ProgolferDigest - The Golf Blog by Junger Woods » Ben Hogan

I Found The Secret to Hogan’s Golf Swing!

Junger Woods — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:14:41 +0000

Okay, this does really happen to me every couple months. That is that I find the secret to the golf swing.

You go to the golf course and return with this “amazing” feeling that you’ve finally mastered the game of golf, or at least just the golf swing in this case.

Let me tell you how it happend and the secret too.

I have been on a long-trail of hitting balls on the range and really not practicing my short game or putting.

Well, yesterday, I go to the range at Harding Park GC, and found that the range closes early on Mondays. Of course, this was my first time going to the range after 6pm on a Monday.

So, I decided to practice my short game for 2 hours. What happened after that was amazing.

For the first hour and a half or so, I was really struggling to hit these hard-pan lies. After trying several things, I hit a goldmine, the secret to my golf swing.

You see, the secret is in the dirt just like Ben Hogan said. Literally, I found it in the hardpan dirt, where it’s practically impossible to hit the shot good unless you strike the ball perfectly.

As such, I found the secret of the golf swing as the following:

Your full swing is an extended version of your short shots. It’s never the other way around.

For example, you are hitting the 2-iron really well. You miniturize that 2-iron swing on the short pitch shots. It might work and it might not, simply because what’s working for the full swing isn’t guaranteed to work on the short shots.

However, if you are hitting your 30-yard pitch shots from a hardpan lie perfectly (as you do need to hit it perfectly on the ball in order to avoid chunking it or thinning it) and you extend that short swing into a 2-iron swing, you will find that 99% of the time, the swing works.

This is why tour pros practice their short game so much because the rhythm and the swing technique flows into other longer shots.

Now, that is how I found the secret, let me tell you the “technical” details of my findings:

You need to feel that on the downswing, you are rotating everything including your stomach, shoulders, arms, and hands to the left while your weight is centered over the left foot. You also need to feel you are standing very tall.

Here’s the important part, you need to feel like your wrists are uncocking upwards toward the sky just after impact.

If you take a careful look at Hogan’s after-impact position, you will notice that his wrists are actually lifted toward the sky. This really helps you to hit the ball perfectly while minimizing wrist action through impact.

Now how to achieve this feeling?

It’s pretty simple, try to imagine there’s a giant ball hanging from the sky sorta like the above picture.

Then, try to rotate your body to move that ball foward toward your target. Also try to hit the big imaginary ball with your elbows, this will automatically uncock your wrists the correct way by letting your wrists lift upwards.

I tried this and boy, I am going to the PGA Tour Q-School next year baby!

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I Found The Secret to Hogan’s Golf Swing!

Ben Hogan’s Secrets in his Swing Video!

Junger Woods — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:30:12 +0000

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Today, I was watching Ben Hogan’s swing on YouTube and found a secret, that is of Ben Hogan’s swing.

What is it?

The secret is when Ben Hogan finishes his swing. Watch very carefully and you will notice that Ben Hogan never swings full out on his irons, woods, and etc…etc…

He seems to slow down shortly after impact and the finish looks more graceful while not wasting extra energy.

So how do I do it?

You gotta really think of a “balanced” finish, a swing that slows down near the very end.

You need to think feel that you are swinging a momentum ball. If you go too fast, you will lose control of the momentum ball at your finish. If you can control a heavy ball, that’d be how you want to finish in golf.

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Ben Hogan’s Secrets in his Swing Video!

Ben Hogan explains his Change to a Fade

Junger Woods — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:15:31 +0000

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In case you don’t know about Ben Hogan’s golfing career, Ben didn’t start winning a lot of tournaments until he started to “fade” the ball from left to right.

Why?

Ben Hogan was one of the worst “hookers” of the golf ball. In this video, Ben explains his change to a “fade”.

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Ben Hogan explains his Change to a Fade

Ben Hogan Iron Knockdown Swing Analysis!

Junger Woods — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:09:03 +0000

I have been studying Ben Hogan’s swing for about 20 years now and I’d have to say he’s the best ball stiker in the world.

Here’s some analysis into his iron knockdown swing, which he was very good at and Tiger Woods has copied his moves.

