A-B-C of golf ...

Contents

CHAP. PAGE

I. The One Essential Thing 1

II. Building Up the Swing 22

II

IN the older books on golf it was the invariable custom to picture the swing in three positions — the address, the top, and the finish. Nowadays we rather smile at such simplicity, and the services of the motionpicture camera are invoked to show us the exact progress of the swing from beginning to ending. And yet the old hands were not so far out of the way, after all; it is just because there is nothing doing in these three positions that we ought to study them with the utmost care and attention. Certainly if our address is radically wrong we are not likely to set matters right while proceeding from a position of repose to one of intense activity. Again, the pose at the top of the swing, where there is a definite halt in the action, momentary though it be, is immensely important in our analysis of the golfing stroke^ for this shows us at once if the player is in proper body balance. Ask a golfing friend to swing up and pause; then step behind and give him a gentle push on either shoulder. If his balance is not perfect this slight, unexpected touch will cause him to lose his equilibrium instantly. The trouble is the player has put so marked a preponderance of his weight on one foot or the other that only a few ounces more pressure will make him topple over. A golfer whose body is balanced throughout the swing retains his equilibrium without difficulty^ and it requires a good deal more than a touch to disturb his poise. This question of balance is especially important as the player reaches the top of his swing, for now the real business is about to begin; if he has to use a definite portion of his strength to keep himself from falling over in one direction or another, that is so much taken off the power of the stroke.

There are certain radical errors which are instantly apparent to the experienced instructor when he sees his pupil at the top of the swing. If the head and upper part of the body have swayed to the right, the trunk will be plainly out of the vertical. Such a position will look awkward and stiff, and both power and accuracy will be wanting in the stroke. This swaying to the right is a fault that all the books and all the professionals are constantly warning us against. Unfortunately the pupil's conscientious effort to avoid this mistake is very apt to lead him into the opposite error — swaying to the left as the club goes up, or ^^waisting/' as I sometimes call it. This particular variety of bad form has received comparatively little attention from the authorities, and yet the fault is even more destructive to the swing than swaying to the right. When the player is ^^waisting/' his body is bent like a bow, the greatest give being at the waist-line; as a consequent, the back is hollowed and the left shoulder is depressed. The weight of the body is kept so far forward that it cannot possibly be brought in behind the ball, or where it would be of some effective use; and players who have this fault in style are invariably short, high drivers. ^^Waisting'' is one of the most insidious and easily acquired of golfing errors; conversely, it is difficult to eradicate. We will return to this subject later on; in the mean time I beg you to remember that ^^waisting'' might just as well be spelled ^'wasting.''

The finish. Here, one may say, there is not only nothing doing, but nothing that can be done; the business is ended. Why bother? This is unquestionably true, and yet the finish will tell us a good deal if we know how to read its signs. If the stroke has been perfectly executed the player will finish in an attitude that plainly indicates power, grace, and comfort; he will be in absolute balance. The great objection to ^^ finish ^^ photographs is that they are generally snapped too late; the player is not only through with the actual stroke, but has let himself drop into a position of mere restfulness. Now this sort of picture can teach us nothing; the golfer might quite as well be sitting down on a bench. What we want to see is his attitude at the exact instant upon which his work has been accomplished. Curiously enough, the action after the moment of impact is almost as important as that which takes place at the meeting of club-head and ball; certainly if there has been anything radically wrong with the swing it will show in the wind-up of the stroke.

Modern high-speed photography does enable us to get a fourth position — that of impact, and these pictures are most instructive to study. It requires great skill, the fastest possible lens, and perhaps many exposures to obtain a really good impact photograph.

The period of action may be placed at one two-thousandth of a second, and this willj give you some idea of the rate at which the club-head is moving when it meets the ball. It used to be the accepted theory that the player, at the moment of connecting with the ball, must be in precisely the same position as in the address. In Advanced Golf, with James Braid as the nominal author, several series of pictures are given in which the address photograph is actually and intentionally reproduced to illustrate the mo- ' ment of striking. Braid, or rather his editor, Mr. Henry Leach, says distinctly :

Theoretically the position at impact ought to be exactly the same as in the address ; and even in practice it will be found to be as nearly identical as possible—in the case of good driving, that is. Therefore, for the sake of precision, the third photograph in each series of four is a simple repetition of the first, and is not a special photograph.

