GOLFING DOGMA.*
IN his latest volume, which he dedicates "to Philip Reginald Thornton, my Co-worker in Imperial Politics," Mr. Vaile breathes a spirit of controversy reminiscent of a simpler age. Not for him the decorously lucid exegesis of the ordinary golf- ing publicist. He draws the sword for dogma and supports his dogmas with all the ordnance of rhetoric and scorn. He glows with a fanatic zeal. We must believe or burn, and had he power to enforce his eloquence with torch and faggot we should hesitate to disagree with him. One heretic, Mr. Haultain, whose Mystery of Golf contained an ingenious and stimulating attempt to apply the principles of physiology and psychology to golfing problems, rouses in him a peculiar fury. But Mr. Haultain is distinguished only by the violence of the • (1) The Soul of Golf. By P. A. Vaile. London : Macmillan and Co. j80. net.] —(2) The Now Book of Golf. Edited by H. O. Hutchinson. London: Long.
mane and Co. [Gs. net4
castigation he receives. There is hardly a writer who does not come under Mr. Vaile's impartial lash, and his discoveries are not confined to the region of theory. Until a few years ago, it seems, every stroke in this venerable game had been made in an arc. But antiquity and convention present no obstacles to Mr. Valle. He devised a way of playing a stymie the essence of which lies in moving the mashie-head in an absolutely straight line. And so accurate is the stroke, says its inventor, "that if I found myself badly off my game with my putter, I should take my mashie and play this stroke." Happy Mr. Vaile. What heroic confidence there is in that optative! We must console our- selves with the reflection that the condition is not too remote for fulfilment, and that there is still time for the full capabilities of the stroke to receive illustration.
We have not space, even if we had courage, to disagree with Mr. Valle. But it must be said that his book, in spite of its violence, contains a great deal of excellent sense. Indeed, one cannot help thinking that were it not for his impetuosity he would not appear so continually in opposition. A comparison of his book with that edited by Mr. Hutchinson confirms this view. Mr. Vaile denounces the practice of beginning the novice's instruction with an attempt at the "full swing," and urges that teachers should begin with the shorter putt and so proceed gradually to the larger strokes. When we turn to the chapter in "The New Book" by his old antagonist, Mr. Croome, we find a recommendation that the novice should begin by practising "along putt played as stiffly as is compatible with freedom." It is the same with other points on which Mr. Vaile is most rhetorical, such, for instance, as the conventional preference of the left hand over the right, and of the " swing " over the "hit." On the first point Mr. Darwin (whose contribution forms the most important part of this composite volume) admits that with the majority of modern golfers the right hand is an equal partner, while on the second Mr. Croome's definition of the " swing " is so complicated that he is plainly not using the term in the sense in which Mr. Valle interprets it. In point of fact, Mr. Darwin hits the mark when he says that the question is one of words, and that Mr. Vaile's truth, if it be a truth, is "an improper one, to be zealously guarded from the golfing young person," who must, if he is to acquire the essential rhythm, have firmly in his mind the conception of the swing. Another point, which sees Mr. Valle at his most militant, concerns the dis- tribution of weight at the top of the stroke. He maintains (and seems to think that he maintains it against the world) the ascendency of the left leg. Yet we find Mr. Darwin in a cautions passage more than half-agreeing with him.
Enough has been said to show the different character of these two books, both of which pursue their investigations with a subtlety and learning more familiar among graver studies. Both are illustrated with excellent photographs, and the "New Book" includes, in addition to its elaborate pages of instruc- tion, a summary by Captain C. K. Hutchison—himself the most easy and graceful of stylists—of the styles and methods of our leading players, as well as chapters by Mrs. Ross (Miss May Hezlet) and Mr. J. G. Sherlock on golf from the woman's and from the professional standpoint. Here is a matter for a year of study. Let us fall to and reverence the learned.
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