It is not often that we can turn our mistakes into virtues, but such is the case in playing the slice. Slicing is one of the most common faults among players, and it is very difficult to correct when one desires to play a straight ball. The most contrary fact about this fault is that it is just as hard to commit it consciously as it is to correct it. The inveterate slicer, when asked to play for a slice, will go through all kinds of grotesque motions and will end by declaring that she does not know how it is done. The reason for this is, of course, that she has fallen unconsciously into the habits of stance and swing that conduce to a slice and is, therefore, unable to reproduce her own actions when invited to do so.

The spin that causes the sliced ball to swerve sharply to the right as soon as its forward momentum has slackened is produced by the face of the club cutting across the ball's intended line of flight at the moment of impact. A slight slice may result from the player's pulling in her arms at the moment the ball is hit instead of allowing the head of the club to follow straight after the ball. This is a fault in the follow-through that falls into the class of unintentional slicing and should not be tried for when the player is endeavoring to cut across the ball. It is one of the general assortment of last minute jerks that may be done unconsciously, but which the mind is not quick enough to control when attempted as a regular method of play.

For the true slice the player must plan her stroke so that the path of the club's head will cross obliquely the line from ball to hole produced. To accomplish this the stance should be quite open, the ball nearly in a line with the left toe and that toe pointing toward the hole. From this position of the body it follows that the reach of the left arm is shortened and that the head of the club, as it is carried back, will go outside the line from hole to ball produced. As this path of the club's head is the inevitable result of the player's position and not a conscious pushing out of the club, the club's head will return in the same plane in which it went back. The swing for this stroke is of a more upright nature than that for a straight drive, and the follow-through correspondingly vertical. The fact that, at the moment of impact, the face of the club is cutting across the ball causes the ball to start on its journey with a spin from left to right. The axis on which the ball rotates is very nearly vertical so that the ball is spinning in a manner very similar to a top. It is this decided side spin that causes the ball to turn abruptly to the right as soon as the pace slackens sufficiently for the spin to affect the direction of its flight. It is this side spin that also prevents the ball from running freely when once it has reached the ground.