IT is the ambition of every one to play in good form. Some thoughtless persons make an idol of this, and bend all their energies toward attaining the appearance of playing in correct style without serious consideration of the fact that the appearance of anything is, after all, only the husk. Strange as it may seem, it is quite possible for a player to go through all the requisite motions of the strokes of golf in a manner that is apparently faultless, and yet to lack that final something that would make her a good player. In vulgar parlance, this final something would be called "punch." In the language of golf, the term that most nearly expresses it is "correct timing." Throughout the physical action of turning the body and swinging the club there must be an unfaltering determination to hit the ball that will make every movement focus on that one, final act. Without this concentrated mental effort a form that appears perfect must fail. It is necessary, then, that a player should avoid striving for the appearance of good form, and should make every effort to cultivate that mental habit that directs all her energies to the culminating instant of the stroke - the instant that the club hits the ball. It makes no difference what she does before or after the ball is hit, if she gets the results. But - and this is a very large and important "but" - it is not at all likely that she will consistently get good results unless she learns to manage her club before and after the moment of impact in the way that she knows, both from study and from practical experience, is most certain to send her ball the distance and direction that she desires it to go. It is to gain this certainty that the player analyzes her every action and practices diligently that method of play that she believes to be right. When she has formed the habit of managing herself and her club in the manner that is most nearly sure of producing the shot she desires, she will have attained the only real "good form." Good form is of value when gained incidentally as the result of well executed strokes, but, if striven for as the end in itself, it profits the player nothing.

"Bad form" is the result of strokes executed wrongly as to grip, stance, swing, or action of the body. It may not be apparent to the eye that the player is doing something that she should not, but, if her shots fail in their desired result, it is certain that she is somehow wrong and the cause of her mistake must be found and rectified before she can regain any confidence in her game. Notwithstanding long and patient effort thoroughly to ground herself in the rudiments of golf, it is quite possible for a player suddenly to go "off her game" for some apparently unaccountable reason. She may be a beginner or she may be an experienced and seasoned player but, nevertheless, she is likely at any time to be the subject of one of these discouraging attacks. It may be in the use of her wooden clubs that she suddenly develops strange peculiarities, or it may be that her irons refuse to act regularly, or she may do well enough through the fairway but miss put after put when she reaches the green. Whatever form her difficulties take, she will probably feel completely disheartened until she has managed to set herself right again.

The process of finding where the trouble lies is not an easy one. Frequently a player is absolutely unable to perceive that she is doing anything unusual and yet her shots persistently go wrong. In such a case, it saves time and temper to engage a professional teacher to watch each shot and leave it to him to discover and to correct the fault. When it is impossible to call in assistance, the player must examine her method of play carefully and in detail, and try to find for herself the root of the evil.

It is surprising but true that very often she will find that she is not keeping her eye on the ball. This is the first rule of golf and is dinned into the player's ear at all times until from frequent repetition the words lose effect, and are unconsciously disregarded. A person who is told that she is not keeping her eye fixed on the ball is often resentful of the criticism; she feels that, no matter what else she knows or does not know about the game, she should not be accused of neglecting this perfectly obvious duty. If she is honest with herself, however, she will, in many cases, have to admit upon second thought that, although she may not be allowing her gaze to wander entirely away from the ball, she is, at least, not looking at it with the concentration of mind that she should. Sometimes the player suddenly realizes that she has been looking at the top of the ball, or at the ball as a whole, instead of that portion that she expects to hit. A stranger to the game of golf will sometimes take a club and make a good, clean shot with no trouble at all. She is said to have "beginner's luck" but as a matter of fact there is no luck in it. The reason for her success is that she is given a club and told to hit the ball and that that is all she has in her mind; her whole effort is directed toward striking the ball, which she promptly does. Later, when she has been instructed in all the details of the art of driving, she may be able to make the swing in the most graceful and approved fashion, she may twist her body, rest on her toes, and follow-through with great ease and style; she may be able to do it all - except that she cannot make a clean shot. This is a most discouraging state in which to find oneself, but, when once in it, the only course to follow is to forget everything and to go back to the first principle, and keep one's whole attention absolutely fixed on the ball.

Mrs. H. A. Jackson A full swing.

