The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-07-31


he will be able to initiate them faith
fully even down to the personal pc
culiarities of some crack whom he
will mimic for the amusement of his
boy friends.
To start to play golf at mature
age is a more serious matter, when
the muscles have set, and the power
to coordinate the body with the natur-
al swing of the club is a matter of
imagination rather than actual prac-
tfce. To acquire a form" or swing
at this stage requires careful study
and analysis of every movement made
by the body in making the stroke and
continual swinging of the club minus
the ball, watching every movement of
the hands, arms, feet, shoulders, ETC.,
to see that every part is working
smoothly.
The shortest cut to developing a
good form" is to take every oppor-
tunity of preliminary swings without
the ball, and a quiet half hours
swinging in your own back yard be-
fore breakfast, giving the whole at
tention to this swing, will make the
foundation to your game besides be-
ing a healthy exercise.
An Unimitable Stroke.
The beginner who has had the OPP
portunity of watching an experienced
player make a drive and has sized up
his methods as being something diff
ferent from "chopping wood" or bat
ting a baseball is a long way ahead
of the player who goes after it on
the hitting method based on their ex-
perience of either of the operations
Golf is not ''chopping wood" nor is it
like batting a baseball, the action re-
quired being different from either of
these.
Golf is a swing; a loose easy action
of the arms and body the same as you
would make in swinging an Indian
club. In the case of chopping wood or
batting a baseball the muscles are
flexed or frightened to withstand the
blow of the opposing force of q pitch
ed baseball or the heavy weight of the
axe, with some additional force for
penetration. This light, easy golf
swing can better be understood when
we consider the weight of the ball as
a small fraction of an ounce, and the
club about fourteen ounces. the pro-
portion of weight in the club being
sufficient in itself to drive the ball
with little effort.
If we discard the strong arm meth
DDS and apply our efforts in the direc-
ton of conveying the greatest mo-
mentum to the head of the club, con-
centrated at the point where it meets
the ball it will not be unusual to drive
ball ESQ yards and sometimes over
that distance. There is only one con-
dition where exceptional force is nee
essary and that is where the ball
might be lying in an exceptionally bad
position where the Instructions have
to be dug through furnishing resis-
force it.
The Swing in Detail
1t would be impossible to give a de-
scription of the swing in detail in this
column, but few golden rules for the
beginner may be helpful and can be
followed to advantage by the older
players.
Keep the head steady when drawing
the club back from the ball.
The left wrist must be turned in
dc 1nax I1o1
following the club head.
Keep your head perfectly still I'M
til the club has struck the ball.
Throw the arms out to the right on
the downward stroke.
Grip tighter with the left hand.
Keep your eye on the ball until the
stroke is completed.
Let the movement of the right
shoulder be steady-not jerked back.
About the Rules.
And about the rules-the rules of
golf are not as complicated as one
would at first suppose. You start
playing golf with only one all-import-
ant rule viz; Play >the Ball From
Where It Lies After the Tee Shot.
To get into proper relationship with
the principle of the game you must
get rid of the idea that in playing
a round you have to be on the outlook
all the time for the opportunity of
lifting your ball and dropping or plac-
Ing II OIl IdNOTdOlo ground Indn
your previous stroke entitled you 20,
and that by making a special ruling
to fit your own case, based on the
theory that the ground should be
smooth and level and it is unfair to
you to have to play the ball from a
bad lie, that you are playing within
the laws of the game. If you wish
to adhere strictly to the spirit of
sportsmanship that pervades golf you
must govern your game by the United
States Golf association rules, and in
cases where these rules do not cover
purely local conditions the local
greens committee must make the ru1-
ing, having it posted in prominent
place in the club house that it may
be understood by every member alike.
Lifting the Ball.
The rules of golf contain a number
of provisions that make the lifting of
your ball permissible. but they are
to cover special conditions that do not
happen once in a round and sometimes
not once in ten.
If you will pardon a personal ex-
perience which will illustrate my point
in regard to special rulings made on
the spur of the moment. On my first