There are two old adages that every beginner at golf should have constantly in the back of his head. One is, "practice makes perfect," the other, "make haste slowly." The beginner should confine his efforts to the quarter and half swings; practise them over and over until they are letter perfect; until the right way has become second nature to him. Then he can proceed to master the three-quarter and finally the full swing.

But let him always remember this: the longer he sticks to the quarter and half shots, the better will his game eventually become. Make your short game perfect and the long game will take care of itself.

In this connection, I will ask you to follow the play of the leading golf professionals. Practically every one of these men excels in the minor shots; and incidentally the man who plays a consistent game of well placed minor shots, usually plays a winning game. The reason why the average golf professional plays the short game so exceedingly well dates back to his golf beginnings; for days, months, and sometimes years his game had been almost entirely confined to the quarter and half swings.

In most cases these men were started upon their golfing careers as caddy boys. Fortunately for them, very few owned a whole bagful of clubs in their earliest golfing days; the fact that their club possessions were confined to an odd iron or mashie was really the thing that made their game. Then, too, while waiting around for their employers to come to the tee, they usually killed time by practising short mashie shots. With a solid foundation of this sort, it is not at all surprising that in due time, these boys should have developed into experts at the minor shots.

Fig. 36

In this case the toe of the club is turned too much and the right elbow is raised up too far

"Why is it so difficult for the average beginner to hit a ball squarely?"

It's a state of mind for the most part. People have the erroneous idea that there is a great mystery about golf. In reality there isn't any mystery about it at all. It is simply a question of hitting the ball naturally. But instead, many people become panic striken at the supposed difficulties of connecting with the ball, and wind themselves up into all sorts of unnatural contortions (for example, figures 36-37). To the caddy boy, killing time with a few short mashie shots, there is no mystery to golf; none of the supposed difficulties occur to him. He simply plays perfect and natural golf.

The mere presence of the ball is often sufficient to frighten the beginner into all sorts of unnatural movements. For this reason it is wise for him first to acquire the knack of the minor swings without a ball at all. When this knack becomes second nature to him, the ball is no longer a bugaboo, but simply a small white object that happens to be in the line of the swing. In our last talk, these shots with a wholly imaginary ball were explained. The most valuable one is called "shaving the mat"; that is, take a short swing back and forth over an ordinary door mat, just grazing the surface with the club head.

Fig. 37

Two common faults are shown here. Left arm is doubled up and head of the club is not turned enough

After the beginner has become accustomed to the feel of the club, and finds that he is able to connect with the surface of the mat fairly consistently, he is ready for the next step. Now he can try hitting the ball, with the same short stroke.

A golf course is not the best place in the world for the beginner to practise the actual hitting of the ball; in fact it's one of the worst. By far the best method is to go to an indoor golf school (Figs. 38-39) or rig up some sort of court yourself with a canvas back stop; there may be room for it in your attic or back yard. One of my pupils uses as a combination back stop and bull's-eye, an old carpet swung across the entrance to his garage. Every day when he gets home from business he bombards it with several dozen shots.

Fig. 38

Driving off in an indoor golf school. A door mat serves as an excellent tee

Fig. 39

The putting green of an indoor golf school

I have at Lake Placid, an outdoor netted court adjoining the golf course. Pupils sometimes start out with the belief that they will make faster progress by learning on the course itself. But they usually fall back upon the court as the surer method.

This particular court cost less than twenty-five dollars to build. There isn't much to it but posts and crosspieces with chicken house wire strung over the top, sides, and one end. Just in front of the closed end is a sheet of canvas and a bull's-eye to aim at. Nearly any one can build one like it in the back yard (Fig. 40).

Fig. 40

Where a beginner will learn golf more quickly than on the links. A practice cage of cheap and simple construction

Fig. 41

Wrong. When only a half a swing is wanted, there is a common tendency to swing back too far

Practice, above all else is what will make a golfer out of a man. With some such equipment as this, either indoors or outdoors, at his disposal he can practise to his heart's content.

"How should a man go about using such a court?"

Simply take a dozen or more golf balls and drive them at the canvas target one after the other, using the short stroke already mentioned. Be sure to stick to the short stroke; one of the common faults with a beginner who intends to take only a half swing is that he reaches back to one that more closely approaches a three-quarter (Fig. 41). The first thing a man should do is to make up his mind that he is going to make a record of six successive strikes on the target. The chances are, however, that he won't do this. Probably he will manage to get up to four or five, and then spoil the string with a foozle. In this case he should pay a penalty; one that is an excellent lesson in concentration. He should start all over again beginning at "one."

Fig. 42

Correct: How a half swing should look at the top

When he has finally registered six successive hits, he is allowed to go after bigger game. Let him try next for twelve successive hits. If he falls down at "eleven," back he goes to "one" again and so on over and over until the coveted twelve has been reached. Where there are proper facilities for doing so, this same method can be carried out with twenty-four and then fifty shots. When you get up around forty-eight or so, it's a good test of concentration to run out the string successfully.

Of course it's not likely that a man will have as many golf balls as this to play, but he can devise some scheme whereby each ball rolls back to his feet after hitting the target. In giving indoor instruction, I have had an inclined floor constructed, reaching from the base of the target to the pupil's feet. In this way, all he has to do is reach down and pick up each ball after it has rolled back.