Ben’s takeaway is simply rotation of his triangle formed by his shoulders, arms, and hands to the right. (sorta like shaking hands with person on the right)

There’s no “visible” weight transfer whatsoever here. His belly or the stomach, also turns along with his triangle.

This is probably the most important takeaway you can learn from Ben.

To put it simply:

Rotate your triangle and belly together to the right from a fixed single axis.

At top of Ben Hogan’s swing, you can tell that he’s almost doing a “reverse-pivot” by traditional teachers’ standards. In my opinion, he’s proving to you that there’s no need for a visual weight transfer to the right side. Hey, this picture proves that point.

This might be why there’s so much buzz with the tilt and stack swing when in reality, they are all derivatives of Ben Hogan’s swing.

On the downswing, you can notice Ben’s head has “dipped” 2-3 inches compared to position at address and top of his swing. This proves that the “dip” is actually a necessary natural action to a golfer’s swing provided the golfer doesn’t dip too much. Look at every top player in the world, they “dip” their head a little because it’s human nature.

Do note the fact that Ben’s lower body has aggressivly cleared to his left side while his spine tilt is actually a little straighter, meaning his upper body “moves” toward the target.

This move is inevitable to Ben’s swing in order to hit the ball square, you need to feel like you are on “top” of the ball on the way down in order to extend your arms correctly through impact.

After impact, notice how straight both of Ben’s arms are and the club dissecting between the two arms. This is something Ben is really good at.

At finish, notice how straight Ben’s lower body is and his upper body is pretty straight too. What impresses is how much his whole body is stretched on his finish while he remains in perfect balance with no sign of extra force exertion.

Bloody Ben Hogan, he’s the greatest golfer with the greatest swing ever. Even Tiger has great swing but won’t come close anywhere near Ben Hogan in my opinion.

Now, this is way back in the 50-60s when they had no cameras or any type of visual feedback for the pro golfers. How amazing is his swing when you think of that?

Very amazing indeed that Tiger’s still trying to copy Ben’s moves.

Even after 50 years, every tour pro including Tiger is trying to copy Ben Hogan’s moves, not Jack Nicklauses, not Arnold Palmer, but Ben and only Ben Hogan. That my friend, IS amazing.

Here’s Ben Hogan’s Iron Knockdown Swing in action:

(Mind you, Ben Hogan was the first master of these knockdown shots, not Tiger. Tiger only copied his moves.)

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Ben Hogan Iron Knockdown Swing Analysis!

Ben Hogan Front View Swing Analysis

Junger Woods — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:26:45 +0000

I’d have to say the best golf striker in history of golf was Ben Hogan.

Here’s his swing is full motion.

At takeaway, Ben has a very nice full extension of his arms. Notice his right leg, it does not move a bit during his whole backswing.

At the top of his swing, Ben’s wrists are almost 70 degrees cocked, more than most pro tours.

At impact, you can see how well Ben has transferred his weight to his left and nice extension of his arms.

At followthrough, you can clearly see Ben’s arms and club really “shooting” up at the sky.

Swing like this great. Mind you, Ben did get in a car accident before his prime, meaning he would have won 2-3 times more tournaments if his leg had been 100%.

Here’s Ben Hogan’s swing in action:

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Ben Hogan Front View Swing Analysis

HOWTO hit a golf ball with a cigarette in your mouth!

Junger Woods — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 04:04:38 +0000

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Here’s a simple howto for hitting the golf ball with a cigarette in your mouth.

What does this do for your swing?

Basically, it allows you to balance your swing. If you are not in balance, you will most likely lose the cigarette during your swing.

Famous golfer, Ben Hogan used to do this in practice AND in competition.

You can swap a golf pencil or anything similar if you don’t smoke cigarettes. But cigarettes work the best since they can be easily broken.

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HOWTO hit a golf ball with a cigarette in your mouth!

Golf Video - Ben Hogan’s Swings

Junger Woods — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:19:00 +0000

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Here’s a great series of Ben Hogan’s golf swing on youtube.

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Golf Video - Ben Hogan’s Swings

Golf Video - Ben Hogan’s Swing - Does Ben do Stack & Tilt?

Junger Woods — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:50:26 +0000

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Here’s Ben Hogan’s swing video I found on Youtube. Although you can’t hear anything, if you scroll to the end, you will be able to see Ben Hogan’s Driver swing in action.

