Before the last war I often stood behind Cotton and studied his shot-making.  I am convinced that no other player anywhere in the world from 1935 to 1937 ever got the delivery of the club head so consistently square at impact and immediately after as Cotton did in those peak years.  He maintained his club-line to such perfection that it was impossible to fault him.

  There was that right knee of Cotton's folding into the shot and a perfect body poise held from the waist-line.

  Tired legs were the cause of Ian Caldwell suffering a breakdown in his driving at Wentworth in the final of the 1961 English Amateur Championship.

  Afterwards he confessed that after seven days on this most exhausting course his legs "went" in the final.

  Don't be scared to let the right knee do its work by moving into the stroke.  Avoid nailing the right foot to the ground as the follow-through gets under way.  That captivates the right knee and produces a checking action which spreads to the arms, hands and club head.

  If you are able to watch Peter Thomson, note his right knee-action as he goes through the ball.  His follow-through to a poised finish, held from the waist-line is a model and cannot be faulted.

  This then completes the pattern of the swing as a whole from the time we take up position alongside the ball to the relaxed finish.

  You may well ask: "How on earth am I expected to memorize all this detail?"

  You are not.  Mugging it up as you would the lines of a play would be entirely the wrong approach.

  But if you read, and re-read thoughtfully, with a golf club within reach, the vital points will begin to take root in your golfing system.

  It has been necessary to detail the whole of the mechanics in order to give you a complete picture of the swing-shape you are creating.  With that picture in your mind as you go about your task, at first slowly with a club but no ball, then out on the practice ground, you are less likely to fall victim to some particular tip which you are so anxious to exploit that you will tend to exaggerate it to the point of distortion.

  The whole outline of this swing-shape has been presented with the driver as the club used.  For two reasons: It is the longest and most difficult club to control at the top of the swing; secondly, the straight face of the driver makes it simpler to check on the angle of the club-face at different stages.

  You may now find it advantageous to transfer to a five iron as you set about putting these principles into operation.  Indeed I advise it.

  Now here is an exercise to help you get the feel of the follow-through and finish.  Remember that the first stage of the backswing is confined to the simple movement straight back from the ball of the arms, hands and club head.  Do this and extend it partly into the next stage which brings the left heel just off the ground.

  Now return the club head through the impact position and into the follow-through and finish.  Do this slowly and repeat it until you begin to get the feeling of the various actions I have described.

  Assimilation of the combined factors in the swing will develop the shape.  But that is not all.  You have to apply the swing to the purpose behind the operation, sending the golf ball accurately on its way.  Between the two extreme ends of the arc which you have taken in the completed swing, you have to make a timed delivery of the club head to the ball, the crux of the whole business.

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