INTRODUCTION<br >This is not a book on "how to play golf."<br > This is， instead， a book designed to help you help yourself. In<br >short， it is to "straighten you out."<br > If we could， we d all like to take a professional with us on every<br >round， and when we began to hit some bad shots he would tell us<br >what was wrong and how to correct it. But how many of us are able<br >to do that?<br > This book， carefully indexed for each bad shot you possibly can<br >hit， attempts to take the place of the pro so far as that is possible.<br >There is， of course， no perfect substitute for him and for the per-<br >sonal instruction he alone is able to give.<br > There is， however， a reason for every bad shot a golfer hits. It is<br >caused by some fault in his swing. Those faults will produce the<br >same bad shot every time. And， conversely， the bad shot-whichever<br >one it happens to be-will be caused by the same [aults every time.<br > Therefore， when you find yourself hitting any particular type of<br >bad shot frequently， you can turn to the chapter on that shot in the<br >book and discover why you hit it and how to eliminate the faults<br >that produced it. Once rid of those faults， you will not hit that<br >kind of shot again.<br > How is it possible thus to simplify things) Because， contrary to<br >what you may have thought， there are not a thousand bad shots in<br >golf.<br > There are only nine.<br > Incredible， isn t it)<br > But， besides hitting a straight ball， what can you do? You can<br > hook， you can slice， you can push， pull， sky， top， sclaff， smother， or<br > shank a shot. Nothing else. Just nine.<br >