The Washington times., 1921-10-19

nOW lICy Can DC
i will first take up the slice. This Is
the bane OF existence 20 many pisyerb.
Even some OF our very best golfers
have found no permanent cure for
this fault. IL is usually the first real
trouble that the beginner encounters
and IL often follows him all through
his golfing career. Even when "A cure
has been found and the kink Is
thought 10 have been Strengthened out
for good. II crops up at an unexpect-
cd moment in a hard match and
days golf Is ruined, not TO mention
the stake.
Learn From Expert.
The best and surest way to avoid
slicing is to learn how II is accom-
piished by the expert. j advised one
OF my pupils to do this once. and 1t put
the matter to him I'm such a clear light
that he never forgot IT.
asked him to slice a ball for me
Intentionally. Mind you. he had been
doing this very thing day In and day
out. He stood on the tee bewfldered
for a moment, then shifted his stance
and grip to something entirely differ
ent from what he had ever tried. Much
TO his surprise. the ball flew from his
club as straight as an arrow. This
was exactly the point / wanted to
bring out. When he wanted to make
sure of the slice, 1t wouldn't work. To
stand square to correct slice Inn
presses the beginner as the way to In
crease 1t because he Is facing further
around.
What he actually did was to change
from a very open stance to square
one, and unconsciously he let the club
head 20 out after the ball in the di-
hax kot otsNhf the ha1l would
travel. As there was no deliberate at
tempt to pull in the hands. at the mo-
ment Of impact the very thing that
produces a slice was lacking.
Why Pupils Always Sliced.
showed him where he was In err
ror. He tried again. and this time he
took his natural stance, and. with his
regular way Of hitting the ball, he
sliced as prettily as one could wish to
do. I explained to him that he had
learned the secret quite easily, but he
insisted that this was the way he al
ways stood and the way he always
played. And this, added. is why you
always slice. 1t was easy to convinee
him then that he had been In the dark
for a long, long time.
He had taken a wide open stance
with his left toe almost pointing to
the mole. In tIlS poSitiOh, ~ "oc q IA
easy matter to pull the face OF the
club across the ball and produce the
spin from left to right. / corrected
| his stance by drawing line and max
| ing him toe IL with both feet. Chang
| ing his grip so that he had to use
more of his right hand I asked him
to send the ciubhead after the ball.
| and, following a few practice shots,
| he got the idea clearly in his head.
Two Ways of Slicing.
There are two ways Of slicing. The
| intentional is made by taking the
open stance with the left foot well
back. The two "V's" formed by the
thumb and forefinger of each hand
should be so much on top in such a
position that one cannot see the
knuckles Of either hand. The shot is
made by cutting the club head in
toward the left or in the direction
| that the ball should not take.
Everyone should understand that a
slice starts off to the left and then
| finishes to the right of the line OF
flight. A hook is just the opposite.
Players who use their left hand a
great deal more than the right will be