Nothing can be more ludicrously misleading than this statement. I have before me, as I write, an instantaneous photograph of James Braid coming on the ball, and it is as different from his pose at the address as chalk is from cheese. The body has swung half-way round to face the hole, and the right

knee is noticeably flexed.

Fig. 2

Turn to the four companion pictures of the address, top of swing, impact and finish (redrawn from instantaneous photographs), and study them carefully. In the address (Fig. 2) you will notice the unexaggerated stance, the ball lying just a trifle to the left of the player's center, and the marked depression of the right shoulder. Why is the right shoulder kept down? Evidently because the right hand occupies the lower position on the shaft.

The illustration of the top of the swing (Fig. 3) indicates that the player is in perfect body-poise, as free and graceful as that of a bird preparing for flight. Observe that there is no suggestion of either swaying or waisting in the position. The trunk is vertical and the back is straight. Although the head and body are inclined forward, or toward the ball, yet the left shoulder is well up, almost touching the chin. Conversely, the right shoulder has been kept down, a most important point and one that is generally overlooked. Of course the left shoulder does swing down as the club goes back, but at the top of the swing it has recovered to a greater extent than most golfers suppose.

Now we come to the impact picture (Fig. 4) and this gives us a realistic idea of what hap-

O

Fig. 3 pens at the all-important moment of the stroke. Certainly no one would ever imagine that it was an illustration of the address; intense action is visible in every line and shade of the drawing. The right knee is bent in and the right hip is swinging around, while the rigidity of the right arm plainly indicates the application of the power. Another interesting point is the straightness of the wrists. And yet there are some people who still believe that a so-called ^^snap of the wrists'' takes place as the club-head meets the ball. It is true that the wrists do finally turn over, but the turning takes place after the period of impact and not before. Moreover, it is not a consciously made movement. Let us now consider another disputed point — the part that the body plays at the instant of impact. Until very recently it was the accepted theory that the downswing was started by the wrists, the arms following, and then the big muscles of the shoulders, thighs, and knees gradually and successively joining in. The idea was that if the body entered the swing before the moment of impact the stroke must inevitably be spoiled; it was a fatal error to let the body get to the ball in advance of the hands.

Now, in the light of really instantaneous

Fig. 4 photography we are compelled to revise our theories on this point. Look again at the picture of the impact, and you must admit that the body has turned decidedly more toward the hole than in the address and the weight is well on the left foot. And yet the ball is barely started on its journey.

Well, what are we to conclude? My theory is that while the body has certainly turned, its energy has not actually been put into the stroke; it is biding its time to take part in the game. It was necessary that the body should assume this position of watchful waiting, for the simple reason that the large, heavy muscles of the back and hips cannot move so rapidly as the lighter ones of the wrists and arms. Consequently the bodymuscles have to start a little ahead of time, as it were, in order to be ready; otherwise, they would be left hopelessly behind by the faster-moving parts. In this case we should be swinging entirely with the arms, and the blow would be lacking in pith and punch. But remember that this body-turn is made without taking conscious thought. If you are properly balanced at the top of the swing, and come through smoothly, the body tilting inward or toward the ball, and the right

shoulder well down; then the body will tal:c care of itself and function correctly. On the other hand, if you consciously try to get the body in this advanced position, you will do so by pushing the right shoulder into the work ahead of its time; and this means that you will raise it at the moment of impact, thus destroying the rhythm and taking all the ginger out of the stroke. In a true swing the motive force comes primarily from the right hip and not from the right shoulder; keep this basic distinction in mind and you will never find yourself smothering the ball.

The illustration of the finish (Fig. 5) shows clearly that the body retains most of its original tilt, toward the ball. This is proof positive that the right shoulder has swung straight through and ^^well under the head,'' as one authority puts it. As compared with the left shoulder it is still slightly depressed, and this again is as it should be. Note the decided drop of the right knee; in a bad drive the whole body would have lunged forward, and the right leg would have been pulled very nearly straight.

