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Show IN AN age of prodigious hitting, no matter what the game, there is still a wide sweep of argument in regard to record distances. Thee mm is a wide divergence diver-gence of opinion as to how far the mightiest of the hitters hit-ters can drive baseball, golf ball or polo ball, to take up three examples. Few have ever smacked a baseball beyond 500 feet. I mean on the carry. A good many yean ago one of Babe Ruth's Florida wal- i I Grantland Rice lops that dropped into a plowed field was measured around 520 feet. Anything Any-thing over 430 feet is no part of soft hitting. Ruth remains the long-distance champion, both aa a record hitter and as the most consistent one. The Rabe not only had bulk and power back of bis punches, but he also had one of the finest swings that baseball has ever known in the way of timing and smoothness. But the Babe rarely reached a full ranee of 500 feet. There is no way to make any exact measurement when the ball sails out of the park or crashes into the upper stands. There Is a center-field center-field fence in the St. Petersburg park around 500 feet away, and no one has ever hit this palisade on the fly yet, according to Babe Ruth the best knowledge 1 nave. Golf Sluggers In golf Jimmy Thomson remains the long-distance ruler with something some-thing to spare. As I recall the figures Thomson has won the last six driving contests arranged by the PGA. It must be remembered that the only true measure in golf is from a flat surface, with no helping wind. Roll doesn't count. You can drive a golf ball a mile on the Ice. And a few of the long hitters can stand on an elevated tee and pass 300 yards on the carry with a helping gale. One earnest seeker for records once drove a golf ball well over a mile standing at the top of the Grand Canyon. Driving from a level surface, un-helped un-helped by a wind, Thomson's best blows usually range from 270 to 275 yards. This is big blasting. A carry of 250 yards under these conditions is big hitting. I doubt that any golfer golf-er ever carried 300 yards on flat ground, minus a keen breeze. I know that few good hitters care to risk a carry beyond 225 yards when there is trouble to face. A helping or a headwind makes a much greater difference than many know. A headwind is also a mental handicap since it usually brings on pressing and overeffort, which is always al-ways a mistake. How Far a Polo Ball? In his prime, Tommy Hitchcock could hit a polo ball as far as anyone any-one I ever saw. Dev Milburn and Wilburn Guest were also on the longer side. Hitchcock figures that 150 yards, half the distance of the field, is about all one can get from a full polo smash. Any wallop beyond 100 yards is good, hard hitting. "The longest drive I've seen," an eyewitness writes, "came from a combination of golf and polo. Winston Wins-ton Guest teed up a golf ball at Meadowbrook one day, mounted his polo pony and was then handed a polo mallet. With a good, galloping start and a double windup Guest drove the golf ball the full length of the polo field a matter of 300 yards. It was all carry." Golf machines can reach 500 yards, which shows how far the human hu-man machine lags behind the metal contrivance. Getting Distance Distance isn't a mere matter of bulk and physical power by many yards. Ben Hogan, weighing less than 135 pounds, Is longer by yards than most of the 180 or 200-pound swingers. swing-ers. I once saw Cyril Walker, then weighing 110 pounds, outdrive Walter Wal-ter Hagen, at 185, consistently in a big tournament. Distance comes largely from club-head club-head speed more so than from any other single faetor. Bobby Jones one day, with bis own clubs missing, used his wife's gct. Mrs. Jones' driver weighed ony 12 ounces, much lighter than Bob's. 'I was astonished to And that 1 was hitting the ball that day longer than usual," Bob said. "I found out that I could get much greater speed from the lighter clubhead. Naturally Natural-ly it called for less effort in swinging." |