The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-02
. s Il RE!:Ep E! <
Masters and Mastered

There is a fine line in golfing which the player must cross before he can even begin to be good player. That line marks the differ ence between those players who have sense of mastery over the game. and those over whom the game is the master. In the latter class falls the constant experimenter.
 The experimenters are never sure just what they want to do. Those who have begun to master golf all ways know exactly what Is to be done. and they proceed to do 1t to the best of their ability. With more playing they become more proficient until in few years they are really first-class golfers.
 While have never hung out a | sign indicating that I am a golf M D., pe<faps this analysis will help | the habitual experimenter. He is never sure just which method Is the best. When he approaches his ball to make a stroke he remembers that the way he did 1t the last time was not so resultful as he wished, there- fore he will try something else this time-a different stance. perhaps. or a new kind of grip he has read about. He Is forever changing. Now and then he hits a long straight ball and he exclaims. Aha! I have 1t shot, he tells himself that what he just did was only the beginning of doing 1t right. and immediately he experiments some more.
 Pro Can Cure It
 The cure for this is, of course any golf professional and the player so afflicted should by all means make confidante of the pro and tell him what the main trouble is. The pro can help lot more if you just give him an inkling of this experimenting business. Golf Is best played through observing, always, the several ortho- dox Fundamentals of play, and any pro can acquaint you with what they are. Get them, and then stick to | them!
 | How simple 1t is when you once l get the main ideas in your mind! l Just like driving an automobile. There are fundamentals. as you 1 know, in driving car The instruc- tor shows you what they are. When he turns the car over to you, you
 wouldn't try to stop it by throwing {, it into reverse gear in order to halt its forward motion. Yet golfers will 1 do things equally foolish while ex- i perimenting with their clubs. have seen players attempt distances with mashie. which would have been
 tried with brassie.
 Must Have Set Rules
 The player must adopt one grip
 whichever one Is most suited to his
 comfort. He must adopt one stance either square or slightly open for fall
 shots. He must adopt the practice
 of opening up his stance for short
 iron shots, until his left foot is fal
 around to the left side for short, chiy
 shots. These are fundamentals. The
 player cannot experiment with these
 things. If he does he will never get anywhere much except possibly 1T
 the rough. He must swing the clut
 as If 1t were a pendulum, not like c base ball bat. The stroke must bs
 without effort. He must find the
 one place where he should play the
 ball-whichever position seems to be
 most comfortable-and he must stick
 to that.
 In golf as in everything else, 1t is
 doing the thing over and over and
 over again, in the right way, thai
 leads to perfection. Doing 1t over
 and over in constantly changins
 ways attain nothing. Do all youi
 experimenting on the practice field
 Play golf when you start round oi
 the links.