Advanced Golf
"Or, Hints and Instruction for Progressive Players:
With Eighty-Eight Photographs and Diagrams"
by James Braid
When 'reviewing' a classic of this nature, one is reminded of the 'art critic' looking at the Mona Lisa. "Well, thats not very good" said the 'critic'. Of course, he (and I'm sure this is one of the times that any feminist would be happy to see the androgenous appelation used) was not passing judgement on the painting, he was passing judgement on himself!
So a reviewer does not really 'review' a classic book of this nature, the fact that it is still widely quoted is proof enough of its worthiness. The reviewer comments on its style, its content, its importance in the context of the time, and its importance to today's historians.
Advanced Golf was first published by Methuen & Co. in April of 1908 in the usual quantities for a sporting book of the period. The printing run was sold out within the week! In those days it was not so easy to churn out additional copies once the printing run was over, but with a superhuman effort they pulled out another edition for May. We can be sure that they doubled or trippled the number of copies, but again all copies were rapidly sold, so the brought out a third edition in June, and fourth one was also required in August! Never had there been such demand for a book on sports.
Why the enthusiasm? Well there is the obvious fact that James Braid was the then dominant member of the triumvirate; he had won the open in 1901, 1905 and 1906 and had been second or third in the other years; he could also hit the ball further than any golfer had until then dreamed possible - and length from the tee fascinated as much then as it does now; and he was the match player supreme wining the PGA match play championship three of the four previous years, but there was also the fact that by any measure this was a heck of a book! Add to this that this was also the first book aimed at the established golfer rather than the beginner and we begin to understand the excitment with which it was greeted.
We should also remember that Braid was immensely popular - not in the shallow terms of today's celebrities - but he was recognised as a man of great pith and substance, to use a term from the Victorian era, he had Gravitas! This was not to detract from the other members of the Triumvirate - both Vardon and Taylor were consumate gentlemen - rather it reflected something extra, and the public had a desire to find out what made this Braid 'tick'. Braid was quite, undemonstrative and modest, but without having any false modesty. Once when asked by Bernard Darwin whether he could have matched a famous drive of Freddie Tait, he paused, made sure of the particulars of the feat, thought for a moment then said "I'm rather sure I could". Such was the modest but assured and conservative nature of the man. Anyone who wishes to find out more about his character would do well to read any article on him by Bernard Darwin [Ed. There is one such article in this news letter], but they should also read this book. Braid's character shines through on every page.
Before getting on to the specifics of the book, it is necessary to say that this book is incredibly well written in succinct and clear English. Remember these were the years before every sports man had a 'Ghost Writer'. Although the editor would smooth out many manglings of the language, reading the efforts of other sports writers of the era, the overall result was not always successful. Braid, like most working men of his era left school at aged thirteen, but it is obvious that he picked up more about the english language, and a larger vocabulary in those few years of schooling, than many Eng. Litt. gratuates of today. To the modern ear the language may appear a little sonorous and ornate. Picking a sentence at random: "In the third and fourth varieties of abnormal stances, as enumerated already, the situation, as has been suggested, is complicated by the uneven distribution of the weight of the feet". However we have the same problem today when reading Dickens, Trollope or Bronte, and one soon gets use to the rythm of another era and forgets or ignores the trills and flourishes. The book is in fact a pleasure to both dip into and to read. [Ed. To get a preview of the Braid's english see 'Braid on Bunkers' in this news letter]'
To get to the specifics of the book, the book has five main sections:
- Equipment
- Swing Mechanics and Shot making
- Course Strategy and Psychology
- Course design
- Autobiographical material
There is also a 'bonus chapter' on what was understood of the science of the swing and ball flight in 1908!
Let us not forget that braid is writing for the 'Advanced Golfer'. Here is his definition:
To begin with, let me say exactly what I mean by the title that I have chosen for this, which contains all the advice I can think of for the improvement of any kind of golfer who has fairly grappled with the early difficulties of swinging his driver on the tee and playing his mashie for a pitching stroke, even if he has not surmounted them. I do not wish to frighten away any young players who are coming on, but who have yetsome way to go before they will be at all proficient, by speaking of "advanced golf" as if meaning to suggest something ofan exceedingly intricate and difficult character far beyond their understanding.
