A man's golf, like the rest of him, is subject to many temporary ailments. By simply living as usual, his body will recover; by golfing, his golf will. For colds, golf, and biliousness, the less doctor's stuff we can do with, the better. Yet prescriptions used in moderation may hasten the restoration of health or game, if it is the right medicine. That is the danger.

Young golfers have often a sad time of it from hitting hard in the wrong way. The common phrase, ' Putting your back into it,' misleads them. The experienced player understands by this that from his foot to his hand he is to be one springy, supple sapling - that he is to be all of a piece - the stronger muscles accommodating themselves to do the same work as the weak, the greatest power of the weakest being the limit of force required of the strong. The young player misapprehends what is meant, and puts his back into it as the blacksmith does wielding his hammer, or the athlete putting a weight. In consequence, he commits many fatal mistakes falling forward towards the ball, back from it, or swaying sideways over the right leg in swinging back. These things are done in order to catch the ball a terrible thud. One has seen (or even felt) boys flicking peas off the backs of their hands. The peas would not fly as far if driven from the shoulder. A golf ball is indeed, too heavy to flick; but it is equally too light to putt like a 16 lb. cannon-ball. I have already warned the beginner against swaying sideways; no more need be said about that. The second time he is bitten with the desire to squeeze, there will be an epidemic of falling forward. He will not know what he is doing, but the consequences will be apparent - hitting off the heel, club-breaking, ground-thudding - particularly the first. Most likely his caddy will make things worse by bad advice; attacking the symptoms, not the cause of the disease. His caddy will say, ' Stand further away.' This sounds like common-sense, but it is not, any more than taking a foot-rule to measure the height of a mountain, would be. The player tries it, falls in more, and heels as much. De-sperately, he stands so that the ball is two feet beyond his reach whilst addressing it. The result is the same. Evidently he is not too near. Cynically he gets quite close, and lo! there is an epidemic of toeing and more club-breaking. Now he thinks he has discovered a secret, viz., that toeing is to be cured by standing further away, heeling by getting nearer. With this valuable piece of knowledge he expects, in no time, to find a stance which will compel the middle of his club and the ball to meet. But he does not, and never will, until, after long grief and pain, he comes back humbly to the point from which he began to go wrong. The worst of thumping at a ball with the weight of the body is that now and then - just often enough to lure on its victim - there will be a long wild shot; occasionally, even a long straight one - longer than any he has driven before, the ball happening to be caught with a sweep which has been quickened to reach it before the player has quite lost his balance.

A ball hit off the toe is usually pulled, and one off the heel skids to the right. When an experienced player hits in either of these ways, it is to be hoped that he will recognise them as accidents due to faulty aim, instead of asking, 'What am I doing wrong?' It is as foolish to attribute these occasional shots to style, as it would be were they complete globers. But all pulled balls are not off the toe, nor heeled ones off the heel. You may have an epidemic of either unstraightness without wander ing from the middle of the club. Pulling in this wa\ is due to the grip of the hands having got out of proportion. The right may have got too much above the club, or the left too much below it. Nature, i.e. a free address and careful aim, will provide a remedy, if the matter is left in her hands. If nut, the disease grows worse, till the player finds his elbow-sticking up before him so much that he can scarcely see the ball if the left hand is at fault, whilst there: will be symptoms of cramp in that wrist if it be the right. Sometimes heeling (I still mean skidding to the right off the middle of the club) may arise from too timid a care not to pull, consequent checking of the swing by pulling in the arms, or by throwing one's-self back. If the golfer has done one of these last two things, he will be conscious of it after the shot. Not so if his heel is due to another cause - placing the ball too nearly opposite the right foot, and catching it, consequently, before the club head has got into the straight.

It is true that skidding to right or to left, hitting off the toe or off the heel, may come from actually being too near or too far from the ball; but if it is discovered that either is the case, it is, nevertheless, dangerous to get further away or nearer. Rather, for the next shot, one should shake himself loose, and address the ball without prejudice. To get nearer or further away, is almost certain to demoralise driving altogether. The former stiffens the player, till he feels like the poker swinging- the tongs; the latter tempts him to crouch over his work, so that he cannot do it for fear of toppling forward.

Although getting nearer, or further away, are useless as devices for making the ball go straight, they are mistakes that one is constantly falling into. It is within most golfers' experience that suddenly, and unaccountably, they go off their game entirely. They become feeble, uncertain, and, above all, uncomfortable in their address. When such a breakdown occurs, the cause of it is often standing at a wrong distance. The player does not feel that he is wrong. The error has crept gradually and insidiously into his style. He has been unconsciously varying his distance, inch by inch. Not that a foot nearer or further than ordinary affects play. In fact, everybody varies at each shot in this respect; but there is a point at which one's game suddenly collapses. If the breakdown be complete, it is not easy to detect the cause of it, for the feeling that one is going to foozle is so paralysing that one is likely to go entirely to ruin beyond hope of recovery - for that day, at least. But there may be nothing more than an evident incapacity to make the ball go a respectable distance, however cleanly hit. If this is the result of standing too near, the player will presently notice that he is inclined to do one of several things in addition to driving feebly. For instance, swinging back, there is a tendency to strike the shoulder; but it is more particularly after impact that the consequences of a wrong stance will reveal themselves. The player will be inclined at one shot to throw himself back; at another, his swing may end with an uncomfortable twiddle. Some shots he will jerk, stopping the club altogether; or, being quite determined not to do this, I have seen a golfer actually break his shaft by striking his left shoulder. These are the symptoms if the player laudably persevere in hitting with the middle of his club. Should he determine to let out at the ball whatever happens, he will founder it off the heel. If he has crept too far away, and is covering the extra distance by stretching out his arms, there will be a tendency to swing over the head rather than round the neck. If he is stooping to reach it, he will be inclined to fall forward, to jerk into the ground, and fail to follow (which may cause him to imagine that his fault is a loose grip), or there will merely be a general sense of decrepitude, proving itself not imaginary, by short, puffy shots. If the player make up his mind to let into it, he may hit off the heel, just as in the case of being too near, but with this difference, that he may make a fair drive, either straight or hooked - hooked, to his astonishment, off the heel. It is quite true that, standing too far away, a player may hit off the toe; but this is usually an isolated accident (caused by taking a careless stance), which will not be repeated unless he is foolish enough to apply a corrective next shot