The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-11-17

When he has all Of these clubs wo
the consequences, and usually does.
ever, without having every one of hi
to do it he must be possessed with a
necessary reserve in great quantities.
He hits tremendous wallop from
the tee, but he is not always strtv-
ing for maximum distance. He Ia
usually content to play well within
himself and not stretch out the drive
until necessary. All Of US golf pros
know that there Ii a great myth
about long hitting. Any golfer, who
hits q good long tee shot which by
the way Is a very valuable asset in
golf, should follow Mitchells example
by not pressing for distance from
every tee.
| Some critics have gone as far as
to say that Mitchell's style was not
orthodox. Close students OF the
game, however, can readily see in
Abe's form one that has all the
fundamentals that go to make up
the golf swing.
| He Is q believer in hitting the ball
hard and is firmly convinced that in
order to do this. 1t is not necessary
to bring the club far back over the
shoulders. When he turns loose on
| the ball with all he has, MitcheIl's
clubhead is parallel with his shout
ders at the top of his swing. but as
q rule he does not come back quite
as far as this. He takes firm hold
on the club, half finger and half
palm grip, and does not overlap as
Vardon, Duncan and others do. I
might also mention my grip in this
connection because j go little to
the extreme and overlap with two
fingers.
Has Perfect Timing.
! With his grip. Abe sends the club
head after the ball in a fashion that
Is bound to get results. He has none
of the faults of most players in hitting
! too soon with the body. When he does
get his body into the shot 1t means
something. 1t is perfectly timed.
Mitchell has powerful forearms as
well as a very strong pair of wrists
and hands. and this must account in
way for the long hitting. Some very
good players start putting their force
into the swing at point about op-
posite the right shoulder. / am in
clined to believe that Abe holds off an
long as possible, and then, when he
does start, he does not try to check
| the clubhead until 1t has carried
through long ways after the ball and
| face Of the club have met.
Undoubtedly he has one Of the long
est follow throughs of any Of the
pros, but his finish is only shoulder
high. In fact. Abe's follow-through
| Is 20 long that it f1attens out the arc
| of the swing to such an extent that
any fins OF the club behind the head
| In impossible. He does not purposeiy
check the finish which after all is not
essential with Abe's style.
As ! have said before in these
articles, many golfers get the finish
Of the swing and the ollow-through
confused. The follow-through means
keeping the clubhead on the ball as
far as possible. That is what gives
great distance. The finish is when the
clubhead stops.
Not Fast Enough.
No photograph has ever been able
to show Just how long the face of the
club stays with the ball. A camera
Ia not fast enough. That it sticks
for awhile is certainly true, but il
must depend on how hard the ball In
swept away from the tee. A sweep
would carry further than a direct hit.
In Mitchell's case the face Of the club
and the ball are in close proximity
I LOF quite bOuic oIStAhCc. II Elubt DC
all of a foot that the club is touching
the ball. directing II on its flight.
Mitchell applies his irons in the
same manner. 1t IL very important
| that ono should get a fairly long fol-
low through with all the clubs from
the driver to the putter. IL insures
distance and what Is just as essential
1t gives direction.
| Mitchell In fine sportsmap. He
never has had an awful lot to say as
a rule, but when he talks about golf
he is well worth listening to. He Is
a good Judge of players and has a
wholesome respect for American golf
ers.
At Columbia in the open champion
ship he picked UP his ball in the sec
ond round. His actions more than
words. He felt the utter hopeless
ness of continuing after his bad start.
Had he been in weaker field. he
might have thought II worth while
to keep on with the hope that others
would fall by the wayside, but he
knew in that field not every one would
fall. II is a respect he showed for
us. We can feel justly proud Of this.
Had he told US that II was one OF
the best championships he ever played
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