And write for the advanced golfer he does, without getting tedious or over technical.
Equipment
Both collectors and players of today should read this section. He goes into great detail about the characteristics of various woods, their shape and depth. He also talks about the shaft, and where the 'spring' in the shaft should occur. Remember that braid was a club maker, and presumably it was an easy matter for him to sand down a shaft so that the 'spring' would occur mainly in the mid-shaft, not at the lower end which is where the spring occurs in most hickories.
When it comes to club selection Braid is all for experimentation and feel:
The supreme test of a particular iron for a particular player is that when he has made a shot according to his regular style, and which, as far as he is concerned, is perfect, there should be a complete absence of that semi-vibratory, dead kind of feeling at the grip at the moment of impact. It is difficult to describe the feeling in words, but every golfer of any experience knows what I mean.
...There is no mistaking an iron shotproperly played and that is well balenced. The player is just concious of the impact of the ball upon the blade as a kind of soft, easy, delicate touch ...
...If a golfer of experience has a club in constant use with which he never gets this pleasurable sensation
... the best thing he can do is put it on the retired list
Braid goes on to give a discussion of lie, face depths and face scorings which will be of interest to any hickory affectionardo
Swing Mechanics and Shot making
There is much of both practical and historical interest in these sections. The reviewer found of particular interest the section on 'Playing form water'. he was somewhat baffeled by some of the advice until he remembered that these were in the days before ball standardisation, and that many balls actually floated!
Although moving pictures were just begining to be used, sequence shots were still rare, and the book is illustrated with mostly 'posed' pictures. Certainly looking at the address, stances and finishes, one is struck by the orthodoxy of Braids play by modern standards, although his finish is accompanied by a sway forward (one can be sure his downswing was not - his head was well behind the ball at impact!), and like Vardon he was not an advocate of the straight left arm. In the text Braid emphasises shoulder turn, although he calls it 'twist' and 'leg action'. All in all one is struct by how little the mechanics of the swing have changed over the years.
One interesting aside is that braid does 'posed' shots of impact, and he must have felt his position at impact was the same as at address. However there is an action picture of the niblick bunker shot at impact - quite a remarkable photo for 1908 - which shows that this was indeed not the case! One would have to wait a few years before the quick lens camera would really show us what was happening through the swing.
Braid goes on to give advice on playing all kinds of shots, and there are nuggets of information here for every hickory player.
Course Strategy and Psychology
To the reviewer this section is still worth study in depth. James braid used to 'thin' his way round a course. James would not of course have called it psychology, he probably would have called it tempperament or perhaps just common sense. However his hint's on how to conduct one self when all is not going well are just as applicable today as they were in 1908. Indeed I wish I had read and applied the lessons when I was younger. Maybe I would have played better. Here is what he has to say about medal (stroke) play. This is quoted in some length as it seems to best sum up why Braid was such a successful player. This could really be Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, or Ben Hogan writing!
Now as to medal play, the chief thing to remember is that one's moderate game, which might often win a match, will very seldom be good enough to win in a stroke competition. Your very best is wanted on these occasions, and that must be borne in mind from start to finish. Generally the cautious game will not pay. It is, of course, right to remember that if the ball gets into a very bad place in a bunker or elsewhere, once or twice, it may be quite enough to put the player out of the running; but risks like this must be taken if there will be any gain resulting from a successful shot. Just as in match play it is not much use going for difficult carries, and all that sort of thing, if you are not much better off for having performed them; but the case quoted in the argument for going for a bunker guarding the green when playing a match, applies with even more force to stroke play, for it is the gain of strokes like this that makes all the difference. Always keep it in mind that while your game can very easily be not good enough in stroke play, it is impossible for it to be too good. For this reason any timidity on the putting greens is sure to be fatal to one's prospects, for it is on the greens more than anywhere else that success in these competitions is gained.
