and is within, say, 130 yards of
the hole, the regulation of the precise amount of power to be applied to
the ball becomes a matter of the first importance, and one that causes
unceasing anxiety. I feel, then, that it devolves upon me to convey a
solemn warning to all players of moderate experience, that the distance
the ball will be despatched is governed entirely by the extent of the
backward swing of the club. When a few extra yards are wanted, put an
additional inch or two on to the backward swing, and so on; but never,
however you may satisfy yourself with excuses that you are doing a wise
and proper thing, attempt to force the pace at which the club is
travelling in the downward swing, or, on the other hand, attempt to
check it. I believe in the club being brought down fairly quickly in the
case of all iron shots; but it should be the natural speed that comes as
the result of the speed and length of the upward swing, and the gain in
it should be even and continuous throughout. Try, therefore, always to
swing back at the same rate, and to come on to the ball naturally and
easily afterwards. Of course, in accordance with the simple laws of
gravity and applied force, the farther back you swing the faster will
your club be travelling when it reaches the ball, and the harder will be
the hit. Therefore, if the golfer will learn by experience exactly how
far back he should swing with a certain club in order to get a certain
distance, and will teach himself to swing to just the right length and
with always the same amount of force applied, the rest is in the hands
of Nature, and can be depended upon with far more certainty than
anything which the wayward hands and head of the golfer can accomplish.
This is a very simple and obvious truth, but it is one of the main
principles of golf, and one that is far too often neglected. How
frequently do you see a player take a full swing when a half shot is all
that is wanted, and even when his instinct tells him that the half shot
is the game. What happens? The instinct assumes the upper hand at the
top of the swing, and the man with the guilty conscience deliberately
puts a brake on to his club as it is coming down. He knows that he has
gone too far back, and he is anxious then to reduce the speed of the
club by unnatural means. But the principles of golf are not to be so
lightly tampered with in this manner, and it affords the conscientious
player some secret satisfaction to observ