The evening world., 1920-08-17
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World Title Holder Writes About Importance
Of the Push" Shot and How 1t 'S'sa
Should Be Played.

IN my last article l explained that
the underspln in a mashie shot is
obtained when the ball is struck
a descending blow with the club head
almost at the bottom of the arc When
that is done correctly the ball starts
away close to the ground gradually
rising until 1t reaches its highest point
and then descending to earth almost
like the dropping of a stone. The
amount Of run depends upon the de-
gree of loft on the club with which
the ball il played.
This shot has been described as the
push" shot, and 1 think that is bet
ter descriptive Of what happens in the
making of It than the old expression
the Jerk" shot. There is an em-
phatic suggestion of push thai comes
from the great tension OF the arms
and club at impact, and the endeavor
20 keep the blade OF the club square
with the line of flight.
Hitting the Ball Down
Abe Mitchell has the idea all right
and expresses himself this way: that
he plays like Taylor, hitting the ball
down" That Is exactly what is done
when making the stroke that will give
TO the ball the greatest amount Of un-
derspin OF which you are capable.
The advantages Of this stroke are
many, but perhaps none is more obvi-
Gus or valuable than the fact that you
can beat the wind with II. 1t matters
little what direction the wind may be
blowing, for If you play a push shot
with accuracy your ball will not be
affected TO any serious extent by the
element. In support of this statement
just remind you that j. II. Taylor is
the greatest master of this stroke that
we have ever seen. And where else In
his play would you look for the cause
of his great golf? He is always fa-
vorite when there Is a big wind blow
! ing.
To show you that the stroke is es-
sential to first class golf, will mem
| tion further the practices Of other
| great golfers. Braid hits the ball
down, but his grip is such that "A
tri1e of left 60 right spin must de-
Velop occasionally. Therein, one
might say, lies the little weakness
of the genial James
Tho Variation Of Nardon.
! In the case of Vardon, he varies
his shots-that is, his method OF hit.
ting the BALI but 70 per cent. ol
MS shots are made h,tt,nS down
Occasionally. however, you VIII see
him striking the ball an ascendtnf
blow with both mashie and iron; Il
all depends what kind Of shot Is re-
quired
Being a law unto himself Ray hit
most of his shots at n time when IN
chb-head has passed the bottom o
the arc. Naturally a ball hit al
ascending blow has underspin on II
the mere fact Of the ball being hi
below the e, .uatOr must prove tina
there is certain amount OF under
spin on It, but the amount Is dis
tinctly limited, and the ball travel
through the air in characterles
kind Of way, never displaying deter
mined adherence to the line OF fligh
in a wind.
DO you nit the ball down? Hav
a look at the shafts of your masht
and iron, and if they are bent for
ward. toward the face OF the clut
YOU play the push shot. DO you tax
turf VIXEN you play your mashie? !
Ia essential to the proper playing q
the push, for II there is not a dive
hole between where your ball wa
and the hole, YOU have not nit dow
. at the ball
Many players find it hard to be
lievc that they will get the ball ava
from the ground unless they 5000
the bail up therefrom. This is at
tempted by an upturning Of the wrist
at the moment OF impact, and sue
n stroke can only be attempted by
player who has no faith in the fac
that the face Of his mashie is so mad
as to call for nothing else than tn
1 opportunity 10 do its own work.
Have Faith in Your Club.
The average player finds it has
TO bring himself to believe that
can make n decent shot by hittin
the ball down and, as a conseuuenc