VON NIDA PICKS OUT FAULTS OF TYPICAL BEGINNER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 August 1939, Page 12

VON NIDA PICKS OUT FAULTS OF TYPICAL BEGINNER

FAULTY GRIP AND STANCE RUIN DRIVE; BEGINNER ATTEMPTED • DRIVE AND TOPPED THE BALL.

“That was the only possible result of your swing,” said von Nida. “For a start, you took up your stance too far in front of the ball. “Your backswing was too loose, and you did not take the club head low enough along the ground back from the ball. “On the down swing you kept your weight on the right leg, with the result that your clubhead was coming up as it reached the ball and connected with • the top of the ball. “The beginning of the drive is, of course, the grip. “Your left hand was not far enough over the shaft, and your right hand was too much under,” said von Nida. “The correct grip is the overlapping one, with the little finger of the right hand overlapping the index finger of the left hand, and the heel of the right hand on top of the thumb of the left hand.

Von Nida Plays Dunlop 65.

“The club must be held mainly with the fingers, and not gripped in the palms of the hands.” Von Nida then went on to the stance. -Take up your position so that the ball is opposite the left heel, with the legs just sufficiently far apart to ensure a feeling of solid balance,” he said. "I advocate turning the left toe in slightly, towards the ball. “It gives me the feeling that I can get speed into the clubhead, and my weight into the shot without undue effort.

Von Nida Plays Dunlop 65.

“Take the club back from the ball with a firm left arm—not taut and tense —and, as you do so, let the left heel rise a little off the ground, the left knee bending inwards towards the right toe. “The weight is transferred on to the right leg by the time the hands have reached as far back as they will go without having to bend the left elbow. “That must always ■ be kept firmly straight on the back-swing.

Von Nida Plays Dunlop 65.

“From there the club is pulled down with the hands. “As the hands come down and the shoulders turn round with them, the weight is gradually transferred to the left leg. “Just before the moment of impact, the right shoulder and side come into the shot through the right leg relaxing. “This forward movement should be allowed to continue, by bending the right knee and continuing through after the ball has been struck. “You will be well advised to drive with a brassey for a start, because the loft of the club makes it easier to get the ball up. “I hope I haven’t bored you with all this detail. •‘But it is necessary, as these movements apply in the main to all shots in the game,” concluded von Nida.

Von Nida Plays Dunlop 65.