Making The Swing

Improve Your Golf Swing

The majority of players devote too much time and place too much importance on their address. The result is that they fix in their minds the appearance of the angles which are presented by the position of the arms, legs, and club shaft, and it is largely the desire to retain these angles constant which results in their moving their heads and stiffening their muscles so that there is no freedom in the swing.

The idea of many is to have all the angles which they have studied out kept constant until they get back to their ball, and this results in shifting the feet, changing the grip, and various other faults which are seen so often on the links.

There is only one point which vitally affects the stroke, and the only reason why that should be kept constant is that you are thus enabled to see your ball clearly. That is the pivotal point marked at the base of the neck, and a line drawn from this point to the ball should be directly at right angles to the desired line of flight.

I desire to caution players that by the word extended I do not mean to have it understood that the arms are reaching out for the ball, but are extended down, with absolutely no bend in the left wrist.

If the player will grasp his club with the left hand, more especially in the fingers, rather than in the palm of his hand, and place the head of the club in the correct position and fix his mind solely on finding the most comfortable position he can assume, rather than upon the angle of the club face or shaft, he will have grasped the idea I wish to convey.

My purpose in assuming the stance shown is to obtain greater comfort, thereby giving greater freedom to the play of the muscles and avoiding the slightest tendency to stiffen, which destroys the freedom of the swing. I have found it to be a basic principle for my own case in golf that the instant I find any stiffening of the muscles at any particular point in my stroke to search for some way to give greater freedom and overcome this "setting" of the muscles. That will destroy the accuracy, of any stroke and also reduce its power.