ll, when, of course, there will be no
flight at all. I suggest that when this stroke is being practised a
close watch should be kept over the forearms and wrists, from which most
of the work is wanted. The arms should be kept well in, and the wrists
should be very tight and firm. It should be pointed out that there are
some circumstances in which it is not safe to attempt to play this
stroke. When the club comes to the ground after impact with the ball,
very little turf should be taken. It is enough if the grass is shaved
well down to the roots. But if the turf is soft and yielding, the club
head will have an inevitable tendency to burrow, with the result that it
would be next to impossible to follow-through properly with the stroke,
and that the ball would skid off, generally to the right. The shot is
therefore played to greatest advantage on a hard and fairly dry course.

[Illustration: _PLATE XXVI._ THE PUSH SHOT WITH THE CLEEK. STANCE]

[Illustration: _PLATE XXVII._ THE PUSH SHOT WITH THE CLEEK. TOP OF THE
SWING]

[Illustration: _PLATE XXVIII._ THE PUSH SHOT WITH THE CLEEK. FINISH]

[Illustration: _PLATE XXIX._ A LOW BALL (AGAINST WIND) WITH THE CLEEK.
STANCE]

[Illustration: _PLATE XXX._ A LOW BALL (AGAINST WIND) WITH THE CLEEK.
TOP OF THE SWING]

[Illustration: _PLATE XXXI._ A LOW BALL (AGAINST WIND) WITH THE CLEEK.
FINISH]

Many people are inclined to ask why, instead of playing a half shot with
the cleek, the iron is not taken and a full stroke made with it, which
is the way that a large proportion of good golfers would employ for
reaching the green from the same distance. For some reason which I
cannot explain, there seems to be an enormous number of players who
prefer a full shot with any club to a half shot with another, the result
being the same or practically so. Why is it that they like to swing so
much and waste so much power, unmindful of the fact that the shorter the
swing the greater the accuracy? The principle of my own game, and that
which I always impress upon others when I have an opportunity, is,
"Reach the hole in the easiest way you can." The easier way is generally
the surer way. When, therefore, there is a choice between a full shot
with one club or a half shot with another, I invariably ask the caddie
for the instrument with which to make the half shot. Hence, apart from
the advantageous peculiarities of the stroke which I have pointed out, I
should always play the half cleek shot in