FAULTS OF STROKE 333 



when free lies somewhere between the directions of AS and CB, say in the line DB. 

 [The reader must take this statement for granted, if it be not pretty obvious to 

 him ; for its proof, even in the simple case in which the ball is regarded as perfectly 

 hard, involves the consideration of moment of inertia, which I must not introduce.] 



As already remarked, one or other of the diagrams above applies to any possible 

 case. But there are two special cases which are of paramount importance, and if 

 these be fully understood by him the reader can easily make for himself the appli- 

 cation to any other. 



In the first of these special cases the plane of the diagram is to be regarded 

 as horizontal, and the club face (perpendicular to it by the conditions of the diagram) 

 consequently vertical, while the rotation given to the ball is about a vertical axis. 

 The spectator is, therefore, supposed to be looking down upon the club and ball 

 from a station high above them. The interpretation of the indicated result thus 

 depends upon the direction of the line joining the player's feet. If that line be 

 (as it ought to be) perpendicular to the face of the club, it is parallel to BC\ so 

 that the club (when it reaches the ball) is being pulkd in (first figure), or pushed 

 out (second figure), in addition to sweeping past in front of the player parallel to 

 the line joining his feet. The first of these is the very common fault called " slicing." 

 The second is not by any means so common, and I am not aware that it has ever 

 been dignified by a special name. If, on the other hand, the line of the feet be 

 parallel to AB, the sweep of the club head is in the correct line, but the face is 

 turned outwards (first figure), or inwards (second figure), and we have what is 

 called "heeling" or "toeing." These terms must not be taken literally, for heeling 

 may be produced by the toe of the club and toeing by the heel. Slicing and heeling 

 have thus precisely the same effect, so far as the rotation (and consequent " skewing ") 

 of the ball is concerned ; but the position of the line DB shows that, other things 

 being correct, a sliced ball starts a little to the left of the intended direction, while 

 the heeled ball commences its disastrous career from the outset by starting a little 

 to the right. It is most important to the player that he should be able to distin- 

 guish between these common faults, because, though their (ultimate) results are 

 identical, the modes of cure are entirely different. This, of course, is obvious from 

 what we have said above as to the intrinsic nature of each. Toeing, and the 

 innominate fault mentioned above, both give the opposite rotation to that produced 

 by heeling, and therefore the opposite skew. If slicing and toeing occur together, 

 each tends to mitigate the evil effects of the other ; so with heeling and the innomi- 

 nate. But slicing and heeling together will produce aggravation of each other's effects. 



In the second special case the plane of the diagram is regarded as vertical, 

 and the spectator's line of sight passes horizontally between the player's feet from 

 a point behind him. The first diagram, therefore, corresponds to under-cutting, and 

 the second to topping, if AB be horizontal ; or to jerking, and bringing the club 

 upwards behind the ball 1 , respectively, if the face be vertical. The first diagram 



1 This suggests a very favourite diagram employed by many professed instructors in the 

 game. It is usually embellished with a full circle, intended to show the proper path of the 

 head, and the ball is placed (on a high tee) a good way in front of the lowest point of the 

 circle. It will be seen from the text above that this virtual pulling in of the club head produces, 

 in a vertical plane, the same sort of result as does slicing in a horizontal plane. 



