Probably the most common fault of beginners is slicing the ball. Although I say that this is a fault of beginners, it is by no means confined to them. Even experienced players suffer from attacks of slicing and, once a player falls into the habit, it is very difficult to overcome the faults that are at the root of this evil. There is something particularly discouraging about a sliced ball. The player, full of confidence in herself, makes her shot and feels that all is going well, when, on looking after her ball, she sees it suddenly leave its straight line of flight, curve off to the right, and, dropping rather abruptly, roll aimlessly a little way, and come to rest generally in some very undesirable spot. When a player tops her ball, she knows it the instant she hears the sound of the impact, and she is not at all surprised to see the ball skipping along over the grass instead of soaring in the air. At the same time she realizes that she has raised her head, or has taken her eye off the ball, or has hit the ground with her club and caught the ball as the club came up; whatever the cause of her bad shot may be, she can identify it and guard against repeating the error another time. When a player is slicing, however, she is apt to have a helpless and hopeless feeling because the reason that she is doing it is not so evident as it is when she tops her ball, and she is apt to keep on slicing drive after drive without being able to correct her fault.

If a player finds she is slicing frequently, she should take a box of balls to the practice ground and engage a professional teacher to show her where she is in error and how to correct her mistakes. If a teacher is not available and she is obliged to work out her difficulties for herself, she will probably find on analyzing her swing that she is either bringing her hands through in advance of the head of the club, or that she is allowing the club head to go outside of the line between hole and ball produced and, consequently, bringing the club head in across the ball so that its face meets the ball with a glancing blow.

The first of these faults is caused by starting the hands ahead of the body at the top of the swing. When the player starts the club on its downward course, she has probably had some lurking and mistaken notions about using her wrists. It follows, then, that the head of the club has been lagging behind all the way so that, when it meets the ball, the line from toe to heel is not perpendicular to the ball's intended line of flight. The fact that the face of the club does not meet the ball squarely results in the ball's starting on its journey with side spin, which, when the force of the forward blow slackens, causes it to turn abruptly to the right. The other fault that results in slicing is much more difficult to correct. The arc of the club's swing may extend beyond the line before the ball is hit either because the stance is wrong or because the player leans forward while making the downward swing, or because she lets out her arms, or because, after she addressed the ball, she did not carry the club back in a proper line. It is, first of all, necessary to find out which of these faults is being committed, and then the player can make such changes in her method as will correct it.

There is a very simple device that a player, who is struggling alone to correct her faults of swing, may find helpful. I offer it merely as a suggestion and anyone who cares to try it can soon find whether or not it will be of use to her. The plan is to take a few short twigs and plant them about two inches apart and in a straight line, beginning an inch or so beyond the ball and continuing back parallel to the line from hole to ball projected, until a fence a foot long is constructed. The player should then forget her little fence and make her usual swing, keeping her eye faithfully on the ball. If, in the course of the club's downward swing, the twigs are knocked over, it is proof that the player is reaching beyond the ball. By patiently rebuilding the fence time after time, the player can accustom herself to keeping her club head in the proper line and thus overcome her tendency to slice.