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Show P J CMVriAND . -, THERE is a way to keep your golf name going to improve your play, to be a better golfer after the war is over and still not encroach in any way upon any part of the war effort, including transportation. transporta-tion. After all, there will someday be a peace and when peace returns, golf with all other sports will come back with a tidal-wave effect that will dwarf the rush after the last war. We took this matter up with Ed Dudley, president of the Professional Profession-al Golfers' association, known as the PGA. Here is the general Idea if you can't get to your club you can take Indoor lessons or go to indoor schools. If you can't do that you can swing a club in your own home, provided you have swinging room. Tips From the Top Here are a few suggestions from Ed Dudley, one of the finest swingers swing-ers golf has ever known 1. "Too many golfers think In terms of results, in plaoe of correct swinging. '1 hey are packed with tension ten-sion because they haven't a good swing and thev know it. They can at least Improve their swing indoors. 2. "I would suggest first that they work upon a more comfortable stance, greater ease as they address 1 - ED DUDLEY the ball. Most golfers are stiff-legged stiff-legged and body-locked before they even start the backswing. Swinging indoors they can build up the habit of greater freedom. 3. "In these indoor lessons or Indoor In-door practice, golfers can concentrate concen-trate entirely on the right way to swing. Golf is largely a matter of habit. Golfers who let a fault turn into a habit are in a bad way. But by practice they can learn to keep hands, arms, body, legs and feet more flexible. They can learn to turn more, to get their hands higher, to finish their backswing. The Case of Bobby Jones ' 4. "Tension, of course, is the great curse of golf. Movement alone can check tension. Bobby Jones is the only golfer I ever saw who kept in motion as he started to address the ball. He was never locked. I have never seen him freeze over the ball as the vast majority do. Either his feet or hands were in some form of motion. Golfers, through indoor practice, can work over this feature. Don't ever stand over the ball and begin to freeze on the swing. Loosen Loos-en yourself up. This can happen when you improve your swing, as you can indoors. 5. "Most golfers lack the needed gripping power in both hands. How can this be helped? I can tell you. Just lay aside 10 or 15 minutes a day where you work with an old golf ball in either hand, squeezing it and building up your finger strength. This sounds foolish? Well, I know two ballplayers who use this method Lefty Grove, the pitcher, and Charlie Keller, the Yankee outfielder. out-fielder. They were smart enough to know how important it is to have hand strength or finger strength. Both have represented power in pitching and hitting respectively. This is a simple and an important exercise. Interesting Work "This is all interesting work," Dudley continued, "because golf is about 75 per cent mental. In golf yoa are not playing against an opponent. oppo-nent. Your main opponent is yourself. your-self. Yon keep trying to make yourself your-self do things that seem comparatively compara-tively easy such as smooth swinging, swing-ing, keeping your head down, etc. Each person Is more interested in himself than in anyone else. The golfer usually beats himself. And he knows that. No opponent can ever keep you from making a two, a three or a four. "Someone once gave the reason for Willie Hoppe's great record. The answer was this the others played Hoppe Hoppe played billiards. Hundreds Hun-dreds of thousands of golfers know what to do but they won't do it often enough. "They all know they should take a comfortable stance, with a comfortable comfort-able grip. They know they should never hurry the backswing, or hurry the downswing. They know they should keep their eyes and their minds on the target they are swinging swing-ing at. Never mind the bunkers and the ponds on ahead. |