Mastering Ben Hogan's Swing

Grayback1973 · July 2, 2017

One of the closest to Hogan I've seen.Denny Chute was the closest. In the first part of Hogan's backswing it looks to me like he's pulling the handle straight back behind his right hip.It doesn't seem like he's trying to move his arms wide and away from him.His hands work into his body right away like hes pulling the lawnmower starter rope with two hands.He gets deep early without rolling the shaft and whipping the clubhead inside.His way off keeping it on plane was different than is taught these days.

V,your overall action is eerily similar to Hogans.It looks fantastic.Great job and the hard work is paying off!
If it's similar, how come he's not like this (not bashing, great swing actually):

Its not that his positions are hitting Hogans precisely,it's more his tempo and style.Hitting Hogan's positions exactly is next to impossible.In fact,its impossible for any human to emulate another human in an exact sense.We all have our own footprint.

oscar@wrx · July 2, 2017

One of the closest to Hogan I've seen.Denny Chute was the closest. In the first part of Hogan's backswing it looks to me like he's pulling the handle straight back behind his right hip.It doesn't seem like he's trying to move his arms wide and away from him.His hands work into his body right away like hes pulling the lawnmower starter rope with two hands.He gets deep early without rolling the shaft and whipping the clubhead inside.His way off keeping it on plane was different than is taught these days.

V,your overall action is eerily similar to Hogans.It looks fantastic.Great job and the hard work is paying off!
If it's similar, how come he's not like this (not bashing, great swing actually):
Its not that his positions are hitting Hogans precisely,it's more his tempo and style.Hitting Hogan's positions exactly is next to impossible.In fact,its impossible for any human to emulate another human in an exact sense.We all have our own footprint.

Respectfully disagree. Impact is the be all end all. That impact position of Hogan tells me a lot of things.

Hogan's left side is well open and in extension. His left shoulder is not only more open but higher. His right elbow is not only more bent, bit also behind his right side or hip. And his hands are much closer to his body, hands lower.

Mostly this tells me Hogan's is really pivot-driven. Virtuoso's is arms-driven. Or at least Hogan's arms or hands do their thing much later, if ever his arms and hands are involved

moehogan · July 2, 2017

One of the closest to Hogan I've seen.Denny Chute was the closest. In the first part of Hogan's backswing it looks to me like he's pulling the handle straight back behind his right hip.It doesn't seem like he's trying to move his arms wide and away from him.His hands work into his body right away like hes pulling the lawnmower starter rope with two hands.He gets deep early without rolling the shaft and whipping the clubhead inside.His way off keeping it on plane was different than is taught these days.

V,your overall action is eerily similar to Hogans.It looks fantastic.Great job and the hard work is paying off!
If it's similar, how come he's not like this (not bashing, great swing actually):
Its not that his positions are hitting Hogans precisely,it's more his tempo and style.Hitting Hogan's positions exactly is next to impossible.In fact,its impossible for any human to emulate another human in an exact sense.We all have our own footprint.
Respectfully disagree. Impact is the be all end all. That impact position of Hogan tells me a lot of things.

Hogan's left side is well open and in extension. His left shoulder is not only more open but higher. His right elbow is not only more bent, bit also behind his right side or hip. And his hands are much closer to his body, hands lower.

Mostly this tells me Hogan's is really pivot-driven. Virtuoso's is arms-driven. Or at least Hogan's arms or hands do their thing much later, if ever his arms and hands are involved

I would say that Virt has done a very good job with his arm swing but just needs a little more work on the pivot ... his right hip has to get moving targetwise much sooner in the DS. In transition one needs to load down into the extra spike on the right foot and use the leverage of that push point to rotate the right hip. Good feels or images are "right groin or right quadricep to target". Left hip starts the show but the right hip almost immediately joins in and closes the deal!

IMO, Hogan's left side extension is mostly a byproduct of or a counterbalance to his synced entire right side powering through.

rustyhobo · July 15, 2017

I'm not so sure moe. I agree with you that most don't give the right leg enough attention but kicking that left buttocks back is an important component of the hip motion through impact to get to hogan

moehogan · July 16, 2017

I'm not so sure moe. I agree with you that most don't give the right leg enough attention but kicking that left buttocks back is an important component of the hip motion through impact to get to hogan

rusty, the left hip definitely gets the show started, but my point is that it runs out of leverage as he gets up on top of it in the DS. IMO, it clears the way for the right hip (and the entire synced and loaded right side) to start to extend at delivery and pour it on through impact to the finish.

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As the right hip moves targetwise, compress the Right QL and it's Right Lat to target!

rustyhobo · July 22, 2017

Very true.

Harleyweedwhacks · March 5, 2018

If you are to master his swing, there are a few things you should know before you do so. Basically, you have to understand what you're trying to do, not by swinging like him, but understanding the reasons why he did what he did.

1. He hit a fade to compensate for a massive hook: Here's where people get this wrong. His bowed left wrist and weak grip were to compensate for his extremely flat swing plane, which caused him hooks. Since his swing was immensely flat, and he came from the inside a ton, and shut the face over due to a strong grip, he hit massive hooks that almost took him out of a playing career. He weakened his grip and bowed his left wrist through impact, when he should have just made his swing more upright. to allow for his intended fade.

