The Washington times., 1915-10-10

are possessed Of such possibilities as
the mashie and the putter. It Is q
| cheering reflection for the person who
becomes converted to the game late in
life or whose muscles. at any rate. are
set and stin as the result OF long
period OF abstention from exercise. that
he can become highly proficient In the
| zone mentioned II only he cares to set
about the matter in the right way. II
he chances to be the owner Of "a fine
, shest slipped down." he may find the
full swing with driver rather DIM
cult to perform. but there II no rea-
son at all why he should not control
the mashie and the putter in Just the
manner that produces success.
The intricacies OF mashie play are
greatly exaggerated. Certainly the ad-
vanced shots. such as those to which
cut or back-spin is applied. want a lot
Of learning. but there Is not the slight
est need for the golfer to bother his
head about them until he IL in the re-
gion of the scratch mark. Indeed, my
earnest advice to the average player Is
that he should concentrate his atten-
tion wholly on the simpler strokes: they
are plenty good enough for ordinary
circumstances and he ought to master
, them fairly readily SO long as he does
not allow ''vaulting ambition to overleap
itself Many q promising golfer VINO
might have made admirable progress
at tho game has ruined his prospects
BY trying to excel at the difficult shots
before he could depend upon execut-
ing the simpler ones with accuracy.
What may be termed the general util-
ity stroke with the mashie Is the pitch
and run shot. It Is suited to the cir
cumstances in four cases out of five:
perhaps in an even bigger proportion
of instances In America, where putting
greens are not so closely guarded by
bunkers as they are In Britain. And
It is an easy shot 10 long as the player
rules Of action. Two points are OF
outstanding Importance. They are:
Let the club do the work. Do not
bend the wrists in an effort to lift the
ball into the air. Hit through 1t Just
as you would with a driver. The club
is designed to produce the loft of its
accord.
Keep the head down until the ball is
on Its way. The temptation to look up
| to see where the shot is going Is
fixed on tho spot where the bali lay
until the swing is finished.
These arc principles the non-observ-
ance Of which is the cause of most bad
mashie shots. Once they have become
ingrained In the system. approaching
will lose any terrors that formerly It
possessed. And now we may delve a
little more deeply into the science of
stable as possible on the feet. We have
to control to a nicety both the length
and the direction of the shot. and II we
were to work the feet with anything
like the same freedom as for a drive or
even an iron shot, we might lose a GER
tain amount Of command over the club
We still have to screw the body round
at the ships during the up-swing in
stead OF allowing It to sway and un-
screw It during the down swing. but
with the mashie this movement must
be Of a limited nature 50 that there
shall be mo- danger Of losing control of
the situation.
1t is best to inausurate the pivoting
from the knees and to keep both feet
as rearly as possible fat on the ground
Stand we'll over the ball with the body
turned distinctly toward the hole: that
is to say. with the left foot (pointing
outward appreciably behind the right,
and the latter, Ike the sole Of the club.
vious II you dispose your right
foot square to the direction In which
you propose to strike the ball. and havs
the left foot well back with the toes
evitablS be turned toward the hole.
This arrangement reduces tho necessity
for much pivoting at the waist, and
allows the turning of the body to be
WORKED from tne Knees Let the feet
be sufficiently close together to permit
OF a certain sense of slackncss at the
knees.
The up-wing is simply a matter of
Strengthening the right leg as the club
rises. When that leg Is rigid without
being strained, the back swing is An
ished. It stands to reason that this
stiffening of the right leg during the
process of taking the club up will have
the effect Of making the body turn at
the hips and the left knee bend slightly,
For the down swing all that the play
er has to do is to unwind the body at
the waist by allowing the right knee TO
reFume the bent position which II occu-
pied at the outset II he keeps firm on
his feet without allowing either heel to
move from the ground pivots from the
knees as I have indicated, let's the club
produce the loft instead OF irving TO
push II under the hall. and keeps his
head down till the finish of the swing.
he will be good man with the mashie
Another simple form Of approach Ia
the running-uD shot. which often has
ADVANTAGES when the ground ia favor
able to 1t and there is no hazard 70 he
carried. 1t can he Mayed with either a
mid-iron or mashie: but II ia neces-
sary to- stand more forward than for
the pitch. with the hands rather in front
of the ball during the address This will
tend to reduce the loft OF the club bw
turning II more on to the bali thsn ordj,