Bobby Jones on Golf

by Robert Tyre Jones

  In the first place, although it is better to stand fairly erect without crouching, one must be careful not to crowd the ball too closely. I am not prepared to say that there is no virtue at all in having the eyes directly above the ball, but I know that more important than anything else is the accomplishment of a smooth, controlled swing. Whenever the player crowds the ball, he makes it difficult for his hands and arms to pass freely back and forth, and necessarily impedes the smoothness of his stroke. He must be far enough from the ball to allow his backswing plenty of room without traveling outside the projected line of his putt.

  The second important thing is to keep the ball forward at address so that it can be swept along by a stroke directed along the selected line. As the ball is moved back toward the right foot, the stroke must become more of a hit or jab than a sweep, and therefore must lose in both ease and effectiveness. Only when the ball is addressed approximately off the left toe is it possible to really swing through it toward the hole.

  The aim should be to keep the head of the putter relatively close to the ground during both the backswing and the follow-through. I repeat that the correct putting stroke is a sweep, and not a jab or a sharp hit. To accomplish this sort of stroke, it is plain that there must be some movement of the arms both backward and forward.

  The putting stroke is in reality the correct golf stroke reduced in scale, especially in the sense that the pull is from the left side. As the stroke comes through, the left arm simply must move forward; if it tightens against the stroke, the putt cannot be truly struck.

  The last important point concerns body movement. There is danger in trying consciously to produce a movement of the body in putting, but by all means there should be no attempt to hold the body immovable. A complete relaxation throughout will encourage a quick and easy response to any suggestion of the necessity for movement. Obviously, as the putt becomes longer the hands and arms must have assistance if the stroke is still to be easy and free.

  Again, remember: First examine the putt carefully and decide definitely and conclusively the line upon which you want to start the ball. Then think of nothing but hitting the ball along that line.

  7 PUTTING PRACTICE

  A whole lot of the art of putting depends upon judgment, nerves, a sense of touch, and, as much as anything else, upon luck. But by far the most important part is a sound stroke, by means of which the ball can be struck smoothly and accurately most of the time. Judgment of speed and slope count for very little without the stroke to back it up.

  For this reason, there is no finer practice for developing a reliable putting stroke than putting without a hole—just dropping a number of balls on a green or a carpet and stroking them back and forth. Relieved of the need for finding and holding the line, the entire attention can be given to the club and the manner of swinging it.

  Now begin swinging and continue with the motion that you are trying to cause the head of the putter to float through the ball. Banish any thought of tapping the ball, sharply or otherwise; in fact, try to forget there is a ball there. Your aim is to swing the head of the putter, and the more freely you can cause it to swing, the better will your job be done.

  Strive to make the club swing in a flat arc; that is, to keep it low going back and coming through. Try to swing through the ball, keeping the sole of the putter close to the ground, and direct the swing precisely along the line upon which you intend the ball to start. Above all, let the club swing freely without arriving at any abrupt stopping place.

  Forget the silly notion, preached by some, that there is any virtue in half-topping, or up-hitting, or in any other device designed to impart overspin. The fact is that a ball struck with a putter in anything like a normal way will have no spin at all. The contact is not brisk enough to cause the ball to do anything but roll; and you may be sure that it is going to roll where your putter and the slope of the green direct it.

  Forget also the idea that it is necessary to keep anything still and fast. Of course, you can move too much, but you won’t indulge in gymnastics over a putt of any length, even if you place no restraint upon yourself. You must accomplish the swing approximately as I have described it, and whatever must move, to enable you to do so, should move. You will have to move your hands back with the club to keep the club head low behind the ball; for a very long putt, you may need movement in your shoulders, hips, and legs; your hands will certainly have to move forward to keep the putter traveling close to the ground through the ball. By all means, allow these movements to take place as they are needed. Never should the stroke be allowed to become all hands, all arms, all shoulders, or all anything else. Putting involves a sequence of movements to be performed by the whole of the man, not by any part of him.

  If you can learn to swing the club in this way, smoothly and with rhythm, there is nothing that can keep you from becoming a good putter. Once you can have assurance of striking the ball accurately, the ability to appraise slope and speed will not be long in coming. The stroke is the thing.

  8 MAKING CONTACT

  It is characteristic of the methods of all fine putters that the blade, or head, of the club travels in a very flat arc. In no case does it rise abruptly either on the backswing or after the ball has been struck; but on both sides of the ball, it holds to a course relatively close to the ground. It may be argued that good putting requires a great deal more than accurate striking of the ball, but there is no room for argument that accurate striking is not the first necessity, because it affords the means of translating what the eye sees and the mind directs.

