The Ball Problem by Max Behr is posted under IMO

[Ran Morrissett]

Geoff Shackelford has found another amazingly insightful essay by Max Behr, this one on the problem of the advancements with the rubber ball. Like with so much of Behr's writing, it is staggering how relevant his thoughts remain to this day, some 75 years after he penned this essay.

For instance, to quote Behr, "We can by bunkers drive the player to a high shot, and by undulations perhaps break him to play a run-shot. But it is only by forcing the player to again consider the resistance of the air to the ball that we can acquire a variable hazard calling upon him at all times for variety of stroke to cover like distances. The present ball places in the hands of the player a tool whereby he may satisfy his natural instinct to hit the ball the same way every time. He has only to be careful to select a club with the right lift. And then he lets go at the ball with a standardized length of swing. The resistance of the air being no longer an influential hazard, pace is exaggerated and trajectory is largely subject to mechanical control. Indeed one of the very greatest American professional expressed the opinion to me that he did not think it was practical today to play any other than full shots. And he attributed the state of British golf, not to any deterioration of skill, but to the fact that the present ball had robbed it of expressing the more versatile skill that it possessed. There is food for thought in that opinion."

Furthermore, Behr points out that "And instead of picking the ball clean from the turf as we once could, we must now go down after it and litter the landscape with our divots. This change from the traditional way of stroking the ball had thus had a most deleterious effect upon greenkeeping. And a further effect, especially noticeable in the United States, is the demand to keep the greens in a soft condition. The golfer cannot stop the ball so the greens must. This has caused overwatering which has seriously damaged the health of the turf. Indeed the evil ramifications caused by the present ball could fill a book."

At one point, Max Behr was indeed compiling his essays to present them in a book format but he never saw the project through to completion. Geoff Shackelford is looking to pick up where Behr left off and publish a book of Behr's essays, which it seems to me would a great service for the game - no doubt this man Behr deserves to be fully understood.

Cheers,

[Tommy_Naccarato]

I can only hope and pray that ALL of you read this.

Lets see a positive and constructive 300+ post on this one!

[Patrick_Mucci]

RAn,

He's describing the PGA Touring Pros' game, which is televised every week, and written about every week by a variety of golf magazines.

Clearly a clash of philosophy exists.

I think most would agree, but the problem is, how do you revert ?

[Jim_Kennedy]

Ran,
I see too many people struggling with the game so I don't have the same perspective on the ball as some others might. The ball does makes it easier for all players to hit high and straight and this keeps the less talented happy. The best players still need the repertoire of shots used in the past to play their most effective game today.
These best players, or most talented, still need to know how to hit a wide variety of shots including a running shot, low cut, high hook,  punch, knockdown, 50 yd. chip, etc..The most talented still need to control their trajectory no matter what ball they are hitting. Hopefully those less blessed will choose to learn these skills.

Courses could once again become nasty places upon which to hit imperfect shots and the ball, held at today's standards, would become less of an issue.  

p.s. I am modifying this post to add that I think Max Behr presents sides to this issue that I have not seen expressed before and thank you for posting the article..  

[Doug Siebert]

Well, I could go on for a while about the ball and what would be done in an ideal world, but it seems unlikely anything of substance will change in the equipment, so the architects are the ones who must change to accomodate a different game.

So what can architects do to encourage a greater variety of shots, such as shots that run into the green?  They need to resist the urge to raise greens, put bunkers in front of greens (or leave gaps less than 10 yards wide and claiming they are there for the run-up shot)  Create contours in front of the green that increase the effective landing area for a well played run up to make it a more attractive option, an easier shot for those players who know how to play it.  Such a design also has the side benefit of making the game more enjoyable for short hitters who often cannot hit the ball high enough to land on and hold even soft greens.

Personally, I am so used to playing the usual "select a club, take a normal full swing" shot I am pretty immune to the effect of hazards or obstacles in front of the green.  Unless you give me water right in front of the green, or a serious bunker I don't even think about it.  I notice them only when I've gone off course off the tee into some trees and have to play a low shot to escape, and have little or no way for a low shot to end up on the green no matter how well it is executed.  If the intent was to punish poor tee shots, then do that, instead of relying on the green complex to limit my recovery options as punishment.

Sometimes the villian is the greenskeeper, quite often holes have been obviously designed to allow the runup, but the greenskeeper has mowed only a very narrow lane in the exact center, with deep rough on either side.  The runup is unattractive when it requires far greater precision than a lofted shot.  Even if the green is tiered and encouraging a runup I'd rather take my chances at gauging the flight distance correctly versus running down a 6 yard wide lane.  For low recovery shots it is nearly impossible because you need to not only hit the narrow lane, but do it with an appropriately curving shot.  I usually just try the runup through the rough, and hope for the luck required to keep it from getting stuck.

[THuckaby2]

Read it.  Agree with it.  Interesting the same rants were heard 75 years ago... in an odd way this gives me great hope for the game.

Hard to see this getting 300+ posts - what more is there really to say?  Sorry, Tommy.  

TH