The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1942-07-09

GSI VI Gil ollOIo W 42&5H@
playa straight ball. as sz'saSS's11
At 200 yards away Grantland Rice
he could make
caddie duck with either slice or a
hook. 1t was an easy game in trick
shot or exhibition play. But Kirk
wood could never win big cham
pionship.
Competition" he has always
said, els an entirely different game
from any exhibition stuff"
Ho,U 1t Works
Years ago followed Kirkwood in
a North and South championship at
Pinehurst. He wasn't scoring any
too well. He was having more than
his share of trouble.
"What seems to be the natter"
I asked.
GIVE developed a fade 1 can't
STOP" he said.
"Why don't you call for a hook,
or even for a straight ball, as you
do in your exhibitions" 1 asked.
'Tf tried that" he said, 'Pd be
all over the course. This t0urna-
ment-scoring game has nothing to
do with exhibition play.
The Curse of Golf
"Golf would be an easy game for
anyone to play" Joe continued, "ex-
cept for one thing"
whats that?" I asked.
Tension" he said. That's the
killer-the poison.
"If it weren't for tension almost
anyone could play golf well. But
tension grabs them all by the throat
or the nerves. Take the average
duffer. Watch his practice swing.
Watch him swinging at dandelion
or a cigar butt. You'll see an 30
swing. Then watch the difference
when he has to hit a golf ball. He
Immediately tightens up. He plants
his feet in the turf. He takes an
iron grip with both hands. His legs
and body promptly stiffen up. He
has wrecked his swing before he
even moves the clubhead.
True of the Pro
CATER a fashion, this is also true
of most pros. Most of the good ones
can hit the ball long and straight,
can play almost every club well. In
practice they can give you a 81 or
a So. But when some big tOurna-
ment starts, especially champion
ship, it is too often another story.
"You can tell this in the more
hurried pace of their backswings
and downswings. You can tell it IN
| their restricted, or more restricted,
body turns. The temptation in a big
tournament is to steer the ball-to
keep it away from trouble.
"Only a few can keep their true
form or their true swings working
smoothly, as they do in a practice
round"
cleo Diegel told me once" 1 said
to Joe, ''that the longest walk in
golf was from the practice tee to
the first hole of tournament play"
"Leo was 100 per cent right"
Kirkwood said. cts about ten miles
or ten strokes.
"For those who know how to
swing a club, golf is about Is pei
cent tension, nerves and concentra'
ton. 1t is harder on the nervous
system than any other game, since
it carries less physical action or mo,
ton. The more motion you have, the
less tension there is.
"FootbaIl players are always ex
tremely nervous and packed witt
tension before the kickoff. But mos
of this is removed in the first clasf
of bodies-after the first impact
You don't get that in golf.
'In golf tension begins to ge
worse-especially around the green:
when you find you've lost your putt
ing touch. I've never seen golfel
who was good enough to win a biz
tournament when he was putting
poorly. And when you get VIVA
Tommy Armour calls the yips,' yol
are just about through"
Glow can tension be cured?"
''The only sure cure I know,
Kirkwood said, sis to cut off you
head"
|