Mis-swing

And Hank taught the youngster to deliberately mis-swing at a certain pitch early in the game; later, in a decisive situation, the pitcher might give him the same pitch again, and he could slam it.

It was winter, with some snow on the ground, but we were making good progress until I mis-swung my axe, bounced it off the tree, and buried it in my leg.

I seen one man from the 16th nigh chop his foot off when he mis-swung his axe.

Eckhart also speaks of this happening to a man who has misstepped (vertreten, as I recall); God, then, corrects the mis-swing of the man and brings him back to the Tao or Logos.

So the stance was crucial, because a mis-swing or glancing blow off the wood could veer towards a leading leg.

And to her advantage, his mis-swing upset his equilibrium, and so gains her a few seconds.