GOLF

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1926, Page 4

GOLF

THE ART OF PUTTING VALUE OF CONFIDENCE. (By Harry Vardon.—Copyright.) It has often been said that putting is like Christian Science: you must believe that you are going to get the ball into the hole, and then you will succeed. This theory may contain a certain degree of truth, but faith is an equal y valuable asset in regard to eveiy ot er shot in the game. The fact ifi _ that you do not feel at all sure of holing a a putt unless you know that you are putting well, and when you are putting well, it simply means that you aie swinging the club properly- -And that is not achieved by Christian Science. I should say that successful putting, far from being an inspiration, as tradition proclaims it, and as many people prefer to view it so as to save themselves the bother of practising, is more in the nature of a carefully cultivated art than any other department of golf. I fear that, for some years, 1 have been notorious as a niisser of short putts, but that is probably as much as anything a psychological effect born ot the circumstance that, after a long illness, I found myself with so pronounced a nerve-jump in the putt that the expectation of this jump became a constant terror. The results could hardly be other than unhappy. At one period, for years on end, I hardly knew what it was to miss, a putt, and that pleasant state of affairs was produced not by any special inborn faculty in the short game but by assiduous attention to its requirements. I practised it continuously, ff am not sure that my style was even theoretically good, for I stood with the hands slightly in front of the ball luring the address, so that the face of the club was tilted a trifle over on: to the bail—the manner of playing what is known as “the push shot.” Practice, however, made it effective. Every good putter whom I have ever known has been constant in his practice of putting. Among professionals, Willie Park, Tom Ball, and Jack White iwere notable examples. James Braid and George Duncan converted thea’.selves from very moderate putters into exceptionally good ones by nothing but practice, although the secret seems latterly to have eluded Duncan. AMERICAN METHODS. It is generally conceded that the Americans beat us in this part of the game, and, as a consequence, there is a general tendency to study methods, although I think that the real explanation of their deadliness near the hole is that they practise more than we do. So far as concerns the swing of the club, the putt can be made aimeat automatic—more so than in the ease of any other club. However, American methods having seized the imagination, we may as well examine their merits. Mr. Bobby Jones is a very deadly putter. His upright way of standing would not suit a lot of people, but he is a model for everybody in the way in . which he keeps his body still during the swing and tho smooth, pendulum-like manner in which he swinge the club.

Mr. Francis Ouimet, with the elbows pointing outwards so that the arms form something like a triangle (the hands being in the centre of its base, the elbows forming two of the angles, and the apex being at the neck) has unquestionably worked out a very excellent way of pitting. It militates against a body-sway, and promotes the pendulum swing of the club. To my mind, however, Walter Hagen looks the best putter among tho Americans. He has his body well forward, with tho left knee bent and nearly all the weight on that leg. Thus disposed, he seems to be immune from swaying. This scheme of having most of the weight on the left leg helps wonderfully to keep the body still, especially for a stroke requiring delicacy of touch instead of power, because once the player takes up the position, there is no temptation to sway from it. The back swing of the putter is never a long one, and the left leg holds the body steady throughout the stroke.Hagen also sets a good example in the sense that he does not exaggerate the importance of small slopes in the ground. No doubt he makes due allowance for them, but he appears to obtain an impression of the line by a slow, sweeping survey of it—often taken from a side position, mid-way between the hole and the ball. There can be no doubt that we often allow too much for slopes, and try to curve the ball round them, when a firm straight putt would be much better.

A GRIP THEORY. There is a point in connection with the grip which is well worth considering. When 1 saw Mr. W. J. Travis, of New York, performing his wonderful feats on the putting greens at Sandwich in 1904 (and it was his soling out on that occasion that enabled him to carry off die British amateur championship), tlie first thing that occurred to me was that he had cultivated what seemed theoretically the best way of holding tho club. Hie was the overlapping grip reversed and accentuated. He had the first and second fingers of the left hand resting respectively, on the third and little fingers of the right hand. One of the advantages of this system is that it helps very considerably- to enable the player to take the clubface back square to the line of the stroke, thus being on the straight line all the time, instead of pushing it away from the feet or turning it too far away from the ball. One is apt to do this when tho right hand—the natural putting hand—is absolutely unfettered. The principle of overlapping with the left hand seems, in theory, to be the best way of keeping the right hand sufficiently under restraint. In the fulness of time, I forgot all about it, but the presence of Mr. Jones in Britain this year provided a reminder of it, for he, too, overlaps with the left- I think he has only the forefinger of the left hand over the little finger of the right, but that is probably sufficient for the purpose. As a first essential of successful putting, tlie best advice that can be given to the golfer is the enjoinment to keep his head still and his body still throughout the swing. If he will do this he will be well on the road to suedeso in the gentle art of getting the bail into the hole.