San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-16
Baseball and Golf Swings
Certainly Unlike When
Analysed and Golf Is
Absorbing Game That Is
Likely to Crowd All
Other Thoughts Out Of
Players Head.
By WALTER CAMP.

New York, March 15.-Must a pro-
fessional baseball player give up golf
in order to retain his skill on the
diamond?
This question has been brought fore
IDLY to the front by the reported edicts
Of Managers Ty Cobb. Miller Higgins
and John McGraw to their players
that they must cease pursuit Of the
vagrant little white ball over the links.
Professional baseball, it seems, has
walked up to the tremendous power Of
this insidicus game. For 1t Is insidious.
There is no sport In the world 30
fascinating.
The question Of the effect Of golf
upon q baseball player has two main
aspects-first, whether the golf swing
interferes with the batting swing; sec
ond. and even more important, wheth-
er a man once started in his full ca
reer as a golfer does not speedily reach
the point where the game absorhs all
his thoughts and becomes really an
obsession.
Interferes With Swing.
There 10 q good deal Of truth 10 the
statement that the golf swing inter
feres with batting, although it is not
always borne out by results. A man
with a golf swing is hitting at a ball
on the ground, and a ball that Is sta
tionary. He is hitting with a. club
which is longer than his baseball bat
and has an entirely different balance.
II is undoubtedly true that in swing.
ing the baseball bat to get the full
force Of the impact, the end OF the
club away from the batter is coming
through with tremendous speed. Prob
ably If one could measure the speed
Of the end Of Babe Ruth's bat at the
time when it met the ball 1t would be
found to demonstrate this very con.
clusively.
But the golfer also gets his best re-
suits when the head of the club is
travelling at its highest rate Of speed
at the moment Of impact with the ball.
In order TO accomplish this in either
case. the club has to go on through
the ball or with the ball and not be
checked at the moment OF impact.
This is true Of all long hitting.
Leaves Club Right Now.
The baseball undoubtedly remains
upon the bat a relatively longer time
than does the golf ball on the face OF
the golf club. Photographs taken BY
the writer in Frank Gilbreth's labora'
tory in Providence, with Jim Barnes,
Gil Nichols and Francis Ouimet, dem
onstrated quite conclusively that the
golf ball practically springs immediate
" off the face of the club. 30 great is
it's resiliency, and although If the ball
be chalked 1t may leave a white i'm
preston as big as q quarter OF q dol
lar on the club. the photographs show
that it practically stays there such an
infinitesimal period Of time as TO be
well under way before the clubhead
follows it. And yet that clubhead is
travelling with great rapidity.
Several of the pictures illustrated
this conclusively; for. while they. were
taken in actual drives, In the picture
it looked as II the player had held his
club on the tee and had not moved II
forward at all. And beginning about
A foot in front OF this clubhead was
the white streak which showed the
ball recovering its shape and rushing
through the air.
All this brings Us to one point and
that is that similarity between bat
ting and driving consists largely IN
having the weapon that hits the ball
travelling at high velocity at the mo
ment of impact. With the baseball the
batter has the added advantage Of the
spring Of the ball off the bat owing
to its being pitched to 1t, but he also
has the extreme difficulty In that the
pitcher is endeavoring to fool him al
the time, whereas his golf ball stays
until he hits it.
When we come to the other point,
of the swing. the only things that are
Of benefit in each sport ere keeping
the rear shoulder up, not drawing
away the advance foot-"shy foot
and in a small measure the turn Of
the body at the hips.
Subject Of Noise Differs. :,
The psychological effect OF goli
must be bad for the baseball player
in that the golfer requires absolute
quiet from all around him, whereas
the baseball player is subjected to
quite the reverse.
On the whole. I should doubt very
much If golfing would ever improve a
mans batting. =,
Now as TO the other phase Of II. the
fact that the golfer thinks so much
about his game that he has neither
time nor energy to think OF anything
else. This is a real danger, as Nc
Graw points out. 1t is even more In
sidious in the case of the man who
takes up golf after having made good
in some other sport than it is with
the man who has become an accom-
plished golfer without going through
other athletics. The game is SO en-
crossing and expands into such va
riety of theories that it furnishes food
for thought of a most entertaining ma
ture, and the desire to apply these
theories to ones own game becomes 50
obsessing as to leave no room for
| that of other matters.
So, on the whole. even the ardent
golfer must confess that probably base
ball managers have sound reasons for
enjoining their players from INDUCING
in the sport during their winter
training. Baseball is the professionals
Il \ l. II -...s. -