The Bent Arm Stroke or the Lofting Approach Stroke which does not give a Run to the Ball

To make a ball fall dead one must pitch it high enough into the air to make it come down perpendicularly and with enough backward spin to make it bite into the ground. To send the ball high into the air and also to give it this backward spin, the club head must hit well under the ball. To do this the elbows must bend with the swing so that the club head will describe a circle instead of an ellipse, the stroke being a hit more than a pendulum swing. In making a bent arm stroke

(1) Stand with the ball to the right of the centre of the body so that it will be hit as the club head is descending, the position of the feet always being the same as when making the different stiff arm strokes.

A high ball.

a b - the sweep of the iron. c d - the backward spin.

1 - the stance for a full swing. 3 - the stance for a quarter swing.

2 - the stance for a half swing. 4 - the stance for a wrist swing.

(2) Hold the club in the left hand the same as when making a stiff arm shot, but in the right hand, hold it in the palm next the upper joint of the thumb with the thumb straight across the shaft, the hand being enough under to have the first joints of the fingers uppermost, the grip only differing from the thumb grip taken in driving in not having the right hand quite as far under, the object of this grip being to have the wrists work easily with the perpendicular upward swing.

(3) With the backward swing , carry the club along the ground only as far as the right forearm will take it without moving the right elbow from the body ; for the full swing bringing the club up over the right shoulder by bending both elbows and both wrists ; for the half swing, bringing it up perpendicularly, the hands being half way between the hip and the shoulder; for the quarter iron and wrist swing bringing it up for a less distance, in this latter case the distance being regulated by the amount of momentum put into the stroke.

(4) With the forward swing, bring the club head around slowly, for extra strength will only send the ball higher and no extra distance will be gained. Because the club head comes down perpendicularly it should be nipped upward by a quick movement of the right wrist as it strikes the ball; otherwise, the club head may go too much into the ground and a part of the backward spin which the ball should receive and which is the essence of the stroke is lost. With the forward swing, the grip of the left hand should be loosened so that the right hand blow will not be checked.

(5) In following through, if a full swing is made, the club should swing around the left shoulder and not over it; if a half, or a quarter swing is made, the shaft should be almost perpendicular and to the left of the line of flight and with the wrist shot it should be pointing along the line of flight.

For the wrist stroke most of the momentum comes from a movement of the wrists alone, the club being held loosely in the fingers of the left hand, the looser the better, but held in the right hand so that one can feel a sympathetic tingle in the fingers, the iron going back no further than the turn of the wrists will take it, the forearms remaining almost stationary as the whole movement is an upward turn of the wrists instead of a backward swing.

Suggestions

With the bent arm stroke, a three-quarter swing is never used, not only because it is a difficult stroke to make but because the ball flies high and the distance would be practically the same as if a full swing were made.

As the object of the stroke is to send the ball high, a lofter or mashie should be used and not a mid-iron or driving mashie.

As it is necessary to hit well under the ball, make up your mind to take some turf with the stroke but be sure that it is turf taken after the ball is hit.

Remember that the ball flies high and that a full swing should be used where with the stiff arm stroke a three-quarter or a half swing would be used.

In making short approaches, many players, instead of giving the ball a backward spin by hitting well under it, top the ball and in this way get the same backward spin, as the ball is driven into the ground with the forward spin from which it rebounds with the spin reversed.

Never use a bent arm stroke if another will do as well.

(1) Because, the swing not being in an ellipse, one is apt either to top the ball or to get so much under it that too much turf is taken and the essence of the stroke is lost.

(2) Because the swing is sometimes less than a circle and consequently one is apt to slice the ball and make it break to the right.

(3) Because the difference of a hair's breadth in the point of concussion will affect materially the distance which the ball will travel.