Topping, Duffing, Sclaffing, Heeling, Toeing, Pulling, and Slicing-Having considered heretofore the various ways of playing golf strokes correctly, it will now be necessary to deal with the various vices or faults into which players fall. With the exception of failing to hit the ball at all, or "missing the globe," as it is termed, the above list forms a complete catalogue of the seven deadly golfing sins.

Topping, as its name implies, consists in striking the ball on the top, with the lower edge of the club face, whereby an ugly gash is inflicted on the ball's surface, and it travels along the ground but a short distance. This is one of the most distressing maladies from which the golfer's game suffers, and its causes may be manifold. A firm determination to keep the eye on the back of the ball, and not on the top, and a little attention to stance, will usually correct it.

Duffing-The verb "to duff' does not mean, as might at first appear probable, to play as a "duffer " or hopelessly bad player, but simply to hit the ground first, behind the ball, so that the ball is struck with the upper edge of the face, and sent only a short way into the air. Here, again, a little attention to the stance will probably correct the fault, as duffing is very frequently caused by the player having his ball too near his right foot. It may also be caused by the player unconsciously ducking his body in the act of striking.

Sclaffing-Sclaffing is also the result of striking the ground behind the ball, but in this case the club head skids more over the surface of the ground and the ball may after all be hit perfectly truly and with little diminution of force. Sometimes a sclaffed ball travels a very long distance, as the club head comes off the ground in an upward direction, and seems to impart a forward spin to the ball, which takes great effect as soon as the ball touches the ground. Sclaffing, however, is a vice like duffing or topping, and must be corrected if a golfer's game is to become good and steady.

The terms "Heeling" and "Toeing" explain themselves, meaning as they do simply to hit the ball with the heel or near part of the face, or the toe or farther part. As the weight of the head is concentrated immediately behind the centre of the face, a ball struck anywhere outside this point will not travel so far as it would if hit exactly with the centre. If hit on the heel, the ball has a tendency to fly off to the right, and if on the toe, to the left. The usual cause of heeling is that the player is standing too near his ball, and of toeing, that he is too far away. If attention is paid to the stance, and if the player is careful to place the centre of the club face opposite his ball in addressing it, and before swinging, the tendency to heel or toe will probably disappear. As before pointed out, this correct aiming is a most important matter. It is quite common to see players who have contracted the habit of heeling the ball, endeavouring to cure it, by aiming with the toe, and vice versa, in the hope that a compromise may be effected. The result of this can only be, that the player gets rid of one fault to contract the other, and however badly he may be playing, the golfer should never aim with any part of the face, except the part he desires to hit the ball with.

Slicing-A ball is sliced, when the club face is drawn more or less across it, by the player pulling his arms in towards him as the club descends, thereby imparting a right-hand spin to the ball, which robs it of much of its force and causes it to curl to the right. Though the cause of slicing is obvious, it is a very difficult vice to eradicate. It can only be cured by earnest endeavours to "follow through," by throwing the arms well out after the ball, and not checking the downward swing. It should be remembered that it is perfectly possible to slice with the toe as well as the heel, or indeed with any part of the club face.

Pulling-A pulled ball is one hit on the toe of the club, the left arm being pulled round at the finish of the swing and the head of the club slightly hooked inward. The ball flies off with a left-hand curve on it, and sometimes travels a great distance. Pulling is not necessarily a vice, as many players habitually play for it. If the wind be blowing across the course from right to left, and a little behind the player, a pulled ball, if it be not hit too much on the toe, will travel farther than a clean hit one. The player plays his ball well to the right of the line, and more or less into the wind. As the ball begins to descend, the pull will take effect, and the ball will turn inwards towards the hole, so that the wind will blow directly behind it. It will thus travel farther than if played direct for the hole, as in that case the wind would be blowing across it during the whole course of its flight. Unless intentionally played for, however, pulling is as serious a vice as heeling, and both will land the player in endless difficulties,

Though we have thus briefly enumerated the chief forms of golfing error, and indicated a few of their most common sources, it is an impossible task to diagnose accurately every case of golfing disease or to prescribe its proper remedy. There are so many ways of playing a stroke wrongly. The machinery called into operation in a golfing stroke is so complex, both in its parts and in its working, that it defies analysis, and only the most general treatment can be prescribed. There are some cases so bad, by reason of organic disease of style, that they are beyond the reach of cure, and the golfing physician can only administer opiates to ease the agony of the sufferer.

If a player, however, who has grasped the correct theory of the golfing stroke, goes completely off his game, and has been playing pretty constantly for some time, a few days of rest will probably restore his form. Some players get "stale," as it is termed, after a week of play, and others require many days of steady practice before they get into their game.

Players after a time get to know their own golfing constitutions, and in golf, as in the other affairs of life, a knowledge of one's self is of more value than all the nostrums of philosophy.