The mashie is shorter than the iron, is fairly well lofted and has a deep blade. It is used for short shots up to about eighty or ninety yards; for distances beyond that it is unwise to bring it into requisition, on the principle that full shots with iron clubs tend to imperil accuracy of direction. It is the source of much uneasiness and discomfort to many beginners, because they endeavour to usurp by artifice and misplaced ingenuity the natural function of the club, i.e., the pitching of the ball over obstacles so that it comes almost to a dead stop on the putting-green. Its ability to save strokes on the green makes it all the more necessary to cultivate its proper use by painstaking study and practice. A stiff strong shaft is essential, any "give" in it will detract from straight pitching; besides, there are often somewhat heavy lies to negotiate and, on this account, the club should be fairly weighty.

The stance must be firm with the right foot well forward; the knees should be loose and the weight of the body thrown on the right leg. The shortness of the club naturally demands a closer juxtaposition of the feet both with regard to each other and to the ball. In gripping the club, the hands should be somewhat lower down the shaft than with the other clubs, but the true test is the feeling of perfect balance. The blade of the club should rest just behind the ball, seeing that the intention is to hit the ball quite in the centre of the blade, i.e., at the intersection of the lines which would bisect the face both vertically and horizontally. A slight displacement of turf will be the inevitable result of a correct stroke—one that lifts the ball clear of the ground high into the air.

A proper swing disposes of any need for additional mental or muscular effort on the part of the player with the intention to secure a proper flight. The club has been devised for the purpose of lifting the ball in a natural way, and any fanciful so-called "wrist-work" or jerking will bring about disaster. The swing, of course, varies according to the length of the stroke, but as in the case of the other iron clubs, full shots are inadvisable. A half swing with the iron is far more likely to be successful than an attempt to play the mashie as if it were the driver or brassey. A very full shot with the mashie is, however, useful where great height and a dead drop is desired, or in the case of a fairly long approach to a green guarded back and front. But such shots can be cultivated when the embryonic stage is well passed. Before beginning the swing, it is well to arrange the hands so that the heel of the club is slightly depressed in relation to the toe; this will ensure the saving of power when the club returns through, as the ground will be first taken at a point nearer to the centre of gravity.

The club should be taken straight back and up until the shaft just passes a perpendicular position with the club-head just over the back of the player's head. Any fuller swing will endanger the success of the stroke, and for the shorter shots it must be regulated accordingly. It is impossible to determine the exact amount of swing for every possible distance; such calculation can only be acquired by individual experience.

With the up-swing, the left knee bends in a little with merely a suspicion of the lifting of the heel; what little movement there is of the knee and heel should only be the natural concomitant of the arm action during the up-swing and should not therefore be premeditated. So the pivoting of the body necessary in long strokes is almost entirely absent; the looseness of the knee-joints should afford the necessary play. On the other hand, stiffness of pose must be strictly avoided. In returning, owing to the straight up and down character of the swing, the required "pitch" is secured and the finish of the swing should be equivalent to the up-swing, the club, as in the cases already discussed, being well carried through in the direction of the hole without any penalising check. The action of the right knee will naturally correspond to that of the left, and will therefore not be so accentuated as in the case of more powerful strokes.

The occasion often arises for putting what is known as "cut" upon a ball in certain approach shots, e.g., where the greens are exceedingly lively or where there is need to counteract the effect of a strong rear wind. This, like the half-push stroke with the cleek, is one better left to personal example and tuition, though the niblick may often be used for this kind of stroke with excellent effect.

The stroke known as the chip is only a diminutive of the running-up shot already described and may be effected with either the

1. Top of swing for full Mashie stroke.

2. Finish of full

mashie or the iron, preferably the latter. It occurs when the ball has found a place in rough grass near the edge of a putting-green, and consists merely in giving the ball sufficient loft to clear the obstruction which prevents the use of the putter and to run up to the hole.