Golf can be an easy game - Chapter 8 HOW TO RATE YOURSELF, OR OTHERS, AT GOLF

Throughout this book, it has been contended that there is no short cut to good golf—there is no way to do the three things that constitute a golf swing:

(a) weight shift or footwork, for balance

(b) body action, for swing and power

(c) hand action, for club position and club control,

without going through the complete sequence of the four moves that has become standard performance by good golfers for years. Any short cut, any omission, takes something out of the shot, or it causes a warped action which produces a distorted effect.

Recently I was asked why a certain golf professional on the tournament circuit was not performing according to advance predictions. It must be admitted that in all fields of endeavor, fame and fortune fail to land where many feel they should land, but in this particular case I felt that the player in question just didn't have the correct golfing technique and therefore could not produce the expected victories.

I answered the query by saying, "He is a one-three-four swinger."

"What does that mean?" I was asked.

"It means that the player leaves out Step 2 of the swing. He always does Step 1, the forward press, shifting all his weight onto his left foot; but then, without reshift-ing his weight to the right foot, he immediately goes into his backswing (Step 3) and then completes the shot with Step 4.

"Because he omits Step 2, this player has to whirl and turn his body almost violently in order to get the club to the top of the swing—but this whirling, turning movement generally produces that low flat type of backswing which in turn produces a similar whirling motion as the club comes through the ball."

"This one-three-four type of golfer is generally a long ball hitter, because the whirling turning action of his swing causes a lot of hooked shots, so that the player has to constantly make an allowance or compensate for these 'bended to the left' shots. Furthermore, all shots hit with such an action are a low-flying, long-running type of shot which is difficult to gauge or control on approaching the green."

On another occasion I was intrigued with comments of a Bel-Air member who stated he had just seen a competitor with the simplest swing in golf—"a swing which," he said, "would never go wrong." His views were supported by golf authorities who predicted a great future for this phenomenon.

And from the way this newcomer launched his golfing career, it appeared that the above comments were justifled, because the player being discussed, Gene Littler, had just won seven tournaments in a row—two of these seven wins were against professionals, and the prize of the lot was the U.S. Amateur Championship.

I was curious to see this simple swing, because throughout my teaching career it has been my purpose and my goal to simplify golf and golf instruction, and I became more interested because of the statements attributed to Littler. He was reported as saying that he played golf differently than anybody else. I was skeptical. All golfers must of necessity do the best they can with the tools they have, to wit, their feet, their body and their hands, but I was anxious to analyze and study this new golf star.

This is what I saw.

I watched a player who did not assume the conventional position in addressing the ball. He did not have his right knee relaxed which would place his weight on his left foot, in fact he assumed a reverse position.

His knees were reversed.

His right knee was straighter than his left although both were bent slightly, and this put his weight on his right foot.

His hands were not opposite his left knee; instead, they were moved over to a point opposite the middle of his body, more to the right of a center position.

He didn't do a forward press.

He didn't do a reverse press, because he assumed what amounted to the exact position a player would reach at the end of Step 2. All he did was to raise the club on the backswing and then bring it down again and on through the ball—a three-four swing.

No wonder the swing looked simple to my reporter. It had only two movements, an upswing and a downswing, Steps 3 and 4.

As the record shows, Littler made a great bid for the U.S. Open on his very first try, in fact he almost won it, but then his game seemed to fall apart and Littler went into a long slump.

Of course, starting his swing from that dead still position, there was very little chance to work his hands into the backswing, but the real difficulty Littler encountered was that from this position he began turning too much on his shots. As previously noted, this excessive turning action of the body produces a much too low backswing from which hooking and smothering the shots is almost unavoidable.

Prior to a recent Los Angeles Open, I observed Littler on the practice tee and noticed he was employing a forward press and a subsequent reverse press action prior to going into his swing. I thought at the time that if Littler retained the forward press and the reverse press it would rectify the faulty body action, in addition to giving him a chance to work his hands and wrists early into the back-swing. He would then have a positive control over the club as it was swung.

Two weeks later Littler won the Phoenix Open and the Tucson Open in succession and during the summer won three more tournaments.

