South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-11-23
A PAGE FROM MY DIARY.


I have formed the habit or keep
ing a written record OF my play
and particularly my practice. 1
learn much IN this way and today
I am going 20 pass some OF Il along
TO you. For instance. from my rec
ord I learned that In driving /
could dc ever so much better II
Strengthened the left leg and let
the arms so we'll through at the
finish. This knowledge was OF
great help TO me Oh my shots with
the driver. In this connection
want 10 caution the reader 20 be-
ware OF the stiff-arm follow
through. 1t is much the most pic
turesQue way OF posing the club at
the finish, but not the most sue
cessful in bringing results. I always
try for q bent position OF the left
arm when I follow through. That
is. I try 10 keep the left elbow close
10 my side when the blow IS finish
Cd. This serves another very good
purpose: il brings the knuckles OF
the right hand upwards at the for
ward end OF the stroke This Is one
OF my little ideas for curing a slice.
With this thought in mind my wrists
and clubheaG turn over almost auto
matically. The professional tells
YOU 10 turn over your wrists and
ciubhead Just as you hit the ball.
thereby avoiding a slice. / have
tried TO do this. but practiced as I
am in the use OF a golf club. have
found IL impossible. The stiff left
leg and the bent follow through
solve tho question for me.
On the morning which I wrote
felt stronger than usual. That feel
ing comes to all OF us at times, but
in golf we must be careful not 20
let IL result in muscle hardening At
the time OF your greatest strength
relaxation is most imperative.
I must repeat the necessity OF al
lowing the left knee TO go back 10 q
stiff position on the follow through
You can let the clubhead follow out
on the imaginary line. but the brac-
ed position Of the knee accentuates
the throw of the Clubhead through
the ball The stiff-arm follow
through is only good for run-ups.
Keep your eye down and don't snap
your follow through too quickly.
In putting today I tried out two
little things. small indeed. but well
worth remembering. The first was
the locating of a spot on the very
butr of the ball and aiming 10 hit
that It was effective The other
thing was 90 follow through, with
a low putter head, along the
imaginary line instead Of putting up.
Yesterday my mashie had seemed
particularly heavy and uncomfOrt-
able but with an exercise of will
power I practiced straight through
my schedule. To-Day the moment
grasped my mashie IL fitted right
into my hands; il felt good and
comfortable and balanced, and I
knew from experience that this was
the result Of careful. intelligent
practice through the day before. 1t
meant that 7 was beginning TO feel
at home with my club. a player
learns to love his clubs because
they feel" good to him, and if prac-
tlce does nothing else il esta blishes
this feeling of cOmpanionship-i
enables a player 20 learn the true
balances of his clubs. and this is
extremely important knowledge 70
acquire. For this reason, I endeav-
or always 20 impress the fact upon
myself that if a club happens TO
feel Out-of-place on one days
practice il will. if perseveringly
used. feel fine the next day.
The MaShie.
On the shorter mashie shots 7
found that the short. choppy follow
through was All right, but I'm tho
longer shots it gave poor flight
and therefore on these let the
clubhead follow we'll up and through
as il were. Then I imagined my