The sun., 1918-12-22
FOLLOW THROUGH
SPORTS MANDATE
Rule Keystone Of Success in
All Branches Of Athletic
Endeavor.
COBB ILLUSTRATES IT
Ty on Diamond and Hoppe in
Billiards Offer Convinc-
ing Proof.
COBB ILLUSTRATES L

Golf instructors put more stress uoon
the Injunction to follow through" than
on all other rules combined. Billiard
emphasize to their pupils that o6serv-
ance of this rule Is the fundamental re-
quirement TO success. In baseball the
most successful pitchers ard batsmen
are those who follow through" And
I in bowling the follow through" rule is
equally important The good bowler in
variably follows through
To the student Of athletic sports, par
ticularly those involving the Use OF
ball, the two words follow through"
constitute the ten comma ndments. They
are the foundation upon which prac-
tically all success in these sports r.
built The precept consists OF only two
words. but 1t involves n subject 20 big
that book could he written about It.
Take baseball. for INSTANCE; that be-
ing the sport with which most people are
familiar Everybody knows that Ty
Cobb is the best batsn1an ever developed,
and that Walter johnson. t. not actually
the greatest, Is one OF the two or three
best pitchers the game has known. But
of the tens and hundreds Of thousands
who have watched these great athletes
perform only a comparative few realize
that they are the two greatest expone ats
Of the follow through" rule in the game.
"step. Into" Rail.
When Ty Cobb bats he STEPS into"
z the ball. He throws every ounce OF his
strength directly into the ball. Ty bats
/, left handed and stands with his feet
: together until the start OF his batting
swing. When he starts his swing his
3 left foot goes forward. and at the end
Of his swing that foot Is to the right Of
line drawn from the centre OF the
pitcher's box 70 the centre OF the home
plate. That shows the extent to which
Cobb steps into" the hail. o.. in other
words, 1t reveals how he follows
! through
: Other players pull away from the bail.
They step back with their forward foot.
or, a. the ball players say, they Kick
the bucket" This means that their bodies.
r during the batting swing, move at right
angles to the line Of the balls flight.
Cobo's body. for the reason that he FOL
lows through" moves in a lire directly
opposite 20 the flight OF the ball. 80 that
The collision between his bat and the hail
IS head on HIS bat meets the ball
with the full. direct force OF his body.
and that IS the primary reason for his
great success IN batting. II also accounts
for the fact that the majority OF Tvs
hits go to right deld. despite his left
handed batting.
The same thing applies to Johnson's
Pitching. With that long right arm Of
his he takes full. complete swing. His
hand goes back as far as he can reach
and forward as far as he can reach
Johnson's right hand describes q larger
are than that OF any other pitcher. In
other words. II his swing were extended
80 as TO make a complete circle, that
circle would be greater IN diameter by
perhaps three or four inches than a
similar circle made BY any other pitch
er's swing
And II IS that long. smooth swing with
its perfect follow through that makes
johnson the great pitcher that he -.
Direction Chief object.
m Billiards. Willie Hoppe. champion Of
them all also IS the best exponent Of the
follow through" rule. When q Billiard
cue comes in contact with the ball the
main object OF the player Is TO drive
the ball in a certain. precise direction.
This is not his only object. % course,
since he has the secondary intention TO
drive the ball a certain distance; but
direction Is his main thought
And the great billiard players get
that exact direction by following
through with their cues In fact II may
be said that the distance the ball vii.
travel Is determined at the instant OF
contact between cue and hall. and that
the direction II is to take is not de
terrined until the instant the cue leaves
the ball at the end Of tho stroke.
When the cue does not follow
through" the stroke Is necessarily
jszsy and uncertain. exactly as the pase-
ball batsnans swing is jerky and I'M
certain when he steps away rem the
ball. or as the golfers swing Is uncer.
tain when he does not follow through.
Golfers know. more than all others and
more to their Infinite sorrow. the dis.
astrous penalties OF failure to follow
through"
In billiards and pocket billiards A zoot
follow through" means a smooth. ever
stroke, with the cue moving continuously
IN straight line from the instant Of
contact until the instant OF separation
This means. IN turn. that the direction
taken By the ball will conform morc
nearly 20 the players intention. Il
scans. in other words. that the ball will
- where he wants it TO.
BOWERS Full swing.
lust as this rule applies to othei
sports 50 also does Il apply 20 bowling
The bowler whose arm describes a fun
complete swing as he delivers the bal
gets better results than those who's,
kwing Is ierky or who snap" the bal
with their wrists and fingers There ar,
iowlers who get good results withou
eIuch OF a follow through" but they
are exceptions and as a rule they ar,
more or less erratic. One day they viii