Hitherto I have spoken chiefly of errors in swinging developed in the region between the shoulders and the point of the club. Those that can be made with the rest of the body are of a simpler nature, because, in regard to them, swings for the most part are what the)' seem. It is without dispute that the shoulder joints are to be used with perfect freedom and flexibility. If a man is reaching too far with them he does not need to be told. He feels his neck sink into his body. He knows that the more freely his trunk oscillates on its supports, the better. He knows that, his position once taken, his body ought not to sway to the right nor to the left, forward nor backward. Not that he can count upon its never doing so. We often get into tricks of falling backwards, swaying away to the right, etc., but we are conscious of them. Every one knows that whether he play with straight or bent knees, they must remain straight or bent throughout the shot. The necessity for standing; firm on the feet, however, although admitted is not universally appreciated. There is a prevalent disposition so to plant them as to make sure that the left heel will come away from the ground, as if this were of as much importance as a firm foundation. Indeed, I am inclined to think that it is of none at all. That the heel of good players does come away from the ground, there is no doubt; but, in the case of many of the very best, how reluctantly ! - and merely as if torn from it by the force of the swing. As I have said before, most fine players (I might say all who began young) have no theory, and can give but scant advice. One of the very best, when pressed for answer as to a certain peculiarity in his stance, said, 'Do I stand so? I didn't know (said as if it meant, 'I don't care'). The only thing to think about is planting your feet in the ground - it doesn't matter where, so long as they are glued down.' I said, 'But your heel leaves the ground when you swing.' 'Does it? Are you sure? I don't think so.'

A chapter on Swing would be incomplete without some reference to the maxim 'Slow back.' Every one acknowledges and feels that it is a sound one; but many fail to put it in practice, particularly those who have a slow, ponderous style. This seems to be a contradiction in terms, but it is true nevertheless. The fact is, 'slow back' is not an accurate term for what is meant. Those learning the game get puzzled. The professional does not appear to practise what he preaches. He seems to swing, and does swing, swiftly. What is really demanded by 'slow back' is not absolute but relative slowness. If we compare the true swing to an india-rubber band, 'slow back' means that it is to be stretched more slowly than it will recoil. By practice, men learn to set the spring quickly, and the rate is of no importance provided there be nothing approaching to a jerk or wrench back. You must not be able to hear the club swish through the air as on the return journey. 'Stiff back,' 'taut back,' or 'sway back,' would be a more explicit phrase. Whatever it be called, the thing itself is a sine qua non of fine driving. When a player is merely pushing his hands round his neck instead of swinging-, however slowly, and twitching them forward again, his caddy will be tempted to tell him he is too quick back, as much as if he is jerking it up round his shoulder. A good player who has temporarily fallen into any form of (to invent an ugly word) unpendulum-ness, on being warned that he is too quick back, will understand that he is not tightening all the muscles properly used in swinging equally - that he is merely flopping at the ball with his arms. A bad player, who has never learned what a true swing is, may only be made worse with 'slow back.' It may induce him to lift the club up softly and gingerly, with the kind of slowness necessary to grab a fly on his right ear, but which has nothing to do with driving a ball. A true swine is not like flashing a sword through the air, but as if forcing it through a strongly resisting medium.

Whilst the minds of golfers are, for the most part, unduly exercised about their swing before impact, tricks, jerks, and false curves in the other segment of their circle are scarcely thought about or observed. We wonder that A., with a short, spasmodic twiddle, should drive further and more steadily than B., who gets credit for quite a professional style. But if we look (not a natural thing to do, because the eyes instinctively wink when club and ball click together),

Plate VII.

SAYERS DRIVING ( 1 ).

Plate VIII.

SAYERS DRIVING (2).

B. will be seen' to follow,' whilst A. pulls up short. Of the two evils, crampedness after striking is perhaps more fatal than before it. or rather it would be more accurate to say that no one is contented to swing short back as many habitually do forward. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon this part of the swing. What has been already said applies equally to both halves of it. The second part ought to be, as far as possible, a reflection of the first. In the case of good players who stand square to the ball, it is so in every respect, being a little shorter or longer proportionately according as a man stands 'in front' or 'open.' Falling in, falling back, etc., are as apt to occur in one half as in the other. Swaying the whole body forward after the ball is as likely to cripple driving as swaying away from it when taking; the club back. It is not so common to let the right heel leave the ground too much at the end of a stroke, as it is to rise too much on the left toe. Nor do men need to keep a tight hold of themselves lest the club wander away by itself in search of a long swing. Loose-jointedness here rather betrays itself by a check a foot past the tee and a finishing twitch with the wrists.