It seems that Ben’s weight transfer starts way before his downswing. (which he did mention in his book, Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf)

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Golf Video - Ben Hogan’s Swing - Does Ben do Stack & Tilt?

Golf Video - Ben Hogan’s Swing - on plane

Junger Woods — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:52:25 +0000

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Although there’s a concept that a golfer must stay on-plane during the downswing. That plane is always a mystery to me but Ben Hogan shows you how to do it right in this video.

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Golf Video - Ben Hogan’s Swing - on plane

Annika Sorenstam’s Swing - The Stand Up Swing

Junger Woods — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:40:21 +0000

Apart from the Men’s Golf, Annika Sorenstam probably has the best swing in golf. The above animated gif is a favorite among mine that’s floating on the internet.

Click below for the full swing analysis of Annika Sorenstam and a HOWTO drill for copying her “stand-up-head-up” downswing.

Here’s Annika’s Swing analyzed step-by-step by Junger Woods:

STANCE

If you look at Annika’s stance, you will find that she does not tilt terribly too much and stays centered over the ball. Not exactly a Stack and Tilt swing but very centered over the ball.

The takeaway looks very simple and controlled by the body, not hands or the arms.

HALF-WAY

Annika’s still very “tall”, meaning she still looks like she’s almost standing up, which is what you want. You want to be in perfect balance at takeaway.

3/4 Swing

She’s still tall, meaning she’s not trying to overswing.

Even though her club has gone beyond parallel, she’s in perfect balance. As you can see, the yellow line is approximately where her weight is, just inside the right heel. Excellent.

The downswing looks very good here, she’s transferring her weight to the left and just letting the club, arms, and the hands to follow along.

Before Impact

Wow, check out how balanced she is right before impact and her weight is just about over the center of her stance.

Impact

Check out the V her arms make at impact. That means she’s really rotating around her body without losing any connection.

After Impact

Wow, check out how her V is still intact and she’s in perfect balance. This is similar to Ben Hogan’s swing. The only difference between Annika and Ben is that Annika does not care where her head goes. I agree that the head can freely follow the body. As long as you are striving to “stand-up” on your downswing, your clubface will meet the ball square. Check out the drills belowfor more explanation on this.

Here, her head does NOT swivel, it simply follows the body as it wills. I bet you will start hitting the ball everywhere if you tried to swivel your head. Instead you can just let the head go whereever it want to go naturally.

The Finish

Annika’s finish clearly shows that she’s standing up straight and tall. This is very good for your back and your swing. If you can finish your swing standing tall like this, I bet you will hit many many more good shots.

The Drill to Imitate Annika’s Swing Functionalities

There’s a book about this by George Knudson, who was a very famous Canadian golfer who studied Ben Hogan’s swing most of his life. In the book, George will teach you how to swing in balance and with your head moving freely along with your swing.

George Knudson has a swing exactly like Ben Hogan, except his head did move like Annika during the downswing.

The simple drill he suggest is to simply, “Shake hands with someone on the right and then shake hands with someone on the left“.

This concept allows your clubface to stay square no matter where your head is during your swing.

Here’s a picture from his book, “The Natural Golf Swing“:

As you can see, the clubface will point up at the sky “naturally” if you shake hands with someone on the right and the left.

So where ever your head goes, the clubface will still be square in proportion to your swing. This is the body control of your swing instead of trying to steer it square like a lot of golf books and teachers teach you. By keeping it simple and keeping the control of your clubface to simple actions of shaking hands, you can hit the ball much better and save your back too.

I’ve read so many golf books in my life, I probably read more than 90% of them, but this one advice has always helped my golf swing. So go try it…

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Annika Sorenstam’s Swing - The Stand Up Swing

Steve Elkington’s Stack and Tilt

Junger Woods — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 05:27:58 +0000

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Wow, check out Steve Elkington’s stack and tilt swing. It seems like this is what some of the pros have been doing after all along… This helps you to actually transfer your weight before starting your downswing, something Ben Hogan used to do…

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Steve Elkington’s Stack and Tilt

ProgolferDigest - The Golf Blog by Junger Woods » Ben Hogan

I Found The Secret to Hogan’s Golf Swing!

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