The entire effort should "feel" to be in the hands, as the body travels comparatively slowly in following around, because it is in the hands that the greatest strain at any one point is felt. Any sudden jerk or extra effort made with the body will apply power out of all proportion to the strength of the fingers to transmit it. Therefore, it inevitably follows that nothing like the full strength can possibly be used, due to this proportionate weakness in the fingers.

If the right hand was grasping the club half way down the shaft with the left hand at the end of the grip it would be possible to use the greatest amount of power in twisting the body around, just as this strength is used in swinging a pickaxe. But with a golf club the hands are close together, and the power applied with the legs, back, and shoulders that you would use in swinging a pickaxe is so totally out of proportion to the ability of the hands to transmit under the circumstances, that the stroke must inevitably be ruined.

If you were to swing a pickaxe with the hands grasping the handle at the end, close together, and start to bring it to the top of the swing as you do in golf, you would be quickly convinced, when you reached the top and started to bring it down again suddenly, how little power proportionately you have in the hands; yet golfers are trying all the time to make the same amount of exertion with their legs, back and shoulders that they would in swinging a pickaxe and then marvel at the
difficulty in getting off a long ball, when the whole effort is wasted because the club head does not meet the ball true.

Keep the forearms and wrist as flexible as possible, and you will be astonished to find how little power is required of the body. It is easy and very comfortable and you quickly learn the valuable lesson of hitting the ball accurately, be-cause as your body is so well under control you have no difficulty in keeping your balance, and that means your head has a good chance to keep from swaying, and naturally your eyes see the ball so much more clearly that it is comparatively easy to hit it very true. Then you will begin to get the distance. As a matter of fact the playing of irons requires no such effort as the wooden shots, and the great difficulty, as I have said be-fore, is in keeping from swinging or twisting the body too fast.

The principle of the stroke is different and it is more like the game of "crack the whip," which the boys play. The entire energy is transmitted to the club head and it is more than sufficient if you connect with the ball accurately. A point to remember is the matter of
moving the hands along parallel with the ball after you first connect with it in order to keep the face of the club at right angles and the club head on the line of flight.