Sometimes the player finds herself in a sort of mental maze on the subject of driving; the more she tries to get out of her difficulties the more entangled she becomes in all kinds of unexpected faults, and things go from bad to worse. When she finds herself in such a state of mind she may as well give up at once and practice putting and short approach shots for a while. After she has given her mind a complete rest from the subject of driving, she can return to the tee and will probably find that her difficulties have fallen away and that she is quite all right again. If, however, she has developed some fault that appears elusive, she must strictly apply herself to discovering what it is and to correcting it. It may be her grip that is wrong and, if she suspects this may be the case, she should look at her hands carefully and make sure. Whether she is using the overlapping grip or not, her hands should be so placed on the club that the shaft of the club is resting at the base of her fingers and the knuckles of both hands should be facing in opposite directions along the line of flight. If she has allowed the club to drop back into the palms of her hands, or if her knuckles are facing skyward or groundward, she can easily see the fault and correct it.

It may be that her stance is wrong and that she has unconsciously fallen into the habit of arranging her feet in some way, either in relation to each other or in relation to the ball, that is different from the position that she had previously adopted as the correct one for her. Possibly she is throwing the greater part of her weight upon one foot or the other and thus putting herself out of proper balance. Again, her grip and stance may be perfectly correct, but she may be swaying to the right as she draws the club back from the ball. This is one of the most common of faults and it is very difficult to overcome once it has become fastened on a player. The easiest suggestion for correcting an error is for the teacher to say, "Don't do it," but such a simple and obvious suggestion is not especially helpful. The player may answer, "How can I prevent doing it?" and, unless the coach has some further advice to offer, the player will not be particularly benefited by his services. Although it is a bad plan to correct one fault by substituting another, in this case it seems necessary. When the player sways to the right, her weight will at the same time be transferred to her right leg. If, therefore, she will take her stance with her weight a little more on the left foot than on the right, and see to it that she does not allow it to shift, it will be impossible for her to sway her body sideways. When she feels confident that she is able to keep her body and her head steady, she can forget about keeping her weight on the left foot, and resume her play with her weight evenly distributed as it should be.

Beginners are inclined, when addressing the ball, to hold the arms too stiffly and the hands too high. On being corrected for this fault they often go to the other extreme and drop the hands too low. There is a happy medium that must be adopted from the start and, once the habit is formed, the player is not apt to break away from it, unless she conceives the idea that she can correct some other fault by changing the position of her arms and hands. It is not easy to describe accurately the attitude that should be assumed while addressing the ball. One can simply say "Avoid extremes." The knees should be flexed, the arms bent a little at the elbow, and the hands held so that they appear neither to be reaching out nor to be so close to the body that the arms will be cramped while they are swinging the club. It is necessary, of course, that the club be soled truly and if, in doing this, the player finds that her hands must be held awkwardly in some way the fault lies in the club and she should get a new one.

As the club is carried back from the ball there must be no suggestion of a straight arm motion. When the club is at the top of the swing it has turned upside down, its heel is toward the sky, and its toe is pointing to the ground, its face being towards the line of flight. It is a common mistake to be afraid of beginning this turning movement too soon. The player, having it firmly fixed in her mind that the club must meet the ball squarely, unconsciously tries to carry the club back as far as possible with its face toward the ball. This is unnecessary and leads to various complications. The turning of the wrists and forearms should begin almost immediately after the club leaves the ball, and the bending of the left knee should follow closely. In other words, the whole action of winding up the body should begin soon; it should not be delayed until the lifting of the arms pulls the body around.

If the player feels convinced that she has started the upswing correctly, she may find that she has made some mistake on the way that will bring her out of position when she reaches the top. It is advisable for her to ascertain if this is true by pausing when she reaches the top of her swing and observing carefully how the various portions of her body are disposed. The faults that she is most likely to find are that her left wrist is curved out from the shaft of the club instead of being below it, that her right elbow is pointing out too much instead of lying fairly close to her side, or that she has allowed the club head to drop below the point where it must stop in order to have the shaft of the club parallel to the ground. It is very possible that her hands and arms are in the correct position but that her weight is decidedly on her right leg. Perhaps she has allowed her left foot to turn around so that her heel is pointing out toward the hole. This turning out of the left heel is a very common error and I believe it arises partly from the use of the word "pivoting" to designate the movement of the player's feet. When a beginner hears about pivoting on the left foot she naturally forms a mental picture of the foot screwing around. She will think this and consequently will turn her heel outward, unless some one explains to her that she must simply raise her heel and allow her weight to fall across the ball of the foot.

