Let us now follow the club on its journey; back from the ball it starts, not rising abruptly, but keeping close to the ground and in the line from hole to ball produced for a little way, then ascending until it has reached its highest point, and from there descending above the player's shoulders until it reaches such a place that its shaft is parallel to the ground and its toe is pointing downward. So much for the course of the upward swing. The speed at which it should be made must be carefully regulated. To go back too slowly makes a sluggish shot, to go back too quickly leads to over-swinging and forces the player to exert too much energy in starting the club back again. As usual, a happy medium must be found.

In the downward stroke the club should retrace its course, gathering speed as it descends and until the ball is struck. Once the ball is away, the club follows for a short space, then rises until it is once again over the player's shoulders, and thus its circle and a half is finished. If describing circles with the head of the club were all that is necessary, the golf drive would, indeed, be a very simple thing. But there is a great deal more involved in it than that. The arms, legs, body, and weight must be managed in such a way that, at the moment the club hits the ball, all of the player's available strength is behind the blow. To accomplish this requires the most careful adjustment of all the player's various motions, so that they may be made in absolute harmony with each other. When so many parts of the body are moving simultaneously, it is somewhat difficult to follow the action of each one in connection with every other one. For that reason it is an easier task to show a player how to use her arms and legs and how to turn her body than it is to tell her about it in writing. However, we will not let such an annoyance as the limitations of the English language, or our own imperfect use of it, disturb us at this time, but we shall bravely return to our player while she is addressing her ball, and try to follow her subsequent actions as best we may.

The preparatory motions that the player goes through in order to drive her ball have frequently been called a system of "winding up." Whatever the name is, the action must be started immediately after the club leaves the ball. By the time the club head is a very short distance on its upward journey, the left knee must begin to bend and the heel come away from the ground. The forearms turn naturally, as the club goes up, and the body twists at the waist. The elbows are kept down and as close to the body as is compatible with freedom of movement. As the club nears the top of its swing the wrists come under the club and the weight of the club falls across them. When the club has reached its momentary pause at the top of the swing, the left shoulder should be pointing toward the ball, the left knee bent forward, the heel raised so that the weight falls across the ball of the foot, the right leg should be stiff, the right foot firmly planted on the ground, and the head should be absolutely steady and in the same position that it was when the player was making the address.

Now the "unwinding" process begins as the club starts on its return path. Whatever anyone may say to the contrary, it is the turn of the body that starts the club on the downward stroke. This is a matter of vital importance which has not received the recognition that it justly merits in any book on the game that I have read.

There can be no doubt, however, that it is the body that takes the lead from the top of the swing. So quickly does the action of one set of muscles follow another that the eye is hardly quick enough to perceive which it is that starts the club on its downward course. If we consider for an instant the action of the body of a boxer, a bowler, a weight thrower, a tennis player, we shall see that in each of these cases, where strength is required, the body comes in first. It is the weight and strength of the body that backs the arms and enables them to develop the necessary force.

Almost simultaneously with the starting of the club on the downward stroke the arms begin to unflex at the elbows which, of course, is where the main speed of the stroke is developed. Much has been written about the wrist action in the downward swing. To attempt to tell anyone about this in writing or even to show it with club in hands would be futile, for that which is so commonly miscalled wrist action is merely another name for the unrolling or unwinding of the forearms which is spread gradually and insensibly over the whole of the downward stroke so that they absolutely reverse the process through which they went in the upward swing.

As the arms begin their action, the left knee straightens, the right knee bends, the right heel leaves the ground, and, as the ball is struck, the whole body follows the club so that the left leg receives nearly all the weight and the right foot comes up onto the toe.

Miss Marion Hollins Top of swing in short approach shot.

The foregoing is a brief statement of the movements necessary to making the drive. They are not in themselves so complicated that any person with ordinary suppleness of body and limbs need have any trouble in accomplishing them. The difficulty lies, however, in the fact that, while keeping the head steady and the eyes fixed on the ball, the player must so co-ordinate all these actions that they are brought into perfect rhythm, and that their cumulative effect must be regulated so that, at the instant the ball is struck, the player is exerting her greatest strength. To do this is to "time" the stroke correctly.