rong. This instrument being used generally for lighter work than the
other iron clubs, and the delicacy and exactness of it being, as a rule,
the chief considerations, there is a natural tendency on the part of the
golfer sometimes to favour a thinner stick than usual. But it should be
borne in mind that there should be no trace of "give" in the shaft, for
such would be all against the accuracy that is wanted, and a man when he
is playing the short approach shot wants to feel that he has a club in
his hand that can be relied upon in its every fibre. Moreover, gentle as
is much of its work, even the mashie at times has some very rough jobs
to accomplish. So let the stick be fairly stiff.

Of mashie shots there is an infinite variety. In this stroke not only
are the lie of the ball and the distance it has to be sent controlling
factors in the way it has to be played, but now the nature and qualities
of the green which is being approached constitute another, and one which
occasions more thought and anxiety than any. Generally all mashie shots
may be separated into three groups. There is what we may call the
ordinary mashie shot to begin with--meaning thereby a simple lofted
stroke,--there is the running-up mashie shot, and there is the special
stroke which applies extra spin and cut to the ball. There are very
pronounced differences between these strokes and the ways of playing
them. One is often told that "all mashies should be played with the
wrist." I beg to differ. As I have said before, I contend that there is
no such thing as a purely wrist shot in golf--except on the putting
green. If anybody really made up his mind to play his mashie with his
wrist and his wrist alone, he would find the blade of his club in
uncomfortable proximity to his face at the finish of the stroke, and I
should not like to hazard a guess as to where the ball might be. The
fact of the matter is, that those who so often say that the mashie must
be played with the wrist never attempt to play it in this way
themselves. They are merely misled by the fact that for the majority of
mashie strokes a shorter swing and less freedom of the arms are
desirable than when other iron clubs are being employed. An attempt has
been made to play a pure wrist shot in the "How not to do it"
photograph, No. XLVIII., and I am sure nobody ever made a success of a
stroke like that.

The stance for the mashie differs from that taken when an iron shot is
being played, i