced days of golf to emphasise the importance of avoiding a sway of the body which throws. the weight off its balance. Opinions differ, however, as to how the desired end can best be achieved. Slow-moving pictures of well-known players in action suggest that the first movement consists of the left wrist taking the club-head back in a straightline for several inches behind the ball, urging the right hand back with it, until the two can proceed no farther in a straight line, whereupon the left wrist begins to turn inwards towards the body and so turn the face of the club away from the ball. Usually good judges have declared that this is a delusion of slow-motion photography, and, at any rate, I am convinced that anybody who set out de-' liberately to practise such a principle would come to grief. Early in the operation, his wrists would become so constrained or even locked as to render impossible any subsequent ease of swing. I am satisfied that the best way is to concentrate at the start on turning the club face away from the ball by a gentle half-turn of the left wrist towards the body. You simply must get that club face away from the ball without loss of body-balance and there is no other simple way to do it. The rest of the up-swing consists ( of pivoting the hips as the club rises so that the left heel is compelled to rise quietly from the ground —but without screwing outwards —to accommodate the turn of the body. At the top of the swing, a very distinct pressure is therefore felt on J.he inside of the left foot, which is supporting all the weight on that side. Keep your head still, and it can be done. The down swing consists first, of a slight drop of the arms which places the club in position for the blow, then, of starting the club gently, maintaining the still head, and swinging round with the rapidly gathering pace which might be part and parcel of that art of athletic sports which is known as throwing the hammer. The keys to success are the beginnings of the upward and downward movements, and the maintenance of as nearly an immobile head as the player can manace.