  Hitting the ball even ever so slightly on the upstroke is no less a fault on or near the putting green than elsewhere through the fairway. Although it is more difficult to detect in the shorter strokes, there is here the same transference of weight in the stroking action from the right leg to the left that is so noticeable in the long iron play of the better players. Often the even flow forward is not accompanied by a movement that even a high-speed camera could detect, and this has led some to advise that the body should be held motionless in putting. My belief is quite contrary, being, briefly, that complete relaxation and ease of motion is necessary to the accomplishment of a rhythmic stroke of any length, from the shortest putt to the full drive. One cannot start with the intention of making any stroke with the hands alone, or with the arms alone, or with anything else alone, and hope to swing the club easily and with smooth rhythm. The effort to exclude any part or parts of the body from the action, to hold any part motionless, must set up a strain opposing the ease of movement that is so necessary.

  In putting, if the club be swung from the left wrist as a hinge, it is obvious that the club head must rise abruptly after striking the ball; obviously, too, it will do the same if the left arm is braced and stopped dead at this point—and, if the blade of the putter should begin to rise a moment too soon, it will be moving upward when it strikes the ball. In order to cause the club head to follow a flatter arc, and to sweep the ball along the proper line, the left wrist must continue its motion. As in every other stroke, better direction and more accurate striking are assured by carrying the left hand on through toward the hole without pulling it in or turning it over. As in every other stroke, there must be no holding back of the weight upon the right leg; the player is not using any particular part or parts of his anatomical structure, he is using it all, and it should all move together.

  Whenever I argue this point, I am met with the answer that no photograph of myself discloses any body movement when making a putt of six or eight feet, of the presumably holeable length. I agree that there is no movement that can be measured against a background, but there was, nevertheless—when I was putting well—enough to register upon my own senses. I made no effort to bring about this movement when making a short putt; it was permitted rather than forced, and it was valuable mainly because it gave a comforting assurance of complete relaxation.

  When the rhythm of the stroke became difficult to catch, I found that it helped to
increase the bend at the knees, and at the waist, and to lower the left shoulder when addressing the ball. In this way, the fixing of the weight upon the right leg was effectively discouraged, so that it became easier to sweep the club head through close to the ground.

  9 SHORT PUTTS

  To miss a putt of a yard length seems the most useless thing in the world. The texture of most of our greens upon which competitions are played is such that no valid excuse is offered the player. In almost every case, one may have assurance that, if struck properly, the ball will find the bottom of the cup.

  The short putt presents a problem, because if we allow for the roll of the green, the stroke must be so delicate and the blow so gentle. To strike a crisp, firm, and at the same time gentle blow requires the very ultimate degree of what we call touch, and firm hitting is the essence of good putting.

  On a keen green, putts of a yard can be terrifying, especially in medal or stroke competition. The player always has the choice of striking firmly for the back of the cup if he does not like the delicate curling attempt—but then he must think of the putt he might have coming back if he should miss the first.

  The mental attitude in which we approach a short putt has a lot to do with our success. When we walk up to a putt of ten or fifteen feet, we are usually intent upon holing it; we know we shan’t feel badly if we miss, so our entire attention is devoted to the problem of getting the ball into the hole. But it is quite different when the putt is only a yard long. Then we know that we ought to hole it easily, and yet we cannot fail to recognize the possibility of a miss. Instead of being determined to put the ball into the hole, we become consumed with the fear of failing to do so. Our determination, if we may call it such, is negative. We are trying not to miss the putt rather than to hole it.

  A good many short putts are missed because of rank carelessness; the thing looks so simple that it is hard to view it seriously. Yet it will be observed that comparatively few very short putts are missed in the course of a friendly informal round. This would argue that tension and anxiety cause more misses than lack of care, and we might be convinced of this were it not for the diabolical perversity every golfer knows to be inherent in a golf ball. A casual tap with the back of the putter is enough to hole any short putt when no one cares whether it goes in or not, but once large issues are placed upon the result, two hands and a world of pains are required to steer the ball into the hole.

  There is nothing so demoralizing as missing a short putt. Many times have I seen a man’s entire game, from tee to green, destroyed in the course of a few holes as the result of one little putt. One missed, the next one looks doubly hard; that cast away, too, then the approach putts begin to stop all distances from the cup, applying the pressure with ever greater force; soon putting becomes impossible, and the player begins to force his long game, trying to place his second shots so close to the hole that he will have to do little putting. A rapid progression through these stages before long can result in utter rout.

  I do not need to recount the matches in important championships that have been turned by the missing of a tiny putt. Every man who has played golf knows how quickly the tide may turn on such a thing; for the miss not only destroys the player’s confidence, it also inspires his opponent.

  Long ago I learned that no putt is short enough to take for granted. I have long since recognized the folly of one-handed, backhanded, and all other kinds of disgusted efforts. When it mattered at all whether or not the next stroke went in, no matter how short the putt might have been, it received from me as close attention as I was able to give. I always took a stance and address, even when the ball was lying at the very edge of the hole.

