Instantaneous photographs of the "qol-low through" or the continuation of the swing after the concussion, prove that the ball remains upon the face of the club head an appreciable instant after it has been struck. As it is in this part of the swing that the contractive and expansive quality of the gutta percha becomes a factor,the follow through therefore is an important part of the swing. Since the expansive quality of the gutta percha only begins to act after its contractive quality has expended itself, the ball only receives the full force of this expansive quality, consequently, some time after the concussion. If, therefore, there is a follow through, the ball only flies from the club head when the expansive force becomes greater than the speed at which the club head is moving. It is, then, only when the ball has the club head to push against that it can fly off with the greatest impetus. Unless therefore the club is carried through, much of the elasticity of the gutta percha, which the concussion has set in motion, is lost.

To Follow Through Properly

1. Bring the right shoulder well down with the forward swing, keeping the right elbow close to the body and the left elbow well out so that the arms may stretch away freely.

2. With the concussion, hold the club almost wholly in the left hand, relaxing the grip of the right hand so that the circle through which the right arm is passing will not tend to swing the club to the left of the line of flight.

3. If the club follows through as it should, the stroke will be finished with the club head pointing well into the air and on the line of flight, or else swung over the left shoulder.

Suggestions about the Follow Through

If the swing is properly made, the momentum of the swing will overbalance the body and make a step forward with the right foot necessary.

As the natural inclination is to stop the swing as soon as the ball is struck, one must guard against swinging more slowly as the club approaches the ball and thus robbing the drive of much of its force.

To get distance, use a half swing if the follow through does not come naturally with a full swing ; the trouble with the full swing being that the club, instead of swinging in an ellipse, is swung in a circle which only calls into play the quick moving arm muscles, the pace being too fast for the slower moving body muscles, which would carry the club along the line of flight.

Consequently, the club is swung to the left of the body. With an elliptical swing, however, as the faster moving arm muscles have to swing the club a greater distance, the slower moving body muscles have time to act. Therefore one who cannot follow through properly with a full swing, by shortening the swing to a half circle, unconsciously flattens the circle into an ellipse to get driving power, with the result that the segment of the circle through which the club travels is longer than if a full swing in a circle is made, and it is because of this that more power is put into the stroke.

Diagram showing that with a half swing in an ellipse, the distance from a to b is greater than a full swing in a true circle from c to d.