People also think that he hit the ball straight, which isn't true. He hit a fade, a left to right curved shot, on a consistent basis. He wanted nothing to do with a draw or hook, so he faded the ball. People in golf want to hit the ball dead straight, but that doesn't exist because of wind and the precision it requires is beyond most people. So if you want to swing like Hogan, fade the ball.

2. Hip turn: People look at his 5 lessons as the foundation of his teachings, but some aspects of that teaching have been misread. The hip turn is one of those things.

You have to realize this book was written after his car wreck, during which he shattered his hips and legs, so the things he did in his swing pre-wreck were different than afterwards. First off, he lifted his leading heel off the ground, even post-wreck. It may have been more pre-wreck, say, 3 or 4 inches, but it was there on every swing with long irons and woods. This implies a free hip turn, not restricted at all. None of this rubber banding bulls$%^ modern golf instructors keeps preaching, Ben turned his hips fully and freely, with a flared right foot. In his book, he talks about the right foot being squared, but if you look at any of his swings on either side of the wreck, his right foot is flared.

He says in the book that his shoulders pull his hips around, not that he's restricting the hip turn. He may have said to slow down the hip turn, but he even said that the hips turn around 45* and his shoulders around 90*, but actually his hips turned way more than that.

His hip turn was free, regardless of what he may have thought he was doing.

3. His swing was unique to him: Sam Snead, back in the day, had his own style to him. He was free flowing and exceptionally accurate with massive distance. Ben Hogan wasn't a power player, but he could control the ball better than most. He hit his fade like no one else, and hit it accurately with a solid strike. Ben Hogan swung his own way, and a style of swinging that is homemade shouldn't be copied, because everyone is different. First off, as I said earlier, his swing was a compensation-filled move, and he could never have played golf if it weren't for his compensations, because he hooked the ball so badly. Second, his swing was built for what he wanted, which was a low fade, so if you don't like that shot, then his swing isn't for you. Third, all golf swings are different, so you can never master someone else's golf swing, no matter how hard you try.

RBImGuy · March 11, 2018

Third, all golf swings are different, so you can never master someone else's golf swing, no matter how hard you try.

hehe, well this guy hits it better and longer than Hogan and is a replica of Mike Austins swing

The impossible made possible and doable

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moehogan · March 11, 2018

Third, all golf swings are different, so you can never master someone else's golf swing, no matter how hard you try.

hehe, well this guy hits it better and longer than Hogan and is a replica of Mike Austins swing
The impossible made possible and doable

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Please define "better". Also, how many US Opens have this guy and Mike Austin won combined? How many other majors? How many top tens in majors? Did either get hit head on by a bus?

LMAO!

farmer · March 11, 2018

If you are to master his swing, there are a few things you should know before you do so. Basically, you have to understand what you're trying to do, not by swinging like him, but understanding the reasons why he did what he did.

1. He hit a fade to compensate for a massive hook: Here's where people get this wrong. His bowed left wrist and weak grip were to compensate for his extremely flat swing plane, which caused him hooks. Since his swing was immensely flat, and he came from the inside a ton, and shut the face over due to a strong grip, he hit massive hooks that almost took him out of a playing career. He weakened his grip and bowed his left wrist through impact, when he should have just made his swing more upright. to allow for his intended fade.

People also think that he hit the ball straight, which isn't true. He hit a fade, a left to right curved shot, on a consistent basis. He wanted nothing to do with a draw or hook, so he faded the ball. People in golf want to hit the ball dead straight, but that doesn't exist because of wind and the precision it requires is beyond most people. So if you want to swing like Hogan, fade the ball.

2. Hip turn: People look at his 5 lessons as the foundation of his teachings, but some aspects of that teaching have been misread. The hip turn is one of those things.

You have to realize this book was written after his car wreck, during which he shattered his hips and legs, so the things he did in his swing pre-wreck were different than afterwards. First off, he lifted his leading heel off the ground, even post-wreck. It may have been more pre-wreck, say, 3 or 4 inches, but it was there on every swing with long irons and woods. This implies a free hip turn, not restricted at all. None of this rubber banding bulls$%^ modern golf instructors keeps preaching, Ben turned his hips fully and freely, with a flared right foot. In his book, he talks about the right foot being squared, but if you look at any of his swings on either side of the wreck, his right foot is flared.

He says in the book that his shoulders pull his hips around, not that he's restricting the hip turn. He may have said to slow down the hip turn, but he even said that the hips turn around 45* and his shoulders around 90*, but actually his hips turned way more than that.

His hip turn was free, regardless of what he may have thought he was doing.

3. His swing was unique to him: Sam Snead, back in the day, had his own style to him. He was free flowing and exceptionally accurate with massive distance. Ben Hogan wasn't a power player, but he could control the ball better than most. He hit his fade like no one else, and hit it accurately with a solid strike. Ben Hogan swung his own way, and a style of swinging that is homemade shouldn't be copied, because everyone is different. First off, as I said earlier, his swing was a compensation-filled move, and he could never have played golf if it weren't for his compensations, because he hooked the ball so badly. Second, his swing was built for what he wanted, which was a low fade, so if you don't like that shot, then his swing isn't for you. Third, all golf swings are different, so you can never master someone else's golf swing, no matter how hard you try.

Interesting post. Writers contemporary to Hogan described his swing as a staircase of compensations that required constant attention. In all of the endless attempts I've seen on this site to mimic the Hogan swing, about the only thing the copycats get right is the cap.