Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1910-08-18
HINTS THAT Will
ASSIST GOLFERS
Player Should Retain His Equi-
|ibrium When About to Drive.
The PO|SE OF ONES BODY,
Beginners Should Always Bear In
Mind This Is One of Main THINGS to
Be Considered-GoIf, Like Fencinu,
Demands Great Aim.

Mind This Is One of Main Things to
Be Considered-GoIf, Like Fencing,
Demands Great Aim.
One of the few canons Of golfing
style which no hereto has yet dared
to dispute is that which advises the
player to stand with his ball more
nearly in line with his right toe as the
distance to be covered by the shot
diminishes.
Nowadays almost every one drives
with the ball opposite a spot halfway
between his heels OF even two or three
inches in front. But he plays his
cleek shots with the ball farther back
and in approach play usually stands so
that the ball is almost opposite his
right heel.
All this Is most orthodox. But it is
somewhat less usual to inquire why it
should be so. However, does not the
answer to this make plain the whole
problem of stance, which is simply
a matter Of equilibrium and depends
upon n simple rule-however you
stand, you must have your weight
SO distributed that your center of gray
ity is opposite the ball at the moment
of hitting it?
The reason is not difficult to see, and
perhaps it may be a source of en-
lightenment as well as q help to have
brought again to the notice of those
golfers who are in the habit of pulling
or slicing badly n fundamental idea.
An ordinary golf club is constructed
so that if the ball is to be hit square
ly the shaft must at that moment of
impact be at right angles to the direc-
ton in which the player wishes his
ball to travel-that is to say, the play
er's hand must be opposite the ball.
1t they are not the club face, as it
comes in contact with the ball, cannot
possibly be at right angles to the line
of f!~,,.t. and a glancing blow result
ing in 4 pull or slice is the inevitable
result.
1t is easy, however, for a golfer to
prove for himself how the natural po-
Sition Of the hands in holding any
two handed weapon. such as a golf
club. depends upon the distribution of
the weight of the body. Let him
clasp his hands in front of him, then
shift his weight on to his left foot and
note how promptly his arms fall for
ward, like some delicate pendulum. in
accordance with the change. Con-
trariwise, if he throws his weight on
to his right DOT and attempts at the
same time to keep his hands we'll to
the lott aS If hn were going to play
"off his left toe" he will realize that
the position is II of constraint in
which a powerful stroke is impossi-
BILE.
1t is this factor which makes it so
awkward to play from an Uneven or
insecure stance. The players weight
has to be distributed differently from
usual owing to the necessity of obtain
ing a firm footing. and, the natural po-
sition of his hands being thus altered.
to play his ordinary stroke becomes
impossible. Every golfer has expert
enced the fact that where some hillock
or hollow in the ground prevents him
from resting the same proportion of
weight as usual upon each foot. though
the stance is otherwise the same, he
feels that he simply cannot play the
stroke according to his accustomed
method. Often he is constrained to
play in some fashion quite untried md
with complete success, because, as we
must know, the most important thing
is not that he should stand in a par
ticular way. but that stance and swing
should be suitable to each other. Golf,
like fencing and other sports in which
the stroke demands great nicely of
aim, demands that the poise of the
body be reckoned as of the utmost i'm
%portance.
Driving with the ball well forward
and driving with it as far back as
possible have each certain advantages,
but neither is the slightest good III
less the player is standing so that the
natural position of the hands, that po-
sition into which they will fall at the
lowest point of the stroke, is exactly
opposite the ball. 1t is hardly neces-
sary to prove that it is when the hands
are in this natural position that the
blow attains its greatest force.
In theory it is quite sufficient that
the body should be properly balanced
at the moment of striking the ball.
Accordingly swaying the body is not
necessarily fatal to a good shot. In
practice, however. the case is rather
different, because when a player sways
back with the upward swing of his
club the chances are against him sway
ing forward to exactly the right de-
gree in the down stroke. In any case.
by swaying he is introducing a new
and difficult factor into his calcula-
lions, and the less this factor is al
lowed to affect the conditions of the
problem the better.
1t is all very well to talk about the
bad results which come from swaying
or an awkward stance, bad habits
into which many golfers have grown.
What intornsfs than tho most Sc hnu