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Show II ES &ales of aS Hfl'iL (sJamide c7ee gpfil y GRANTLAND RICE j (Copyright. 1922k New York Tribune, H A brooding reader, possibly thinking fi over his golfing sins for tho last year, .1 and perhaps pondering on ways to j lead a better golfing lite, asks this j question : "What are the main ingredients of Jj a good golf swing? Is there one fca-ture fca-ture of the swing that is more lin-portant lin-portant than all others one thing to be given greater care in the lmprovc-merit lmprovc-merit of a poor game?" Out of the 50 or more things that M ori'j an 'lo l:i fee i;.-!it way or the wrong way, especially the latter It is W no easy matter to segregate one or two and call them the main founda- 4 tlons of a successful style or method. -1 Yet at least it is possible to make a some headway In this direction. 5 STAN OK AND GRI. j! Stance, and grip by some have beeD called the most important founda-,3 founda-,3 lions. We have never thought so. Few of tho hcadlincrs have the v3 same stance or the same grip. 'M "Chick" Evans uses a grip wit a Sj both thumbs down the shaft, but with I no other overlapping ii Ocno Sarazen and Francis Ouimet Rgl employ tho interlocking grip, whero jj th little finger of tho right hand and jJJi the forefinger of the left hand are intertwined. fi9 Walter Hagen, Jim Barnes. Bobby 3 Jones and others use tho overlapping hM grip. cflB) Abo Mitchell uses the straight, old- all fashioned grip on all wooden shots, with the overlapping on all shorter ' iron strokes. Jerry Travers in winning five na-tlonal na-tlonal championships used only tho JH straight V-grlp. with no overlapping Hj or Interlocking, mMi So hero we have a wider variety 'JH of grips. Walter J. Travis and Alex :dn Smith both have the right hand well under, whllo others uso it well over. 'B So It can hardly be that a grip is 9H the basis of good play. j SAML: FOR STANCE. fm George Duncan stands with his left jHj foot fairly well advanced beyond his jH right, 80 does Jesse Sweetsor. jH "Chick" Evans holds his two feet Hi upon an even line. 9H Walter Hagen and Jim Barnes ke?p Hi their right foot advanced beyond tho mm left. So does Jock Hutchison. H There is no standard system of etance In this respect. So It can hard-Hi hard-Hi ly come down to a matter of stance-H stance-H We once made the test of having z. certain well known pro drive a ball jHj with different stances and different jH grips. In eaca Instance h was (straight down the course for his usual I distance. And somewhat to his own' surprise. I TI1F GREAT "WHAT IS IT?" You have undoubtedly noticed ,' , theso details: 1. That nearly all first-class golf-I era have an almost straight left arm 1 'if not 100 per cent straight, ut least with only a slight, comfortable bend 'in the e'bow, but never a icclded 1 j break. I 2. That in pivoting tho head re-maths re-maths almost precisely where it was, j with the left shoulder and the lett km c turning In toward tho ball, the body turning In almost tho same spaco that it knew in the address. The.se pur.iiLs undoubtedly aro to ba ' j iound in most first-class games, where ! I there is seldom any lurching back and I swaying torward through the stroke. It is noticeable that when you see a .golfer with a straight or almost .straight left arm and a sound turning of the left shoulder and the left knee, ' : with the head Jeld as an anchor, you see a Iirst-clius player perhaps not a star, but one steadily down in tho ! late 70s or tho early 80s. And 95 1 per cent of the leaders play this wav. 1 TJIL ULi OF IT. This matter of pivoting and of head balance form no timall part of tho ' stroke's foundation. After this comes the affair of balance bal-ance and of rhythm. Balance must i find the weight adjusted at the top Of tin- swing whero one is in a com- I fortablo position to hit the ball. In Its main aspects It means a natural j transference of the weight on tho back I .'swing to tho right foot and the lnsido ' of the ball of the left foot. About I 70 per cent of the weight should bo 1 on tho straight or firm right leg at the top of the swing. Tho matter of rhythm takes up tho detail of an even, steady back swing ; where one Isn't In too great a hurry , to hit tho ball. It means a down swing that gathers impetus or speeds up as it goes along and then hits on through the ball with this impetus unchecked by any ! sudden tightening or head lifting. This Is all part of tho right timing, ono of the hardest thingo in golf to explain, for it frequently cornea and goes among the champions. J Many golf swings are wrcr.kod by this sudden tightening before the club head gets to tho ball, whero If tho club head was permitted to whlstlo on through in a natural way, unchecked by the desire to hit too soon, far better 1 results would follow. ThAaa mistakes cA on rue frnm any type of stance or grip, as a large part of such errors are mental. Did you ever observe that when an I average golfer is merely playing some Stroke to safe territory, without over- doing any part of the swine;, how much 1 better his swing looks7 How often ha whales the ball much further on than he expected to? There are more things to be taken 1 out of an average swing than thro j aro to be put in it. giving the club , head its chance to whizz through In a l natural, unhampered fashion a chance the club lo ad rarely has In a : game that kills off confidence so quickly and that brings on the pas-' ; sionate desire to kill the ball or to lift I the head to sec the doubtful finish of its flight. Briefly, there are as many mental faults to correct as there are physical ' ones. And the mental deficits receive only the smallest of attention. uo |