The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-09-21
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Anyone who has ever watched many golfers at play cannot fail to lave noticed the varieties of stance
 employed, and In consequence the on- locker becomes totally confused as to
 the proper stance for the various
 shots. We have all seen the queer
 positions baseball players get into.
 but contrary to the belief of the aver
 age golfer, and notwithstanding the
 fact that one is trying to hit a flying
 ball and the other one upon the
 ground, the stances of the golfer are the more varied of the two. This is an unfortunate condition, for with a stance that varies con siderably according to impulse 10 man can be fairly certain of any par ticular shot at any particular time. Chance will always play a large part in any game, but if a man has no particular way of holding his club,
 or standing or swinging every stroke will be a wild adventure into an un- known land.
 Simple Game Best | When I was in the thick of my early struggles with the difficulties of the game. two words began to burn themselves into my conscious ness. One was simplification and the other comfort. In those early days I was using numerous stances for every shot, with nerve-racking at tention to details; now I use one stance for full shots, and another for
 half, or quarter shots, and the de- tails merely approximate certain standards.
 Stances are usually spoken of as open or square, and most of the others are variations, often wide ones, of these two methods. The toe of the right foot is placed on an imaginary straight line at right angles to the line of play, and 1 in the square stance both toes are | about on the line. The relative posi- tions of the feet to this line really | describe the sort ofN stance. Tried 'Em All
 | My own game was learned piece | meal, and what I have now is a sur- i vival of discard of many years. I think have tried every imaginable stance. In my early days of golf Lit was popular to play the open stance with the left foot behind the right. I tried this and found myself pulling across the ball and thereby slicing. It was all right on the half and quarter shots. where one could swing almost straight. but the min ute the club gets beyond the half CluD lenStn IL DeSlnS 10 get off the 1 imaginary straight line.
 Stance For Distance If you watch the leading present day players you will notice that they all use the square stance for their long shots. Of course. I mean ap- | proximately. Even in my own game I occasionally drop my eyes to my feet and see them sometimes on the straight line drawn at right angles to the line to the hole. and sometimes 1 the left is a litle ahead of the rigat. or sometimes a little behind the right, but always very close to what may be called an exactly square stance. These litle variations may be attributed to comfort obtained at that particular moment by the setting of 1 the feet.
 1 One day I found. myself playing 1 badly. with both feet pointed straight | and just turned them out bit and discovered that was the ideal posi- : l tion for the pivot. The heels may rise, but neigther foot should be com p,etely lifted.
 Copyright. John F. Dine Col