In these four pictures, then, you have the model upon which to found your own style. Perhaps you may feel some doubt of your ability to produce an even colorable imitation, but I tell you not to be pessimistic,]

Presuming that you have your eyesight and are not an absolute cripple, you can learn the correct swing as well as anybody. You won't be able to acquire it unconsciously as the caddie-boys do, but if you will take the trouble to think and are willing to practise faithfully you can surely build up a swing that will not bring you into discredit even off the first tee at St. Andrews. Or you may object disconsolately that you have played golf badly for many years, that an old dog cannot be taught new tricks, and so on, and so on. I assure you that nothing in golf is incurable, if you really want to be cured, if you are ready to throw overboard all your old theories and quack medicines and become again as a little child, without guile and without prejudice. Of course the quickest and surest method is that of personal instruction, but first-class teaching is not within reach of everybody, and I am writing primarily for the man who can't enroll himseK as a pupil in a golf-school and yet sincerely desires to better his game. I can at least start him on the right path, and his future progress and final success will depend upon how clearly he understands my theory of the game, and how diligently he works putting my ideas into daily practice,

Fig. 6 a

I prefer to give my initial lessons indoors, for then the pupil can have the benefit of a long mirror in which to view the steps of his progress. If it is possible to fit up a home practice court, such as is described in Chapter VII, so much the better; otherwise, a cork or a round piece of white pasteboard placed on a cocoa-fiber mat will have to do duty for the ball. Really this is not a bad plan, anyway, for it will be easier to acquire the correct swing if there is no ball to think about. For the present we will even dispense with the club.

Stand in front of the long mirror, the body inclined slightly forward, the arms hanging comfortably at the sides, and the feet holding a natural straddle — neither too close together nor too far apart. Now, without altering the relative positions of your feet, turn the head so that you are looking directly behind you (Fig. 6 a). You will notice that your right knee stiffens under the tension, while the left bends inward, accompanied by a slight drop. Keep your body and legs in this fixed position, but turn your head to the front (Fig. 6 b) ; now look at yourself in the glass. Except for the do-nothing position of the arms, and the fact that the eyes should be

looking at the ball, you are correctly poised

Fi3. 6 b

V^r for the top of the swing. Observe how natural and well-balanced is your attitude. Of course there is a little feeling of tension, for you have wound yourself up like a spring by the right-hand twist of the legs, hips, trunk, and shoulders. You realize that there is a latent potency of action in your position, that in the very act of unwinding you will be generating energy. Above all, there is no tendency to topple over in any direction; you feel that you can preserve your equilibrium, no matter what happens. You also notice that your back is perfectly straight, and that your left shoulder is well up. The position looks well, and it has been the easiest thing in the world to obtain and hold it. Simple, isn't it? Why make a mystery of it?

To be sure, we have left the arms and the club out of the problem, but we have done so purposely. One thing at a time is my theory. I have taken the golfing swing to pieces merely that I may build it up again; first the analytic and then the synthetic method, as a scientist would say. Try taking this pose again and again; every time you do it you are thereby advancing your golfing education, getting the ^^feeP' of the business. Do it quietly, easily, and with relaxed muscles; don't try to overdo anything. Remember that what you are endeavoring to acquire is the sensation of perfect body balance. You can't go wrong, particularly if you check every successive step in the mirror.

Our next consideration is the stance or position of the feet in relation to each other and the ball. About this point there has been great argument in the past, very wearisome and very fruitless.

For really it doesn't matter how you stand, so long as you do not drift into extremes. You may keep both feet exactly parallel to the line of the ball's intended flight, or you may draw back the right foot for several inches, or you may advance the right foot for an equal distance. Now no one can dispute the fact that good golf is perfectly possible in all three positions, and I can name you first-class players for each one of them. But you are a beginner, and as yet you don't know your own physical proclivities; you can't tell which will be the natural — that is, the best — position for you. Therefore I advise you to commence with the square stance — i. e., both feet parallel to the line of play — and then forget about it. Little by ^ little your stance will modify itself to suit

your particular physical build and swing, fi and that is all there is to it. Don't try to force yourself. Be natural, and if you happen to be like Harry Vardon as well, so much the better. He stands with the right foot slightly advanced, so that he faces a little way in the direction of the hole.