The faults that result in pulling or slicing the ball I have dealt with in another chapter so I will not speak of them again here. There is another fault in driving that is common to beginners, but not often found among experienced players, and that is topping the ball. This is caused usually by lifting the head or the body, but it may also be caused by swaying the body to the right as the club is carried back and not swaying it forward again as the club comes down. It will be seen, then, that the whole plane of the club's swing is moved to the right so that, when the club head reaches the lowest point in its arc, it is not at the ball but some distance behind it. As the club head meets the ball it is on the rise and consequently the ball gets away with a certain amount of top spin that causes it to duck to earth immediately.

Swaying of the body sideways, or forward and backward, or lifting it, or swooping down on the ball are responsible for all manner of erratic shots. Sometimes the player combines two or three of these motions in various degrees with the result that the club hits the ground before it reaches the ball, hits the top of the ball and then the ground, meets the ball with the toe or the heel, or makes any one of several other disastrous forms of contact. These are ignominious enough, but the most distressing fault of all is when the club simply fans the air and leaves the ball untouched. The remedy for this class of faults lies in cultivating the habit of keeping the eye on the back of the ball and holding the head steady. It is not easy to do and, even after a player has apparently mastered the art of making all her body movement that of twisting, she is apt to fall back into some of her former bad habits. However, golf would not be the fascinating game that it is if it were possible to attain perfection, so the player must never be discouraged, but be pleased when she is making progress and patient when she is suffering from a temporary relapse.

Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the fact that, from the top of the swing, it is imperative for the body to take the lead. In order to get real power into a stroke it is necessary to draw immediately upon the strength of the body. A blow struck by the arms alone is comparatively feeble. To have real effect a blow struck by the arms must be backed by the weight of the body, or by the strength of the muscles of the torso. On account of the fact that, in order to retain accuracy, it is impossible in the golf drive to allow the body to plunge forward toward the ball, the required power must come from those muscles of the torso that are brought into use as the body turns.

Mrs. George J. Gould At the end of the swing.

Any one can see the evil results of the extreme fault of allowing the hands to come through first and no one could possibly advocate cultivating that error. Whether the downward swing is started by the arms or by the body, however, is impossible to ascertain by the eye. One can judge only by the amount of force the player has summoned, as shown by the ball's flight, whether or not she has effectively gotten her body into the blow. There has always been a great deal of discussion and disagreement on this point among players, and the rapidity with which the whole action of arms and body takes place has prevented positive proof of what the best drivers really do. Recently, however, there have been a number of cinematograph pictures taken of champion players making a full shot with either an iron or wooden club, and, from a careful study of a series of these photographs, it is possible to see exactly where the player starts the downward swing.

The consideration of such a fine point as this should not concern the beginner. It is only when a player has become so proficient that her game requires only the finishing touches that she can afford to indulge in trying for the last factors of perfection. A beginner, on being told to start the downward swing from the body, would surely lunge forward or swoop down on the ball. The dividing line between starting the stroke with the arms or with the body is so fine that only an experienced player can consciously command either the one or the other method without sacrificing entirely the harmony of her stroke. It is well, however, even for a beginner to understand the ultimate end that she is striving for, even if she is not as yet prepared to put her knowledge into execution.

To attain that perfect concert of the various portions of her body that alone will result in the player's having a smooth and rhythmic swing is indeed difficult. To be able to apply force in the way in which it is required demands an even balance in the use of the arms that is difficult to adjust. In spite of what any one may say about favoring the left arm or the right, no thoughtful person can seriously believe that the best results can be obtained in any way except that of using both arms equally. This question of the mastery of the right or the left arm has been discussed in a previous chapter, but it is of such importance that a little repetition on the subject may well be allowed. To the query, "Which arm or hand should control the club?" the answer must be, "Both." Admonitions such as are frequently heard, to the effect that the right arm and hand supply the power while the left acts as guide, or vice versa, are entirely impractical and, if followed, would lead to an uncertain and ineffectual style of play. This is especially true in the case of women players because they particularly need the united strength of both arms as well as the smoothness of swing that can be obtained only by the combined effort of the right and the left.

