Hogan

[dave.]

I posted this in another forum and thought I would share it here,these pics are from an out of print book












And my fave,does this remind you of anyone? Tiger hits these shots now all the time,this was Hogan's follow through with the hold off,identical to Tiger's.




And some quotes from the book

2 quotes from Ken Venturi,who knew Hogan as a player as well as anyone;

When discussing Hogan's lag;

"Hogan held this angle as long as possible.If he used some of the flexible shafts of today,with the amount of force and power he generated,the shaft would flex way to much.Because of this position,he wouldn't use a shaft with any flex,it had to be very stiff."

And when asked about Hogan's clubs;

"No one ever played with as stiff a driver as Hogan.HE HAD THE STIFFEST SHAFT OF ANYONE THAT EVER PLAYED (my caps).Its hard to believe that someone could play with a driver that stiff.He had an extra stiff shaft that was tipped.The first step on the shaft was just above the whipping! I never saw anyhting like it in my life! I tried to hit it once and it went dead right.His irons were a D0 to D2 and his driver about a D7"

So,I think its fair to say his irons were very stiff,and his driver was very,very,very stiff

And;

"I remember vividly the time Lanny Wadkins and I,on a visit to Shady Oaks,watched Hogan hit some 3 irons,and then some 4 woods.Lanny,one of the best ball strikers I have seen,and I sat spell-bound,bith of us amazed at the force he could generate through impact.
For me,that will be the last impression I have of Hogan,how he tore into and through each shot,with his power and force and authority and you KNEW the ball had to obey his command and streak like a laser to the target.I've never seen a ball hit like that,or heard shots that sounded like that,before or since.It was sound unique to Hogan.
Two other images stand out in my mind.First,the very wide,sweeping arc of his backswing,and second,how active his hands and wrists were as he just literally burned up shot after shot,ball after ball buzzing out there all on the same trajectory.When I say 'buzzing',I mean it.I swear as the ball left the club on those 3 irons we could hear the ball buzz with the fantastic amount of backspin imparted by the force of the hit"


Crenshaw goes on to say one year they did an exhibition on the 15th an Augusta,to try and emulate Sarazens 4 wood he holed in '35.But the greens were rock hard that year and no one could hold the green.Except Hogan,who could stop the ball dead,on a down slope,onto a hard green.Off a downhill lie.

Mystique indeed

[BigJim13]

Good pics and quotes, was that from the Sampson book.

Anyway i remember reading the story about Hogan's friend who after he had passed away got to keep one of his drivers that he used to use in competition. He would let people try to hit it while playing Spyglass i believe it was. Of course the shaft was XXXX Stiff and the face was wooden and cranked about 5-6* open. NObody could hit it very well, in fact one time Davis Love III tried to hit it and managed about 200yds strainght right....

That is one player that I wished I could have seen play before he passed.

[obagain]

One of the least talked about parts of his game. He could spin the ball so much but have absolute control over it. He was amazing to watch.

[dave.]

Originally Posted by obagain

One of the least talked about parts of his game. He could spin the ball so much but have absolute control over it. He was amazing to watch.

and into the wind,he was once asked how he controlled the ball,he said he hit 'off the second groove'

quotes from Jules Alexander's book

[VtDivot]

his position at impact is phenomonal. He's so flat, he looks layed off at the top. VERY cool swing.... but no thanks

[dave.]

ITS NOT FLAT!! Wash your mouth out with soap! Its perfectly on plane

[ManchesterGolfer]

Awesome pics Dave.

In the 3rd & 5th picture down. Pictures of the top of the back swing, the club look's extremly compact/low/very close to his neck/back. Awesome lag on the down swing & tremendous coil in his body what a powerful looking swing.

I wonder how far he could hit todays modern equiptment if he was in his prime today?

[Andy_79]

I was supposed to play at the club in which he did his Professional Apprenticeship when I was Stateside; Century Golf Club. Fell through 'cos the course was closed 'cos of the rain..