Evening star., 1933-03-14
|DUFFER TOO EAGER, ]
GOLF PRO REVEALS
Must Strive to Hold Back
Power Until Club Nears
End of Arc.
BY w. r. McCALLUM.

AWE THOMSON, diminu-
tive chip and putt man
- from Washington Golf and
Country Club, master of
the short pitch and the run-up,
comes to bat today with a cheer
ing word for buffers who start out
in the Spring with all their old
ailments intensified.
For 10 years Davie has been taking
golf swings apart out there in the Vir-
ginia hills, reconstructing them and re-
turning them to their owners with
every function back in smooth running
order. As an instructor in golf and the
fundamentals of the swing Davie is
looked upon as one Of the foremost
analysts of the game around the Cap
ital-
And he can play plenty of golf him.
self. as his frequent scores under 70
over that tough Washington course
reveal.
Two major faults beset most golfers
IN the Spring. says Thomson, both of
them coming from the desire to hit
the ball too far too quickly before.
muscles unused to such action are
grooved to the proper hitting cadence
First OF these is the well-estabhshed
fact that most players fail to get into
hitting position before starting the
down swing and consequently hit the
ball OIL balance, with most of the
weight On the right leg at the moment
OF impact. They forget, Davie points
cut. that to hit golf ball a real blow
the weight OF the body and arms must
be behind the blow at all times and not
in front Of it. :
Therefore, he says, to get the club
and arms In hitting position, the weight
must be shifted to the right on the
back swing and to the left or toward,
the ball on the down swing. But here
DAVE interjects word of caution for
those who would pivot too much. y
Don't get up on your toes on the
BACK swing" he says. "The top of your
swing should find part of your weight
on the ball OF your left foot"
RUT even after proper weight trans
~ ference has been made, there still
Is another most important paint
to remember, Davie says. This is the
second Of his pointers for Spring golf. ,
and concerns the matter of speeding
up the clubhead on the down swing. /,
Many players attempt to speed up
tne ciuohead from the top of the down,
swing" the little Scot AYERS. 1T can't.
ne done except by the masters and even
tney do not attempt it. For most
players a down swing started quickly
from the top is fatal. And right there
Is where so many golfers founder. Even
they have transferred their weight
correctly on the back swing, a too-hastv
start OF the down swing throws their
Weient 700 lar back and not toward the
pail. The result is scythe-like action
that results in hitting across the ball
with slice, or in hitting the ball on
the toe of the club
In either case the shot will not come
on as 1t should come of. I think IL
all players would remember to start the
down swing leisurely and not attempt
TO put any punch in the shot at all
until at least two-thirds of the way
down, they would find their shots going
better and farther.
Distance does not come from a wild.
mlsolrected swipe at the ball. It comes
rather from controlled power. and by
controlled power I mean a swing that
merges into hit only in the bottom
third OF the motion. You can't hit a
golf ball right from the top of your
swing
Hitting too soon is the major fault
OF most Of our players. And hitting
too soon comes from improper weight
transference and attempts to hit the
ball from the top of the down swing"