Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
BEST OF BOBBY JONES (part 1) Do you believe in a whole lot of practice? yes I do and the right kind of practice is just as interesting as playing. I never go on a practice tee unless I have a definite purpose in view some correction to make and I continue only so long as I can keep my mind on what I'm doing and that sort of practice is never tiresome and it's the only kind that does any good at all. Mr Jones I notice when you play that mashion niblic shot that the ball broke from right to left had a little hook on it will that kind of shot stop just as quickly as one play the other way from left to right well yes it will for all practical purposes whenever I'm able to take anything like a full swing with a club sometimes on a very short shot when it is necessary to stop the ball very quickly I lay the face of the club off a bit and cut across the ball slightly but I find with every IR club for a shot longer than the one I'm playing now I have better control if I play the shot from right to left because it doesn't fly so high oh Bob you said just now that uh when you go out to practice you always have a definite purpose in mind would you mind telling us some of the things you have trouble with well with the medium IRS and short IRS the trouble that I have most often if failing to my wrists at the top I'm inclined sometimes to hang on to the club a little bit too tightly so that I don't get that nice rhythm now you watch my hands when I play this shot you see what I mean I like to be able to feel the head of the club all the way through the stroke unless I use my wrist freely my swing loses all of its snap and I have neither power nor control now with the long IRS number one for example I sometimes find myself snatching the club back take it back so fast that it upsets the balance and I find that I always hit the ball better if my back swing is very leisurely almost lazy like this now watch these two shots at actual normal speed at the top of the Swing you'll observe that for a fraction of a second there's a pause as the club changes Direction [Applause] the same swing in slow motion shows how a slow back swing lessens the danger of starting downward too quickly it is very necessary for the player to be perfectly balanced when he starts hitting of course Tony I don't mean to say that the things I've been discussing apply only to the particular clubs I've been using I'm simply trying to show you where these faults are most likely to crop up in my own game now whenever I find myself hooking badly with a wood Club spoon I can usually trace the trouble to my left side I find it resisting the stroke instead of actually leading it through the ball like this in this swing a turn of the hips is free and the head of the rest of the stroke whenever the left hip locks itself or refuses to move out of the way it keeps the left side and arm from pulling through as they should I like to feel that I'm hitting a backhand blow with the right hand catching up with the left only at impact and Mr Jones I noticed that your back swing is very long do you think there's any danger for the average player in swinging back too far I no I don't I think the average golfer would be far better off if he would forget all about overswinging so trouble with most of them is that they don't take the club back far enough now I like the back swing to be long enough so that I have plenty of time to get speed on the club head before it meets the ball without giving me any tendency to jump at it when I go out for length I swing the club back well beyond the horizontal I like to let the back swing go just as far as it can go com the full turn of the hips and the elevation of the hands give me full command of all the power I possess and I have plenty of time to reach full speed by the time I hit the ball if my back swing was shorter I should find it more of an effort to strike with the same Force you do that he Bob the gang have been wondering why you sort of your head to one side and seem to look at the ball out of your left eye is there any particular reason for that well I get thing that I've done naturally all my life I don't look at the ball with either my left eye or my right eye I don't stare at any particular spot on it I'm merely conscious of its location I think that the position of my head is more important than any consideration of the left eye because if you'll notice my swing when I hit the ball my head is back this way I simply find it easier to swing the club with my head in that position.
BEST OF BOBBY JONES (part 1) Do you believe in a whole lot of practice? yes I do and the right kind of practice is just as interesting as playing. I never go on a practice tee unless I have a definite purpose in view some correction to make and I continue only so long as I can keep my mind on what I'm doing and that sort of practice is never tiresome and it's the only kind that does any good at all. Mr Jones I notice when you play that mashion niblic shot that the ball broke from right to left had a little hook on it will that kind of shot stop just as quickly as one play the other way from left to right well yes it will for all practical purposes whenever I'm able to take anything like a full swing with a club sometimes on a very short shot when it is necessary to stop the ball very quickly I lay the face of the club off a bit and cut across the ball slightly but I find with every IR club for a shot longer than the one I'm playing now I have better control if I play the shot from right to left because it doesn't fly so high oh Bob you said just now that uh when you go out to practice you always have a definite purpose in mind would you mind telling us some of the things you have trouble with well with the medium IRS and short IRS the trouble that I have most often if failing to my wrists at the top I'm inclined sometimes to hang on to the club a little bit too tightly so that I don't get that nice rhythm now you watch my hands when I play this shot you see what I mean I like to be able to feel the head of the club all the way through the stroke unless I use my wrist freely my swing loses all of its snap and I have neither power nor control now with the long IRS number one for example I sometimes find myself snatching the club back take it back so fast that it upsets the balance and I find that I always hit the ball better if my back swing is very leisurely almost lazy like this now watch these two shots at actual normal speed at the top of the Swing you'll observe that for a fraction of a second there's a pause as the club changes Direction [Applause] the same swing in slow motion shows how a slow back swing lessens the danger of starting downward too quickly it is very necessary for the player to be perfectly balanced when he starts hitting of course Tony I don't mean to say that the things I've been discussing apply only to the particular clubs I've been using I'm simply trying to show you where these faults are most likely to crop up in my own game now whenever I find myself hooking badly with a wood Club spoon I can usually trace the trouble to my left side I find it resisting the stroke instead of actually leading it through the ball like this in this swing a turn of the hips is free and the head of the rest of the stroke whenever the left hip locks itself or refuses to move out of the way it keeps the left side and arm from pulling through as they should I like to feel that I'm hitting a backhand blow with the right hand catching up with the left only at impact and Mr Jones I noticed that your back swing is very long do you think there's any danger for the average player in swinging back too far I no I don't I think the average golfer would be far better off if he would forget all about overswinging so trouble with most of them is that they don't take the club back far enough now I like the back swing to be long enough so that I have plenty of time to get speed on the club head before it meets the ball without giving me any tendency to jump at it when I go out for length I swing the club back well beyond the horizontal I like to let the back swing go just as far as it can go com the full turn of the hips and the elevation of the hands give me full command of all the power I possess and I have plenty of time to reach full speed by the time I hit the ball if my back swing was shorter I should find it more of an effort to strike with the same Force you do that he Bob the gang have been wondering why you sort of your head to one side and seem to look at the ball out of your left eye is there any particular reason for that well I get thing that I've done naturally all my life I don't look at the ball with either my left eye or my right eye I don't stare at any particular spot on it I'm merely conscious of its location I think that the position of my head is more important than any consideration of the left eye because if you'll notice my swing when I hit the ball my head is back this way I simply find it easier to swing the club with my head in that position.