The driver and the brassie are so nearly alike that the rules that govern the use of the one are, with a few slight changes, applicable to the other. It follows, therefore, that the faults that a player may develop in using her driver are almost sure to be repeated in making her brassie shots. Frequently a player who finds herself "off on her wooden clubs" will abandon her brassie for a while and use her cleek or mid-iron through the fairway. The cleek, as I have said before, is a most valuable club, but on account of its uncompromising nature it is not so generally popular, especially among women golfers, as the mid-iron. The mid-iron is a comfortable companion, and seldom fails to accomplish what is expected of it. Of course it happens sometimes that a player will go completely wrong on her iron shots but, on the whole, the iron is the most reliable club in the bag.

The mashie, on the other hand, is the source of a great deal of trouble. This is partly owing to the fact that a mashie is used generally in situations where accuracy is required. A few yards here or there, so long as the ball has good direction, does not generally make a great deal of difference in a driver or brassie shot, but when the mashie is used, especially in approach shots, the difference of a few feet, or sometimes a few inches, will mean success or failure.

After the freedom of the full swing of the wooden clubs or the slightly restricted swing of the cleek or iron, the player is inclined to feel cramped and stiff when she takes her position for a mashie shot. A half, or at most a three-quarter swing, is all that should ever be used for this club. If greater length is required than can be obtained by a decidedly curtailed stroke it is practically certain that some other club should be employed. No advantage can be obtained by forcing a mashie shot, nor, for that matter, should any other club be pushed beyond its natural limitations. It should be kept in mind that very little body motion is needed, and that the shot is accomplished chiefly by the arms and wrists. This recommendation is a dangerous one to make because, if followed too closely, it may result in a stiffness that is very undesirable. It is impossible to describe exactly how much or how little the body is used; the player must work out the problem for herself. There are certain pitfalls, however, that must be guarded against and a brief consideration of them will be of some service.

The left shoulder must not be dropped but must swing around parallel to the ground as the arms are drawn back. The right shoulder, as the club is on its downward journey, must not be lowered or the club head will doubtless dig into the turf. This inclination, common to all beginners, to scoop up the ball is the cause of a great many bungled shots. It is only by the strongest effort of will that a player can train herself to allow the club to do the work without an assisting downward swoop of the right side of the body. If the right heel is kept flat on the ground, it will help to curb the natural inclination to drop the right shoulder and bend the right knee unduly.

The stance for a mashie shot should vary with the distance to be covered. The general rule is that the shorter the distance the more open the stance. The club should be drawn back, for a straight shot, along the line of flight and should follow out after the ball. Frequently players commit the fault of bringing the club around to the left after the ball has been hit, which is a mistake carefully to be avoided. During the upward swing the right elbow must be kept fairly close to the side and, as the stroke is finished, the left elbow should be pointing toward the hole. In making a cut mashie shot the club head crosses the intended line of flight as in the sliced drive. Some instructors suggest that while making this shot the toe of the club be laid out so as to counteract a possible tendency of the ball to go to the left, but such advice should be regarded warily. If the face of the club meets the ball in any way except at right angles to the line of flight, inaccuracy of direction is almost sure to follow.

As the object to be attained in making pitch shots is that the ball should rise suddenly into the air, it is necessary that the lower edge of the club's face should cut between the ball and the ground. To insure "getting under" the ball sufficiently the eye should be fixed, not on the ball, but on the ground immediately behind the ball. The most concentrated attention is necessary, as the slightest wavering of eye or of mind will upset the nicest calculations.

I have, I believe, mentioned the points on which the golfer is most apt to fail when using a mashie, and a great deal of what I have said applies equally well when a niblick is the club in hand. The getting out of bunkers, sand traps, or any extremely difficult lie tests the skill and often the ingenuity of the player. Most remarkable stances have to be adopted occasionally and the player has to make up her mind to do the best she can in a bad situation. If she has thoroughly mastered the underlying principles of the use of each club and will maintain an unruffled spirit, she will make a creditable shot, no matter how great are the difficulties.

It is the combination of knowledge, practice, determination, and good temper that makes the good golfer. As a corollary to these, there arrives a certain sense that might be called the "sixth sense" of the game of golf. This is more than a sense of direction or of distance - it is a sense of place. As an expert marksman can hit his target without taking aim along the sights of his rifle or revolver, so an expert golfer can lay his or her ball in the place selected by the exercise of a certain faculty that is acquired only after long experience. This faculty is the final and indefinable attribute of the greatest experts and comes, like "good form," not from conscious effort but as the result of the blending together of all things that go to make the finished golfer.