New-York tribune., 1922-06-04

Some time ago happened 20 be play
ing round with John G. Anderson, the
well-known amateur In the course OF
that round I made a certain suggestion
regarding mashie play which he later
decided 70 try out As result OF THIS
tip he said that his game dropped sew,
eral strokes, giving him series OF
rounds between y and -.
As he was kind enough 10 say that
this improvement was largely due 10
the tip that made control and distance
both much easier 10 get. II occurred 70
me that / might put more emphasis
upon IL for the readers who folio"
these articles.
Now. in putting. where control Is
necessary, you know where the oall
should be-not well out, but fairly close
in. where the head is over the ball.
II the head isn't over the ball IN put
ting YOU will always have a hard time
hnding the right line. II the ball Is
too FAR out you are merely guessing as
70 what the right line is.
The suggestion I made was along the
same lines for mashie play. Suppose
we take normal mashie shot OF l4O
yards.
You will find in nearly every case
that the average golfer stands entirely
too far away from the ball.
He Is probably afraid OF heeling the
shot. but in standing so far away he is
quite likely 10 bend too far forward and
so heel worse than ever in overreaeh-
ing.
In playing a mashie shot around i40
yards | believe IN keeping the head
over the ball. ! keep my feet on,y
about ten inches apart for this stroke.
with the ball of the left heel, but rot
more than fifteen or eighteen inches
distant from the right toe.
After taking my stance. line drawn
straight down through my forehead
would 20 through the ball
This brings about many advantages
which are we'll worth considering.
In the first place, with the head over
the ball you can much more easily pick
out the right line TO be followed that
leads TO the pin.
In the second place, this helps 70
keep the swing more compact, with the
right arm in close 20 the body.
And there can be no control when the
right arm gets away from the body on
this shot
There should be no action with the
right arm going up. The left starts
the swing with the right hand stopping
about shoulder high. the right eloo"
down and close 70 the body.
From the top Of the swing Il IS tnen
a two-handed shot, but IL is important
10 let the wrists work freely 10 get tne
club head through. | don't mean oy
this for the wrists TO take any funny
twists or turns. No, don't think ABOUT
breaking the wrists or rolling thein'
Let them act in a natural way, keeping
the left arm fairly straight and the
right elbow compactly In.
You are then in a position 70 put
power into the blow and 10 keep II on
the right line, for this way OF playing
a mashie brings about the eompaetness
that is needed and that can't be got
with the ball too far out.
There are still other factors TO con-
sider in making this stroke. with the
head over the ball in the address, re-
member 20 keep IL there as you strike.
IL is more than important 70 see that
the head holds its place In this shot.
For a moving head Is the cause Of many
mistakes.
Another important thing to renem-
Der is that once the swing starts u
must 60 evenly but sharply through.
believe th~t shout three times out