The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1907-08-08
sL1CING IN GOLF.
Some Causes of a Common Fault
How to Avoid 1t.

l1Oh W AAhOlu 1t
The one fault in golf most in evil
dence among the general run of players
is slicing, says Walter Travis in Coun-
try Life in America. There is another
mere common perhaps but not so no.
ticeable, and that is raising the head
fraction of a second before striking
technically called taking ones eye off
the ball.
sncing, however, is different and
springs from variety of causes, re-
siding both in the player and his clubs.
For instance, wooden club with the
lead improperly set in-toward the tee
or at wrong angle with reference
t. the face-lying off-will have ten
dency to slice. So also will any club
with whippY shaft or an iron club
with a very short socket. irrespective
OF shaft.
Now for the faults which reside with
the player himself. Chief among these
is an improper grip If the left hand
be turned over too much to the left a
slice will inevitably result, unless a cor
responding change be made with the
right hard by turning 1t over to the
fright
The more the left hand is turned over
to the right the greater is the ten
dency to pull, unless the right hand
is at the same time correspondingly
turned over to the left, There is a
point where both hands act In unison,
and it should be the aim Of every
player to find out his particular point
Irrespective of the relative position
of the hands, balls may be sliced by
gripping firmly with the left and loose
ly with the right, or tightly with the
right and loosely with the left.
Again, apart from any question of
grip, heaps of balls are sliced by be-
ing hit off the heel of the club. This
is generally, though not always, due to
the player standing too far away, and
the fault arises from this very circum-
stance the player in the effort to reach
the ball properly falling in to 1t. This
may easily be cured by standing a
comfortable length away and by keep
ing the weight OF the body on the
heels during the whole course Of the
stroke.
Another very potent provocative of
sllcing is an improper stance-standing
around too much toward the hole This
particular sort of fault only fattens
with what It feeds upon. How often
may you see the owner of pro-
nounced slice make allowance for the
slice he feels will assuredly come off
in the mistaken idea that he Is doing
81 mething to correct it.
What does he do? He aggravates the
trouble by facing even more toward the
hole. This simply causes the club to
cut more than ever across the ball.
The true remedy is to reverse the
procedure and turn his back more to-
ward the hole--iust the exact opposite
Of what he thinks he ought to do. AT
first he will be inclined to scott at the
Isuggestionsand argue that his ball will
Internationally 60 away Off to the
right but It will not
| n anything II will go to the left OF
where he aims. Let straight driver
stand as II he were about to drive to
the extreme edge Of the right of the
course. Now, ask him. without chang
ing his stance, to aim right down the
middle, and IT'S hundred to one that
the ball viii go decidedly to the left.
Still another cause Of slicing is get
ting the hands away In front Of the
club-due to not utilizing the wrists
properly. Faults Of this character may
ssily be corrected by moving the
hands back a couple Of inches from
the normal position assumed IN the
address. The better plan, however, Is
to go a little deeper and endeavor tc
crre the trouble by cultvating a prop
err swing and correct timing.