Throughout the golfing world the big question was how did Littler get back on his game. A short time later, credit was given to Paul Runyan of La Jolla, California.

If ever there was an exponent of the one-two-three-four rhythm that I have been advocating, the honor must go to Paul Runyan, because he has a most emphatic, in fact, almost exaggerated application of the four movement rhythm. It has done well for Paul Runyan, a star player on the circuit in the early 30's, twice winner of the PGA Championship, U.S. Senior and World's Senior Champion in 1961-62.

It occurred to me that some of this rhythm must have rubbed off on Littler, but when Runyan explained how he got Littler out of his slump, I was personally disappointed. Runyan stated that all he did was to shift Lit-tler's right hand position on the club—he made Littler bring his right hand to an on the top of the shaft position and this cured his hook.

Littler is a great golfer—his record proves it, but it is my contention that if he would employ the forward press and the reverse press his record would be even more impressive.

So just as Gene Littler's swing is subject to an analysis, and a subsequent rating, so is your swing subject to a rating.

In my book, Bobby Jones and Sam Snead get the highest rating—their forward press and reverse press have been the most consistent and most uniform. With this fine one-two start, they balanced themselves perfectly for a full free action bodywise, but their one-two action also led their hands to a point where they could easily and naturally apply over the club the perfect positional control. To do this hand action and body movement from a dead still start puts a great burden on the player. It isn't as easy to get the needed rhythm, the body and hand action that a golf shot requires.

It is my observation that perhaps as a result of the one-piece swing theory (a fallacious idea that is supposed to simplify play), many newcomers on the tournament circuit are using this style. However, it is also noticeable that even though they assume this dead still position as they address the ball, many of them do a series of preliminary movements before coming back to the dead still position from which they start their shot. In effect they do what amounts to the one-two action, but they do it quite separately from the three-four style of the swing they employ.

Among women golfers, Patty Berg and Louise Suggs get a very high rating—they apply the four movement rhythm most effectively.

At the next professional tournament you attend, make a rating chart on each player and watch for the final results. You will find players who do no more than a three-four swing. Then you will find players who do a two-three-four swing—these players start their club away from the ball with a sort of drag action, but with this style they must also give their body a rather severe twist or turn to get the club to the top of the swing. This excessive turn or twist action often puts a severe strain on the left knee.

Then you will find many, many golfers who have that distinctive one-three-four swing we discussed earlier.

However, when you find the golfer who does the complete four movement rhythm, you will likely find the class of the field, and the most probable winner of the tournament. In that one-two-three-four rhythm you will see the golfer who has the best footwork, is always balanced for a full free swing, and has the best chance to use his hands to properly guide and steer the club.

I have personally conducted ratings of players in many tournaments, and the four movement player always proves to be the most reliable in all departments of the game. Here are the results of a national professional tournament survey. It was a match play tournament with 97 entries, and the players' styles were as follows:

In the one-two-three-four category there were 55 players. In the one-three-four category there were 27 players. In the two-three-four category there were 5 players. In the three-four category there were 10 players.

In qualifying for the 64 places on the match play sheet the results were as follows:

73% of the one-two-three-four players or 40 out of 55 qualified 59% of the one-three-four players or 16 out of 27 qualified 80% of the two-three-four players or 4 out of 5 qualified 40% of the three-four players or 4 out of 10 qualified.

As the elimination took place during the match play, the record showed that the first category of players to bow out were the three-four players, that the next category to disappear were the two-three-four players, the next category to disappear were the one-three-four players, and the ultimate winner was of course a one-two-three-four player. However, most convincing as to the efficiency of the four movement style of golf was the fact that all four semi-finalists were one-two-three-four players—in other words, each one of them proved to be the superior player in his bracket of the draw.

This analysis of players can increase your interest at a tournament, it will improve your own concept and understanding of golf, and it will improve your own performance on the course.

Use the one-two-three-four analysis to see just how the players

(a) handle their weight

(b) utilize their body

(c) work their hands, and the more you study and review the four movement rhythm, the more automatic your own performance will become.