The push shot and the wind-cheater may be classed together because, although one is played with an iron club and the other with a wooden club, the fundamental principle of the two shots is the same. Both are played by coming down on the ball. The moment of impact occurs before the club head has reached the lowest point in the arc of its swing, so that the ball is sent away with a backward spin that helps it to hold a straight course through the air and prevents it from rolling too freely when it reaches the ground. These two shots are exceedingly valuable and are a source of great satisfaction to a player who has them at her command. They are not by any means easy to manage because they require very great accuracy. Anyone who undertakes to learn them will go through a discouraging period of tapping or of banging the ground before she learns that absolute control of her club that is necessary to play these shots sue-cessfully. The reward of persistent trying will be great, however, and these strokes, once mastered, are an invaluable addition to the player's game.

The push shot is usually played with a cleek or mid-iron, although a mashie or a jigger may be used. The jigger is rather a dangerous club on account of its narrow blade, but it is well liked by some players and if one is successful with it, it needs no other argument in its favor. Duncan says that all shots played with iron clubs should be push shots. That is a very extreme statement, but, as it seems to be a common fault among women to make the ball go too high when they are using iron clubs, it would be well for those that are conscious of this failing to consider the method of keeping the ball low that is a part of the push shot, and to profit by adopting something of this method of playing.

The player, in taking her position for playing the push shot, stands more in advance of the ball than she is in the habit of doing for an ordinary shot with an iron club. Her hands, instead of being in a line with the ball, are somewhat ahead of it. This position of the hands causes the face of the club to lose some of its loft so that the ball is not forced up as it would be if the club were soled in the regular way. Everything in the method of playing this shot conspires to keep the ball low. The stance is fairly open, the left toe pointing toward the hole and the weight equally divided between the two feet, if anything, more on the left than the right. The player aims for the back of the ball, not for the top of the ball as is sometimes advised, or she will surely get into trouble. The club head should meet the ball as it is still on its downward journey, and should graze closely or bite the turf an inch or two beyond the spot on which the ball rested. The swing for this stroke is upright and should never be fuller than three-quarter because the idea of coming down on the back of the ball must be strictly maintained. The club should follow the ball and its action, after the ball has been hit, should be somewhat restrained. There should be no grand flourish at the end of this stroke; the club should be kept down so that it does not rise materially past the point where its shaft is parallel to the ground.

Some persons advise turning the right wrist over at the moment of impact with the idea of helping to keep the ball low. This advice falls into that class of impractical suggestions that cannot be carried out. It is, however, the correct finish of this stroke to allow the right wrist and forearm to turn over as the club follows out after the ball so that, as the limit of the follow-through is reached, the toe of the club is pointing toward the ground.

The stroke for playing this shot with a wooden club is the same in theory and the same in application, with, of course, whatever modifications are necessary on account of the difference in the structure of the two types of clubs. When this shot is played from a tee, it is well to build the tee rather high as such an arrangement gives more opportunity for the club's face to cross the ball with a downward motion. The idea that a high tee necessarily leads to a high line of flight is an erroneous one. The upward curve of the ball's flight is governed by the way in which the club meets the ball and not by the height of the tee on which the ball rests. When there is a head wind there is no better shot than the wind-cheater for holding a straight course and for carrying a long distance. The ball played by this stroke flies low for the greater part of its journey, then rises in a graceful curve and falls to the ground. During the early part of its flight the force of its forward impulse prevents its back spin from having visible effect, but, as its speed begins to decrease, the fact that the ball is revolving backward causes it to mount gradually higher until its force is spent and it drops to earth. By the time the ball has reached the ground the back spin has been nearly, if not quite, exhausted so the ball is, after all, a fairly good runner. In this it differs from such a shot as the pitched mashie shot. In the case of the mashie shot the ball rises abruptly as soon as it leaves the face of the club and falls to earth before the spin of its backward rotation has had time to wear off. For this reason the mashie shot has sometimes a kick or, in any case, very little run, while the wind-cheater, by the time it reaches the ground, acts very much in the manner of a ball that has been played with no back-spin at all.

Valuable as this shot is, it is a pity that there are few women players who can execute it at will. As a matter of fact, it requires a good deal of strength. The shot may be played perfectly as to the action of the player's body and the movement of the club, but, if there is not a good deal of force behind the blow, the shot will not be successful.

Miss Elaine Rosenthal Finish of brassie shot.