  I shall never forget my feeling as I prepared to hole my last putt at Scioto, in Columbus, Ohio, to win the United States Open in 1926. The thing could not have been over three inches in length. Yet, as I stepped up to tap it in, the wildest thought struck me. “What if I should stub my putter into the turf and fail to move the ball?” I very carefully addressed the putt with my putter blade off the turf and half-topped the ball into the hole. Sounds a bit psycho, doesn’t it? But golfers can get that way.

  10 STROKE OR TAP?

  Luck plays such an important part in putting that a high degree of consistency, even as high as in the other departments of the game, is virtually impossible. The best putter in the world can putt miserably on occasions, and the worst can go like a fiend. The only test is over a stretch long enough to level out the high and low spots for which luck is to be held accountable.

  With this reservation, I think it is possible to generalize to the extent of saying that the swinger is normally better on the long approach putts, while the hitter, if he is good, is likely to excel in holing out from distances of fifteen feet and less. The long, sweeping stroke that floats the club against the ball is the stroke for touch and range. When the problem is to bowl the ball great distances across a keen green and ease it gently up to the holeside, you can bet, for the long run, on the man who swings his putter freely.

  Although a good touch on the longer putts means considerably less holing out to do, the man who excels at the shorter distances, on the other hand, can afford to leave his ball a little farther from the hole. The short, sharp hit is not the stroke for touch, but those who use it properly can take up the slack by knocking in the four-, five-, and six-footers.

  The chief difficulty is always in doing the job smoothly, without yanking or jabbing the putt off line. It seems that this is one of the important arguments in favor of a longer, more leisurely stroke in which the club head is allowed to do most of the work. Paul Runyan and Billy Burke hit their putts sharply, after a short backswing, but they nevertheless swing back smoothly and without hurry. This in itself is something of an achievement the average golfer will find none too easy.

  Stepping up to a putt with the determination to swing helps to relax all the muscles, it encourages smooth action, and discourages any tendency to jab. I think it is decidedly the best method for the greater percentage of players. But here, as in any other place, it is dangerous to ride two horses. Nothing can be worse than to swing back for a gentle, floating stroke and then to yank the club through. If ever you find that you simply must hit, it is best to adopt that method and try to learn to control it.

  11 APPROACH PUTTING

  Someone wants to know why it is that so many long putts finish short of the hole. This certainly does seem to be a common failing among average golfers. It can be caused, of course, by several different things, among which are inaccurate striking, faulty judgment of the speed of the green, and plain timidity.

  The putts that stop a few feet short can very often be laid to the fact that the player has misjudged the speed of the putting surface, for it is quite possible to strike the ball truly and well and still leave it short of the hole; but I do not believe that this is the real reason for the considerable number of long putts that go only a little more than half the desired distance.

  My own experience has been that when I was consistently five or six feet short with the big putts, the fault was not in the stroke itself—that is, in the length of the backswing or the power of the stroke—but rather in the application of the blade of the putter to the ball. I mean, to be blunt about it, that I usually was striking the ball a bit above center—half-topping it, in a word; for it is painfully easy to top, or half-top a putt, the smallest of golf shots, whereas a good player very rarely commits this crime with any of the other strokes.

  Now, the partially topped putt, where the ball is struck just a shade above the center, is due to one of two causes—hurrying the stroke, or lifting the head too soon. I know that in my case, and I think in most others, the long putt is the one stroke on which it is easiest to look up too soon, and further, to make this vital mistake without being aware of it. Many times I went for days wondering what was the matter with my putting, and never finding out until someone told me that I appeared to be lifting my head too soon. At last I reached a
point where this was the first thing I looked for when my putting went off.

  But there is one fault in the stroke itself that may produce a tendency to half-top the long putts; this is to be found in the action of the left hand and wrist. A great many golfers, some of fair ability, appear convinced that the putting stroke is so much the business of the hands and wrists that they cannot bring themselves to allow the left hand and arm to swing easily through the small arc required by a putt of even moderate length. Any abrupt stopping of the left hand and wrist must cause the putter blade to come up sharply as the ball is being struck, with a consequent “nipping” of the stroke. Since the putter will not then pass smoothly through the ball, the putt must fail.

  It might be said that the best cure for this is simply not to do it. But in order to provide something definite to work on, I might suggest that the right forearm resting lightly against the watch pocket of the trousers makes a fine anchor for the backstroke, not actually immovable, but very nearly so, as far as the body is concerned. Then, as the club is swung through, do not attempt to restrain either arm, but permit the momentum of the club to carry through the ball toward the hole-and let it swing both arms along with it.

  12 SPOTTING THE LINE

  Certainly, I lay no claim to having reduced the art of putting to anything approaching a science in which there is no variation from day to day, but I found my average performance on the putting green to be greatly improved by following a few principles, none of which has to do with form or the details of the stroke. The first one is to resist the inclination to look up to the hole while in the act of striking the ball, an inclination that becomes stronger when one’s putting becomes uncertain. Other players have devised for themselves ways of guarding against this tendency. It makes little difference how long the head is kept down so long as one makes certain that the ball has actually been struck before the eye leaves it.