Show I 1 Concentration Means Competition By GRANTLAND RICE TN TIIE RUN of sport a rather nerve stabbing game known as golf demands the best any competitor has In the way of The reason is quite Outside of billiards or golf is about the only Important game where the player swings at a stationary This isn't true in polo or even in boxing where both fighters swing at moving It is an entirely different act when the target Movement is the best cure for and tension is the greatest curse in would be an simple game to leran and Joe Kirk-wood told me it weren't for Vou look at a golf and there it sits and So the keyed up brain or mind immediately begins to travel around to the bunkers and traps ahead to the ponds and lakes to the matted rough to all the sordid trouble a poor shot can Thinking too much along this line is The best concentrators think only in terms of essentials or as the pace of the back swing and down swing physical that h care of the grooved swing keeping the 1 head in The main tendency is JM to think In terms of what causes or produces the right Hire Who are the u best of these Certainly you must head any list with Bobby Walter Ben Byron Gene in certain Long Jim Barnes was a fine Walter Hagen had a great knack of being able to save his concentration for the few seconds needed to play the shot He avoided the long three-hour strain for a round by kidding with the his caddie or his opponent between I would say that Ben Hogan and Bob Jones worked harder at tournament golf than anyone else I although Jones will tell you that Hogan was in a class by himself when it came to hard work and complete concentration on every shot Sammy Snead is Inclined at times to let his thoughts wander with the roving winds that travel over the A Star Example Jerry one of the greatest of all concentrators died only re He won the U.S. amateur championship four times and the open title Travers was one of the star match players of His swing was far from But he was a determined competitor with an amazing short Years ago both Travers and Hagen had gone to Alex Smith for I asked Alex one day which of the two lie thought was the greatest he can tell whether Hagen is up or leading or trailing by the way he No one could ever tell whether Jerry Travers was five up or six His expression never Close friends were often hurt when they spoke to Travers during a tournament match and got no He never heard He was is only one important shot In Travers used to the next When I have played that 1 think only of the shot that comes I never think of any shot I have played poorly or Those shots are You can't play them Too many even good let these mistakes make them sore or keep them This is a killing No one can concentrate on the next shot while brooding over the last one I have seen this mistake wreck many a Travers was one of the finest chippers and putters golf has ever From 50 yards off the green he could get down in two strokes more often than anyone I have ever not even barring or His old-time Walter J. was another master of brain and nerve two of golf's major About Blackwell Ewell six feet six or is only 28 years Just as he got started the army grabbed him and held him for three So the first real test he drew was in 1947 when Blackwell won 22 games and lost only eight with a somewhat ragged Red ball In June of that year he pitched a against the Braves and in his next start he had another no-hitter for eight Innings when Eddie nailed him for a As one hitter Blackwell is pitching against you Iff like a tall tree falling on top of you at the Hal was the first to locate one of the secrets of Black-well's A baffling delivery can be a big part of |