Hogan Strikes Again

[Bravo]

Most of the oldtimers here know what a big fan I am of Ben Hogan's book/DVD...a couple of years ago, it lead me to my lowest handicap ever.

I have strayed away from the very innate details of Hogan's teachings and my scores have crept upward. My index is 9.2 but I haven't had a score below 84 all winter long... So I dragged the book and DVD out again and started going through the minutae of the fundamentals.

I went back to the grip. As those of you who have read the book know, this section alone is about 15-17 pages long...just on how to hold the club..

One of the things he advocated was the 'short thumb' which was a slight 'squenching' of the right thumb upward toward the rest of the hand rather than having the thumb extend downward as it would naturally do. When I re-read the book, I noticed I had forgotten this extremely small detail in the grip and actually had my right thumb over to the left about half an inch. So I decided to scootch it back right half an inch and squench it up just a bit...

Magic.

Hitting it much straighter and much longer. All clubs are improved. Interestingly, this one tiny change is helping me keep from getting laid off at the top. Making a much better swing plane and (not surprisingly) generating more juice.

Shot an 80 on Friday and an 81 this morning......it is no wonder he was anal about this grip stuff. He and Harvey Penick agree that the grip and set-up and incredibly important. If you have both correct, the variables in your entire swing can be compensated for in a big way...

[WangoTango]

"newtimer" here, but I agree 100% Hogan's book is priceless.
I used to discount the "waggle" as I didn't do it properly and as a result never understood the benefit, but now I feel it is one of the most important pre-swing moves you can make. A few months ago I was struggling to break 90 after a looooong layoff but now I am shooting in the low-mid 80's consistently and I owe it all to Hogan's 5 lessons. Hardly have to think about my swing at all now, and my old friend the slice is nowhere to be found. Yesterday I only missed 4 fairways and I was swinging out of my shoes on every drive, it was heaven. Now if I could just make a putt or 10.....

[milner_7]

Hey guys whats the title of the book/DVD?? Sounds like a good read

[WangoTango]

Book- "Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons the Modern Fundamentals of Golf"
Not sure which DVD Bravo was reffering to, but the one I have is "Ben Hogan the Golf Swing" hosted by Jim McLean. The video is a great compliment to the book, McLean breaking down Hogan's swing and comparing it with the lessons in his book.

[dave.]

Excellent stuff,I'm also a huge fan

But I don't agree with everything in the book.I believe his grip is on the weak side for most amateurs.For example,the land and the thumb shortening are both anti-hook measures,but we club guys like to draw the ball,Hogan wanted a fade