How far apart should the feet be? The pseudo-scientific golf-manuals will give you carefully drawn diagrams neatly marked off in inches and even fractions of an inch. Better not bother with such arithmetical niceties, but consider these facts: If you get your feet too far apart you will stiffen your swing unduly and be inclined to dig up the earth; if you have them too close together you will frequently hit the ball on the top instead of on its side, and you will find difficulty in maintaining your central balance. The obviously proper procedure is to do a little experimenting, and determine for yourself what degree of straddle is natural and comfortable.

Another point over which much hot air has been poured out is the distribution of weight between the two feet. It was long the accepted theory that the preponderance of the player's weight was thrown on the right leg as the club went back, and was then transferred to the left leg in the down stroke.

Mr. P. A. Vaile, who has added so much to our scientific knowledge of the game, and whose book, Modern Golf, is well worth reading, combats this old idea with such vehemence that he really makes a mountain out of a molehill. He actually had a weighingmachine built, a sort of double scale on which the player stood in making his stroke, in order to prove that the weight could not :] possibly be transferred to the right foot un- j less the fault of swaying to the right was also i committed. As a matter of fact, the machine did not settle the controversy. It could be shown that while many good golfers did have the weight equally divided at the top of the , swing or even on the left leg, quite as many more registered a preponderance on the right ; leg, the trunk remaining perfectly vertical. Look again at the picture of the address ' (Fig. 2). The right shoulder is markedly depressed, for the simple reason that the right ■ hand is below the left in gripping the club, i As any one can see, the weight is on the right leg. Why shouldn't it remain there as the ! club swings back? Impossible, says Mr. i Vaile, unless the body sways to the right and j out of the vertical plane. Now the other | day I was shown a set of photographs taken ^ of a first-class golfer in action. In front of '

the player had been set up a framework in which were stretched a number of vertical cords some four inches apart; and these cords showed plainly in the plates, providing an accurate means of measuring any lateral or sideways movement of the player's body. At the top of the swing it was unmistakably evident that the golfer's trunk, shoulders, and head had moved en masse two or three inches to the right. Of course the position of the right foot had not altered, and the body movement was not an inclination from the vertical, but in a line parallel with the ground. It followed that the bulk of the weight must be on the right leg. Theory is all very well, but here are facts ocularly demonstrated.

So far as I know this movement of the body parallel with the ground has never before been noticed nor commented upon. It does go to show that in the full driving strokes the weight must be well behind the ball or on the right leg; moreover, in the down swing this parallel movement must be reversed, the whole body coming forward with the descent of the club. But this is nothing for the player to worry about. So long as he is careful to turn his body on its vertical axis, neither swaying nor waisting, he need not concern him-

'4 43 self about the distribution of his weight;^ Nature will look after that. All authorities agree that after the ball has been hit th J| weight is fully on the left leg, but no one knows just where the transference takes place. If it is too late a slice is probable, or at least a want of power. Keep your body perfectly balanced throughout and the weight will come in when it is needed. You see I am always harking back to the one essential thing — balance.

One more point before we take the club in hand — the question of the master-eye. What do I mean by this? Well, if you are being fitted for a shotgun the gunsmith will give you a test to discover which is your master-eye. If your right eye is in control a straight stock is proper; otherwise the stock will have to be specially shaped to enable you to do the aiming with your left eye. The s.ame thing holds true in golf; about seventy-five per cent, of players have the right eye as the master; with the minority it is the left eye that governs the aim. The following simple experiment will enable you to discover how the case is with you.

Take an ordinary business-card and punch a hole in it large enough to accommodate your forefinger — say the size of a nickel.

Hold the card in the hand and, with both eyes wide open, look at the ball on the ground through the hole. Close one eye, and then the other; the eye that continues to see the ball through the hole in the card, as at first, is the master-eye. Now if the right is your master-eye be careful not to turn your head to the right during the address and upward swing; if you do, the bridge of your nose must interfere more or less with your view of the ball. This may seem like a small point, but it is very important that our view of the ball should be clear and unobstructed from beginning to end. This is what the ancients meant by their continual admonition: ^^Keep your eye on the ball!^' And I repeat my advice:

Whatever is Natural and Harry Vardon.

