Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-26

tAmerlcHn American
amateur and British amateur champion.)
~ ECENTLY some comment has
- appeared in the papers to the
effect that ultra high-speed
motion pictures made by the
Jenkins Laboratories of Washington
have revealed certain things about the
golf swing which made 1t evident that
the pres had been teaching wrong for
years. The swings Of Vardon. Miss
Wethered and myself were filmed, and
the results were illuminating: but I do
not think it is quite fair to the num-
bers of excellent teachers in America
today to say that they have been shown
to be mistaken. think it Is better,
and more accurate. to say that the
pictures have actually demonstrated
things which before were only suspected,
These p. G. A. pictures ought to
be a marvellous contribution to gqf.
Photographed at the rate Of 5000 pic
lures per second, they represent by Ear
the fastest Camera speed or slowest
(projection speed) ever attained. For
the trained and capable student of the
game they should prove of great value.
When the observer knows what he
wants to see, these pictures afford him
the opportunity TO actually study the
motion.
Should Be Big Help.
In the hands Of the pros-men who
are capable of Interpreting them-they
are indirectly going to be of value to
the average golfer, and it is particularly
gratifying that the pictures of all three
players portray the same fundamental
movements. I don't believe the pic
lures would have peen of much value
if it had been found that the three
models selected were all different. In
deed, it is hard to imagine a more
confusing occurrence.
OF course it is always interesting to
see ones own swing as others see it.
When first saw slowmotion shot Of
by golf sw!ng-that was a long time
ago. didn't believe it, just as mere
recently didn't believe 1t when I first
heard my voice in the talkies. In tile
first pictures I didn't believe that the
portrayal of my hip action was at all
correct. Since then, of course, / have
seen the same thing numbers Of times,
in my own swing and IN pictures of
other people, until know now that it
is really true. think, now that we
have had years of slow motion study,
almost every first-class golfer knows
well enough how he hits the ball. The
guess has been removed.
But even slow-motion pictures need
Interpretation. The one great difficulty
from the standpoint of the average
golfer has been in separating the con-
sciously controlled movements from those
that are purely instructive. And this
Is just where the pro or interpreter
comes in. 1t is his job to point out the
things which ought to be watched, the
things (which are subject to control.
These are the important fundamentals.
II these are learned correctly the other
movements follow naturally.
Many people have asked me II have
learned anything from the making Of
the series of pictures upon which l am
now working. I don't think that that was
to be expected, because have had the
opportunity for years to see my swing
in slow-motion. have learned a great
deal about the swing since began
writing about 1t some four years ago,
and began to analy5e the hitting more
critically than had done before.
Confirms His Beliefs.
Neither the p. @. A. pictures nor the
ones which am now making have shown
me anything new. All they have done
has been TO confirm over and over again,
things that felt all along I was doing
or had seen in previous pictures. The
one really Illuminating thing in Holly