Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-18
is CITY WOULD DECIDE EASTERN TITLE-HOLDF
NAMING ALL STAR BACKFTELD
THIS SEASON NO EASY TASK.
PUTTING COLTS BIG MYSTEPv
w ork U po n
Greens Would Reduce
We r a g e Golfers
Score

TF THE average golfer only could strike
| / adroitly upon the science or art OF good
| putting he would soon be seven OF eight
strokes better of TO the round.
But putting, to the average golfer, In
fact to most golfers, even above the average,
is one OF the games leading mysteries.
Yet there IL at least one essential to
good putting, which, II followed, Will give
the golfer long start in the proper d.
rectlon.
The Case Of Worthington
Here is a case in hand James s. Worth
ington, now visiting this country, is one OF
Englands leading golfers, only a shade, In
fact, below Harold Hilton and John Ball.
worthington is a fine, straight player
from the tee to the green. And once on the
green no is one of the finest putters that
ever laid forty-footer dead or holed con-
aistently from six to eight feet away.
A few days ago worthington was playing
in n four-ball match that included we'll
known Scotch professional.
Tho Englshman, putting wonderfully
we'll, soon attracted the attention Of one of
the contenders.
Tho man referred to noted at once that
the English player. while put;n ng, held the
forehnger of his right hand down the shaft
at once, as he tried the system out
That's the trouble with so many Of you
golfers" remarked the professional You
see this man is fine putter and your at
tention is drawn at once to the unimportant
part of his play. Tho way he holds his
fore1nger or his thumb has nothing at all
to do with tho cnse. II you want to find
out why he is fine putter watch his body
as he puts Watch II and you will find
that II doesn't move the fraction of an inch.
You will find on the short puts he uses
only his wrists and forearms, and that his
body Is as immovable as rock Which is
one of the main reasons that he can putt"
A Putting Essential
From that point on we watched Worth
lngton continue to sink his puts and at the
same time continue to hold his body In an
easy attitude, unrestrained but at the same
time lmmovable.
There was at. no time any effort or at
tempt to hunch his shoulder or his right
hip into the stroke, as 80 many golfers do.
And then we recalled the putting man
ners and methods of Travers, Travis and
Ouimet three of the. finest putters golf
ever has known.
Their stances, their grips, their attitudes
are not nearly alike. Travis stands with
his feet well separated, bending over the
ball much more than Travers does. who
Wlln MS neelB only n rev lnCneS
apart, Oulmet has both elbows extended,
differing from both.
But there ls this one point In common
they not only keep their eyes on the
ball. but their bodies never CULVER with the
stroke-the wrists, the forearms and the
club do the work.
Keeping the Head Still
The easiest aid to keeping the body still
is to first keep the head still The head
directs the body If the head moves, the
body is sure to move with It.
1t has been proved that n man can look
at the hole, not the ball, and still putt
very well-provlded that in looking at the
hole he keeps his head fixed in one place,
and, therefore, keeps his body from swaying
out of line.
A moving head or Il moving body in
putting. not only takes the club away from
the proper line but 1t brings in an imme.
diate tendency to jab or push the putter
You may notice on certain days. when
feeling sluggish. that you putt very we'll
The answer is that, not being keyed up,
you are willing to let the wrists and club
do the work. Overeagerness and overanxl-
ETY. are almost sure to cause shift of the
head and body before the putters blade
strikes the ball.
The Foundation
Jerry Travers calls this process of
keeping the head and the body still CON
Others have called IT mental and mus
cular control"
You can call 1t anything you care to. but
the fact remains that 1t is the foundation
of steady, successful putting.
The golfer who takes an easy comfortable
stance over the ball, gets the line and then
Keeps his head still and his body out of the
stroke, is almost sure to be a first-class
putter. And II he makes a habit of this he
is just as sure to be a good putter in a hard,
close match as at any other time
Putting, of course, is getting the right
line and then getting tho ball as far as
the cup.
But the golfer who moves his head or
puts his body into the stroke is pretty sure
to get away from the right line, and also
to be far short or we'll over.
There can be no chance for any deiicacy
Of stroke with the head moving or the body
and yet nine golfers out of ten
persist in both faults-and stlll wonder why
they are poor putters. Just as II some one
ate four slices of mince pie after a big
dinner and wondered what caused his indi-
gestion. GRANTLAND RICE.