As the eye dictates to the mind the movement of the muscles, never keep the eye on the top of the ball but on the back of it and on the ground behind it, so that the sole of the club shall graze the ground just as it comes in contact with the ball, in order to hit it below the centre and give it that forward spin which makes it leave the club head at a low angle of projectory. With such a stroke, the ball soars up as the effect of the forward spin dies away as though entirely independent of gravitation, its path for nearly half the total range of carry being concave upward.

The upward and downward spins.

Watching a long, low drive with that swallow-like swoop which marks a clean cut ball is the most exhilarating part of the game and the desire to see such a ball flying through the air often makes even the best of golfers anticipate its flight and glance away from the ball before it is struck. Keeping one's eye on the ball, therefore, although the easiest rule of golf to learn, is the one probably most frequently broken and the most frequent cause of failure in making the stroke as expected.

Suggestions

A good way to prevent thinking of the flight of the ball is to draw a line on the ground back of the ball, along the line of flight, and to concentrate the mind on the thought that the club head is to swing along that line. In this way the thought of the ball itself gets out of one's mind until after it is struck.