Ill

BUILDING UP THE SWING (Continued)

IT is time now to get hold of the club, but don't pick it up in any old way. Beginning with the left hand, imagine that the club is a tennis-racquet, and that you are about to play a backhand stroke. If you have grasped the idea, as well as the club, the fingers of the left hand will be entirelj^ hidden from your downward gaze; and this is the only possible grip by which you can get any left-hand strength into the stroke. (Of course I am assuming that you you are a right-handed player; ^^ southpaws'' will have to mentally reverse all these directions.) The full position of the left hand is therefore: Back of the hand well over the club-shaft; the fingers out of sight; the thumb coiled around the handle.

Now have a friend take his stand at your left and hold out the club for you to snatch

away from him; the idea is that he is an enemy and that you al:-e to seize his weapon with your right hand and knock him down. Even if you don't go any further than the idea, you will instinctively take hold of the club, with the fingers of the right hand showing plainly; the position is virtually the reverse of that with the left hand. Here again you will experience a gratifying feeling of power; if that friend of yours doesn't keep a civil tongue in his head you will let him have it anyway. Analyzing the right-hand grip in detail, you will notice that the back of the hand is well under the handle, the fingers are half-way visible, and the thumb is wrapped around the shaft.

You should now be able to put the two single-handed grips together, remembering to keep the hands as near each other as possible, and also taking care to hold the club diagonally across the roots of the fingers and not buried deeply in the palms. If you have followed my directions successfully you will now have acquired what is generally known as the orthodox, or V-grip. And the very next time you meet a golfing friend he will undoubtedly advise you to use the overlapping or Vardon grip, and you will quote against me my own dictum: ^'Whatever is

natural and Harry Vardon.''

I need not describe this overlapping grip. Probably every other golfer you know uses it, and he will be only too glad to demonstrate its merits to you. The principal difference between it and the V-grip is that the left thumb lies down the shaft and not around it, while the right thumb may take either position. Also the little finger of the right hand does not touch the club-handle, but rides upon the forefinger of the left hand. The grip is a little complicated to describe in words, but any user of it can explain its peculiarities in the shake of a lamb's tail. Don't think that I am going to condemn the overlapping grip ; that would be very foolish, seeing that it is used by Braid, Vardon, Taylor, and Duncan. On the other side, I could point you to Hilton, Ball, Ouimet, Evans, and Dauge the Frenchman (probably the longest driver in the world), but there are some other considerations that are worth taking into account. Let me enumerate them.

Vardon says himself that he can hit harder, using the V-grip, but that he prefers the overlapping because it gives him better control over the club. He means, of course, that with the V-grip he could obtain a longer ball,

but he drives quite far enough as it is, and control is a most important thing in first-class golf; therefore he uses the overlapping grip. Even more significant is what H. H. H. (Harold H. Hilton) has to say on this point. Mr. Hilton tells us that at one time he played as an overlapper, but, finding that he was being constantly outdriven by his opponents, he went back to the old-fashioned grip. Now H. H. H. is certainly under the average in height and weight, and he doesn't begin to possess the physical strength of such men as Braid or Duncan. He needs the actual hitting power of the V-grip in order that he may hold his own off the tee and through the green. Now then, Mr. Short Driver (and I include the ladies), how is it with you? Are you not unconsciously throwing away a good bit of your chances for lining out a long ball by sticking to a grip which only exceptionally strong and powerful men can afford to use? So far as control of the club is concerned, I need only refer you again to Mr. Hilton. No golfer, living or dead, has ever attained more complete mastery over his clubs than H. H. H., and he tried and discarded the overlapping grip. But I have no ax to grind; and if the Vardon grip suits you and you don't feel the necessity of getting more distance, by all means stick to it. But

I am sure that all women and many men wil| drive a consistently longer ball with the nat ural, or V-grip.

Aside from the diminution in driving powel I find, by experience with my pupils, that the overlapping grip has a tendency to interfere with the proper functioning of the wrists, particularly in the follow- through. The thumb (or thumbs) lying straight down the shaft necessarily stiffens the wrist-joints, and checks their smooth and even action in the roll and snap. Of course this criticism does not apply to Vardon and other good golfers who have learned how to adapt their swing to the conditions imposed by the overlapping grip; it is the ordinary player who is often handicapped without being in the least aware of the difficulty against which he is contending. I never try to change a pupil's grip from overlapping to V, but I place these facts before him and let him make up his ow^n mind. As the breakfast-food people say, ^^ There's a reason."