As the rebound of the ball is so much more rapid from metal than from wood the ball is actually in contact with the club face a very much smaller period of time. The sharper blow is given by the design of the club as I have explained and the whole distance depends entirely upon the first impulse or sharpness of the blow.

This method is by long odds the most difficult way of playing the club, as it gives so little latitude for error and so little time to deliver the power due to the quick rebound from the metal face. As it is the theory of the average golfer I have taken it up here in order to demonstrate how little this way compares with the way a professional plays his cleek.

The vast majority of spoiled cleek shots are topped, for the reason that it is almost impossible to avoid topping when you consider how little space you have to get "down" to the ball. By again referring to the diagram you will observe that the dotted line p, drawn at right angles to the club face as shown in position 1, marks the highest point which the club can reach and not half top the ball, while the ground is the boundary, below which the club cannot go without wasting the strength of the blow.

As a matter of fact, there is even less latitude for a well-hit ball. More important than this is the fact that you have practically no latitude as regards the arc or sweep of the club.

The ball must be met absolutely at the lowest point in the sweep of the club to get the best distance, because the club face is tilted at the same angle that a hoe is when drawn toward the one using it, and feeds into the ground if it meets with resistance.

In the illustration I have shown the club meeting the ball under ideal conditions with that scheme of playing it, and with the eyes and pivotal center at perfect right angles to the ball.

The pivotal center between the shoulders governs the lowest point in the arc or sweep of the club, as I have shown in other chapters, and in order to meet your ball at the lowest point in the circle, or sweep, the center between the shoulders must be opposite the ball.

Falling back from the direction you are trying to send the ball will not get the club "down" to the ball, but on the contrary will top the ball. You cannot possibly help it, because the club is on its upward travel, due to your having shifted the pivotal center to the right and back of the ball.

Many players have a habit of "facing the club in" in addressing iron shots. This is the result of a desire on the part of the player to "square" the club face with the line he is to send the ball along, and unless he commits some other neutralizing fault the ball is bound to be "hooked" or pulled off the line. All these schemes are wrong, and it is because they require the player to tam-per with his swing that they are very objectionable.

In any event they yield but a temporary improvement, if any, and in the long run are worse than useless because they make it necessary to "unlearn" them, which is very hard to do.

The idea in the player's mind should be to take his stance in such a manner that the lowest point in his swing will be about five inches ahead of his ball, in order that he will be sure to connect with the ball while still on the downward sweep.