The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-02
SLICE HAS ITS MERITS BUT
 ALSODANGERS, SAYSHAGEN
By WALTER HAGEN CFormer British Open ChampiOn)

The value of the slice is appreci- ated by the expert golfer, but it is thorn in the side of the average duff fer and beginner. To him 1t is menace and he longs to learn enough about the game so that he can for ever cast this evil aside.
 I was once giving a lesson to a pupil who insisted that the only thing that he cared to learn was way to prevent slicing. Every bail that he hit started out to the left. then finished up with a semi circle curve to the right. It was the widest, most complete slice I think I ever saw in all my career on the links.
 I was able to effect a cure for this distressed golfer in very short time, and in doing 1t earned his un- dying gratitude. I asked him first if he did not recognize the fact that a slice was sometimes an asset in golf. He admitted that it might be, to some, but he could easily get along without any part of 1t. l asked him then If he wanted to intention ally slice a bal how he would stand and how he would hold the club. This started him to thinking and he was mixed up In jiffy. He start ed to aim the ball to the right, but he was puzzled greatly about his stance.
 had to correct him, and in doing so, sent him back to his original po- sition. He stood with his left foot drawn back from the line and aimed the ball to the rough on the left hand side of the fairway. He held the right hand well over the club, instead of under it. When he hit the ball he drew the face of the club from left to right. Aiming to the left was no help. About all that it did was to keep the ball on the course, at times. He was simply al lowing for the slice instead of pre- venting it.
 The slice is like dose of poison to the duffcr, but the expert. like the learned doctor, uses poison to advan- tage in his profession. At times 1t is necessary to slice around tree or a building or 1t is an advantage to play the ball with a fadeaway slice to the green.
 There are two kinds of slices. One is the slice SO common to all begin ners or duffers. The shot is pro shot too soon. The hands are away ahead of the clubhead and the bal! is hit while the face of the driver is coming across 1t. This can easily be corrected by the stance and the grip. The player should advance the left foot to the line Ol llISHl III what lS known as the square stance. If the case is chronic it is necessary to even advance the left foot still fur ther. In this manner it is difficult to pull the hands in The player should aim to the right of the fair way and let the clubhead go on through for all that it is worth.
 The grip is important also. l would suggest that the player see that the right hand is well behind the club, with the knuckles of the hand point ing to the ground. The left hand should be more over the tor. of the shaft. When the ball is hit, the hands. If in this position at the start, will not permit the face of the club to slide across the ball. The hands will turn over naturally and instead of the slice being imparted to the shot the effect will be a hook or what all experts know as a pull.
 The pulled shot runs very long way. The stance for it is what l have described above as something to correct a bad slice. The inter national slice Is made by the expert by shifting his stance just a little, bringing the left foot back. He then puts the right hand more over the cub and shifts the left hand so that the back faces the hole instead oi the eky.