The New York herald., 1922-02-19
s-The Grip Is Vital Factor on
r1s Which Success or Failure
May Be Built.
FINGERS PLAY BIG PART
When One Hand Asserts Au-
thority Over Other Wild
y Play Usually Results
By KERR N. PETRIE.

By KERR ". PETRIE.
. When in a jovial mood. as he eener-
; ally was when hitting the ball far and
Andra Kirkaldy was wont to remark
to those who sought to compliment him:
sits all done by the turn OF the wrists
:. ard the way You hold your elbows
H. Andra might Just as well have said
that the making of successful golf
stroke depends upon the position at a
certain stage of the swing of his chin,
his heel or his right kneecap. for that
Z matter. Much has been made of the
sturning of the wrists, but with all due
reference TO the opinion of ravy Hun
Ser whose twenty-five years of profess
Nsional golf has taught him that pronat-
inS is the open sesame in this aggra-
ting game, there are quite a few de-
i1ails to be attended to in addition to the
! sturn of the wrist before the ball is on
DTS way for $50 yards or so and on
Eead line with the direction flag For
1Dstance, all the excellence and smooth
ness of wrist pronating will not make
skpe rfect drive if the player in coming
Down drops his right shoulder little
bit too soon.
The hands, it might be said. have as
much as anything to do with the play
'1ng of golf. either expertly or other
wise. In fact, 1t is almost safe to as
sert that not even rhythmic perfection
will produce entirely satisfactory re-
Suits If the hands get a little out of
alignment or harmony during the per-
1ormance of the stroke. or the thou
sand and one thoughts that course
tnrough the brain of the linksman dur
ang the course of a bungling round
about nine hundred and fifty of them
have to do with the hands. the grip.
And once a golfer gets it into his head
mat his hands are not working cor
I rectly, whether through too tight or too
,lcose gripping by one hand or the other
ioT both, he might as well consign him
self to the boneyard or the bottomess
punker for that particular day at least.
~ vardon's Hands Are Laree.
E Two years ago when Harry Vardon
land Edward Ray were on tour a
esiightly built professional was standing
son tee as the former drove off. IF
~ only had hands like that fellow
Nsaid this pro. II would be champion
ttnyself"
II Those who had scarcely given it a
fhought up to that time then noticed
! She remarkable development OF the
shands which the great Harry wraps
y around the grips of his clubs. Hands
like Virginia hams" the young pro
Nquoted above remarked.
IN Vardon in early life was gardener.
NO doubt the width of bone and breadth
ipf muscle in the hands were noticeable
fven in those days when he was wont
TO prune and plant in his native island
Sor Jersey, one of the Channel group
Gripping has been part and parcel of
tNardons life work, virtually, so it is
scarcely surprising that at the age of
difty-two these hands are unusually
Harge.
I Ted Ray is another who has no draw
Jng room paw to offer in shake of
welcome. but Ted is a very much larger
snan than Vardon. But big as he is, it
is doubtful IL Teds hand could send
INTO total eclipse that of his travelling
eeompanion Harry.
n Many other professionals and some
samateurs, for that mater. have won
, ,&ierfully developed hands. fingers,
wrists and forearms. due to this con-
stant gripping OF the clubs. Others again
hever attain to any unusual degree of
development.
Y OF the two general classes of golfers
there are hand grippers and finger grip
pers. For a foremost representative of
the hand gripping school among the
amateurs OF the United States might be
.ccited Jesse Guiford. present national
champion. Chick Evans, again. is a
finger gripper, pure and simple. and
never will be anything else IL he lives
20 be as old as Methuselah. Hand grip
pers may not be as consistently steady
as are the finger grippers, but there
are occasions also when they are in
their element. And ii may be stated
that when these occasions do arrive the
finger gripper is having bad time.
During the playing OF the national
hnal last year. when Guiford and Bob
Gardner were locked in death grip on
the links Of the st. Louis Country Club
Evans walked In company with the
explaining the why and wherefore of his
defeat the day before at the hands OF
Guilford.
No Day for Finger Gripper.
conditions yesterday were far from
being to my liking" said Chick as he
referred to the deluge which had satu-
rated the Missouri clay under the sod
until It frothed and churned underfoot.
"Guilford. should say, was suited by
the conditions. AS a hand grlpper. he
can dig the ball out of any lie. over and
above that. his palm grip sort OF coun-
teracted the effects of the rain on the
grips of his clubs. AS for myseif'--and
Chick threw up his hands--'T was sim
My lost. could not hold club in my
fingers. and when / did get down TO the
ball the soft turf and the mud were too
much for me. 1t wasn't a day for a
finger grpper'
Nothing so opens up the wide field Of
golfng experimentation as this question
of the grip. There are days when the
player feels that his stance is cramped.
that his pivot Is on. OF gear. his wrists
and arms stiff and his shoulders too
loose or else too taut. But when he
makes a baG shot he Immediately looks
20 the hands to supply the solution and
the remedy.
What was wrong that time2" he says
10 himself. ~ must have been gripping
too tightly with the right hand" or
again IL may be this. i'm the case of a
hook "Guess I have the right hand too
far UNDER
There ~ also the cause and effect OF
the slice TO consider. and n multitude OF
ways OF analyzing the stroke. whether
81 he good. bad or Indifferent.
wild and erratic driving results
largely from an inefficient grip. grip
in which the hands are so loosely con-