The player must go for the hole every time, and should never be short; while in pitching and running up, also, it should be the rule to get to the farther side of the hole, unless there is some very good reason for stopping on the near side. You cannot afford to lose the chance of holing with your approach, even though it is such a small one. A man does not generally win in a stroke competition unless he is in the mood for winning, that is, unless his temperament is in just the right happy state. He must try to make himself feel comfortable all the time ; as soon as he gets fidgety and uneasy his prospects will begin to diminish. It is therefore the finest tonic possible to make a good start. The man who plays the first two or three holes really well has scored a great advantage, and it need not be said what a heavy handicap a bad start is, and how difficult it is to carry those lost strokes with you all the way round the course, trying to get rid of them here and there. To win in a medal competition you generally need a good start and a good finish ; but if the former is denied you it must be remembered that a brilliant ending has been the means of winning many of the most important tournaments. The player suddenly realises that if certain things happen for the best he has still a chance, and this last hope has a way of coming true oftener than one would expect. Once or twice I have been near winning a championship as the result of a strong finish, when at the beginning of the last round I had seemed to be well out of it.
I have said that a man must play the bold game in stroke competitions, with just a reasonable caution when necessary, and that his ordinary " moderate " game is no good. At the same time he must remember that he has no right to expect to be able to play better than his usual best, and that it is a mistake to attempt to force one's game with this object. One's entire golfing system is sure to go to pieces if this is done. Another hint worth remembering, is that it is not only good to try to forget one's bad holes as quickly as possible, but to take as little notice of what your partner is doing as you can. Of course, if you are out of it, and he is not, it is merely the good and proper thing to give him such encouragement (not advice) as is legal ; but, while you are both in it, do not be put off by his brilliant holes, or by the fact that he soon gets an advantage of several strokes over you, remembering that points are sometimes more quickly got back in stroke play than in matches. Remember, also, when you have made a bad hole that there never was a medal round that could not have been a stroke or two better. I realise that though stroke play is so difficult to succeed at, it is equally difficult to say anything about it that is not rather commonplace. The simple fact is that the man and his temperament, coupled with his best game and a little luck, are everything in a stroke competition. Steadiness, perfect control over the mind and the temper, and the ability to take chances when they are presented, are the best qualities, and if a man has not got them you cannot give him any set of rules for success in this branch of the game.
Course design
Historically this is probably the most important part of the book. Not only was James Braid an outstanding architect, but the two chapters in this book were probably the first serious treatise on course design written by any major architect.
Braid's work is little known in the United States because he never travelled here. Braid suffed from extreme motion sickness and hated journeys of any kind. He never bought a car, and avoided car travel whenever possible. Even train rides occasioned him discomfit, and the short channel crossing to France was purgatory for him! However Braid was the first great designer of Inland courses, and the dog-leg has been attributed to him. he is best known for his work on bunkers, and his comments on bunkering has influenced every designer down to this day. [Ed. His notes on bunkers appers elsewhere in this issue.] J.H Taylor was heard to comment after being in a bunker in Carnoustie - "The man who designed this bunker should be buried in it with a niblick driven through his heart!". His comments when he was informed that it was his good friend James Braid are not recorded!. The 'James Braid Trail' in Scotland features course famous and not so well known which he designed. Any one who has played any of these course realises that here is an Architect right at the top of his field.
It is not really possibly to talk of a 'Braid Style', except to say that all his course seem to fit perfectly into the landscape. However there is a Braid Style in another sense. We are so used to the 'standard' layout of the golf course, four par three's of varying length, four par fives, and a mix of long and short par fours, that we sometimes forget that it is Braid who first advocated this mix, and although there were many course before braid's time that did not adhere to these proportions, there are hardly any courses built after that do not!
Autobiographical material
This is certainly the most pleasant section of the book to read. again Braid's graciousness and modesty shines through. The chapter on his early years is particularly good reading. The reviewer is reviewing the first edition of this book, but this book remained in print for several years, and Braid was to win two more Opens.
Summary
Vardon wrote many books, and they are all good reads, but somewhat stereotyped. Braid only wrote one, but it carried through numerous printings and editions. With a new paperback edition hopefully golf historians will have ready access to one of the great books of golf.
Re-publication available:
# Paperback: 416 pages
# Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (May 26, 2006)
# ISBN-10: 1428622578
# ISBN-13: 978-1428622579
Original is listed from time to time. 1918 edition offered for $89 on Amazon 2007-05-19.
Reviewed by Matt Bradford 2007-14-05