Chapter 18. A Most Harmful Golf Theory

Without a doubt the most common fault in golf is slicing. But as most players do not understand the need or the mechanics of shifting their weight, they are forced to use their left side in a sort of turning motion to take the club away on the backswing. This left side action of the body carries the club to the outside of the line of flight.

Add to this the common suggestion of a tight grip with the last three fingers of the left hand and you have a hand action which will throw the face of the club open. What can the player do but pull the club across the line of flight as the club is brought into the ball? After one or two such slices, everybody in the foursome becomes a coach and the routine advice offered is this: "You are pulling your club from the outside in-you are coming across the ball from outside in-now what you must do is to swing from the inside out." They continue: "Imagine that the ball is sitting on home plate and you are driving it to second base-but don't try to swing straight through the second base, swing from inside out-swing out towards first base."

And I see many golfers doing exactly this-and they have cured their slice but they have the most annoying, sickening hook you ever saw because they just replace one error with another error.

All this brings up the subject of just where the club does go as it travels from the ball to the top of the swing and down again into the ball and the follow through. Many golfers feel that the club should go back and forth on exactly the same path. Whether it goes back and forth on the same line has been the subject of many debates.

I remember many, many years ago, a British golf magazine relating the story of such a discussion. To prove how the club actually traveled a flaming material was attached to the clubhead and pictures of this flamed path were taken in the darkness of night. I vividly recall the utterly black background with a picture of the club's lighted path. The club did not go back and forth on the same line.

About the time that Bobby Jones was at the peak of his game, high speed motion picture cameras were being improved and perfected. One company, anxious to demonstrate the efficiency of its product, took pictures of everything that traveled at high speed and eventually they came around to Bobby Jones' golf swing. With this high speed camera they had pictures of the club at every point of the swing, so they charted the path of the club. Much to their surprise they discovered that Bobby Jones' golf club did not go back and forth on the same line-as a matter of fact, it did a decided loop. The club traveled inwardly at the start of the backswing, then straight up, and as it reached the top of the swing it went to the outside slightly. As the downswing started, the club dropped to the inside again and it remained on that path until the ball was met. At this point it went straight up and over- the club actually traveled through a figure eight pattern. The evidence was undeniable.

20. This drawing is from a photo taken of Bobby Jones and is presented by courtesy of Mr. Jones and A. G. Spalding Bros. It proves that the club does not go back and forth on the same path. The club travels on an inside path on the upswing, and an outside path on the downswing.

In presenting the pictures to the public a great hurrah was raised to the effect that Bobby Jones, the peerless champion, had a flaw in his swing. No one wanted to study a defect, so there was no interest in the films.

It is regrettable that the pictures were not regarded for their true worth. Subsequent study of the golf swing has proven that the club cannot and does not travel back and forth on the same line.

As emphasized in this book, there are two swings to a golf stroke-there is an upswing during which the player is balanced on his right foot, and the axis upon which the body is being utilized causes the club to travel on a certain path. Then as the downswing and follow through is made, the player has shifted his weight to his left foot- his body now is functioning on a different axis and the club is coming down and through on an entirely different path. The club, in other words, does a loop during the course of the swing, and this loop action naturally instills in the golf swing a natural whip or snap action.

By comparison a club going back and forth on the same line would tend to create a "stiff-arm dead stick" effect.

Recently a certain group conducted extensive studies of the various aspects of a golf swing with a series of motion pictures taken against a square-lined background. Towards the end of the research it was discovered that the path of the club could be traced against this lined background, and the club did not go back and forth on the same path.

In Chapter Six, when explaining the new concept of body action in a golf swing, I stated that a turning action with the body produced a low flat around the belt line type of swing. By comparison, the correct action of the body, the diagonal stretch action, produced a more upright type of swing that traveled higher and more around the head and neck of the player.

I'd like to present a further comparison of these two swings.

In the low flat type of swing, caused by the faulty turning action, the club actually travels on a convex arc as it goes back, and on a similar convex arc as it goes through the ball. Traveling thus, all the force of the swing is thrown out and beyond the ball.

However, in the correct swing, which is produced by the diagonal stretch action of the body, the club travels on a concave arc on the backswing. It comes in sharply, then goes up straight and arches out slightly, then on the downswing and follow through it again travels concavely. As the left side pulls the club into the ball it draws it inward so that the left and right hands can be applied squarely to the ball. The club can be held in that square position until the ball has been dispatched, at which point the club turns over into the follow through.

If a player deliberately followed the convex pattern of swinging, there would be an excessive turning action which would be constantly rolling the player onto his toes and off balance. On the other hand, if the player deliberately applied the concave pattern of swinging, there would be a controlled body action on the upswing as well as a similar controlled body action on the follow through. The player would find himself solidly balanced on the right heel as the backswing was made and solidly balanced on the left heel as the downswing and follow through were made. Try this in practicing your swing-it is a helpful, relaxing routine.

To return to the subject originally discussed, if you are slicing don't start to swing from the inside out, because that will only be a temporary cure for your slice. It is bound to lead you to more difficulties later. It is far better to correct that faulty backswing and that erroneous club position on the backswing, so that you can bring the club through naturally and squarely to the ball.