medium, which has proved its capability of getting the longest balls.
The length of the club must, of course, vary according to the height of
the player, for what would be a short driver for a six-foot man would
almost be a fishing-rod to the diminutive person who stands but five
feet high. Let the weight be medium also; but for reasons already
stated do not let it err on the side of lightness. The shaft of the club
should be of moderate suppleness. As I have said, if it is too whippy it
may be hard to control, but if it is too stiff it leaves too much hard
work to be done by the muscles of the golfer. Practising what I preach,
my own drivers are carefully selected for this delicate medium of
suppleness of shaft, and when a stick is found that is exactly perfect
it is well worth great care for ever. Also I reiterate that the head of
the club should not be too large; driving is not thereby made any
easier, and carelessness is encouraged. The face should not be quite
vertical: if it were, only the top edge and not the full face would be
seen when the stance had been taken and the club head was resting upon
the tee in its proper place. There must be just so much loft that the
face can be seen when the golfer is ready and in position for the swing.
But avoid having too much loft filed on the club as a fancied remedy for
driving too low and getting into all the bunkers. You do not fail to get
the ball up because there is not sufficient loft on the club, but
because you are doing something wrong which can easily be remedied;
while, on the other hand, be very careful of the fact that, as you add
loft to the face of the driver so at the same time you are cutting off
distance and losing both power and the delightful sense of it. When the
weather is wet, it is a good plan to chalk the face of the club, as this
counteracts the tendency of the ball to skid from it.

Tee the ball low, rejecting the very prevalent but erroneous idea that
you are more certain of getting it away cleanly and well when it is
poised high off the ground. The stroke that sweeps the ball well away
from the low tee is the most natural and perfect, and it follows that
the ball, properly driven from this low tee, is the best of all.
Moreover, one is not so liable to get too much underneath the ball and
make a feeble shot into the sky, which is one of the most exasperating
forms of ineffectual effort in the whole range of golf. Another
convincing argument in fa