My thoughts while I work through reading Hogan's Five Lessons

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

I bought a copy of the book Friday evening, and damn, it's good reading. I've been kind of focusing on absorbing the first lesson, which is about gripping a club.

The first lesson of the book Ben Hogan's Five Lessons is all about gripping a golf club. In it, he explains the importance of a correct grip, why it's important and how a grip will affect a player's swing. If you have a poor grip on the club, you're going to have troubles with the club at the top of the backswing and the transition to the downswing, if the club isn't securely held, it will wiggle, or slip, and remove it from the square position you may have had at address. If you think about it, you'll realize the problem will increase in seriousness with the longer clubs, like the driver, the 3-wood, the 4-iron -- a small variance at the grip end will cause greater perturbation at the clubhead end. If you need to see what I mean, take a short pencil, grip it at the eraser end, wiggle it, and the point will move a tiny bit. Take a long pencil, grip it at the eraser, and wiggle it like the short pencil, the point will move a lot more.

I think that working on my grip helped me hit the 3-woods I hit on Sunday. I was often having problems with the woods because of the longer shafts, and a somewhat poor grip that got loose at transition. So I think improving my grip should help also with the driver problems I've been having lately, although I'm still having troubles with the swing too.

But there's a funny thing about gripping a club. It is a precise problem because while there are problems with a grip that can't hold the club securely, the other problem comes when people overcompensate and grip the club too hard, which results in muscular tension that'll destroy a fluid golf swing. It's that problem which causes Hogan to devote almost 18 pages to the grip, to teach us the importance of developing a secure yet relaxed grip.

Hogan describes a well-formed grip as one that catches the attention of the inner muscles of the arm, if you begin to feel the muscles on the outsides of the arms, you're overgripping and tension will interfere with your body making a relaxed and fluid swing.

 

[IrishGolfer]

one that catches the attention of the inner muscles of the arm

Does that count for drinking, I mean if I grip my beer glass correctly, will the outer muscles of my arm freak out because I'm ignoring them?! And what about whiskey? Will the outer and inner muscles know what is going on to tell the difference?

Would my Quiet Eye know who has all the attention? This stuff is getting way too complex. I'll bet that Hogan guy was whacked out when he wrote that stuff.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Does that count for drinking, I mean if I grip my beer glass correctly, will the outer muscles of my arm freak out because I'm ignoring them?! And what about whiskey? Will the outer and inner muscles know what is going on to tell the difference?

Would my Quiet Eye know who has all the attention? This stuff is getting way too complex. I'll bet that Hogan guy was whacked out when he wrote that stuff.

Hogan was definitely whacked, but sometimes obsessive madmen are good sources of information.

 

[ezra76]

Just be careful RBB. Next thing you know you'll be pitching over a trap in scuba gear with a garden hose while balancing an egg on your head. Remember that commercial. "pretend you're sitting on a horse, no a miniture pony" That was the funniest golf commercial I've ever seen.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Just be careful RBB. Next thing you know you'll be pitching over a trap in scuba gear with a garden hose while balancing an egg on your head. Remember that commercial. "pretend you're sitting on a horse, no a miniture pony" That was the funniest golf commercial I've ever seen.

If it works to improve my game, I'll do it!

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Okay, after tonight, if you haven't read Hogan's chapter about the grip, or have had your grip properly taught to you, do everything you have to do to get the book and read this chapter.

I shot 86 tonight. 44 on my first nine and 42 on the second nine. I did that with 36 putts, so simply it was my best nights of driving the ball and iron striking. I hit 4 of 9 greens in regulation on the second nine, and one fringe landing to almost get 5 GIR's.

The feel of the grip began to come together for me on the 6th hole of play, when there was this moment in gripping the club I felt exactly what Hogan describes, and I knew the club was solid in my hands which had knitted into a single unit. That's when the full swing got easier. I didn't have to worry about the club wiggling loose.

I also discovered the I could go harder at the ball some. I came up 6 feet short of hitting onto a par-5 in two.

Hogan's right. Everything about the swing starts with the grip.

 

[Eracer]

Hogan's right. Everything about the swing starts with the grip.

I too have been focusing on getting the grip right as part of my pre-shot routine. There is a very distinct feeling at impact when I get it right. Almost as though the club "floats" throught the ball. The problem is, that feeling happens maybe one out of ten shots, even thought I (think) do the same thing every time.

It seems that my better feeling shots come when I leave my right thumb and forefinger off the grip, or at least when I focus on minimizing the pressure that they put on the grip. Does this mean that my natural tendency is to apply too much pressure with the right hand?

RBB - what part of Hogan's advice do you focus most on? The attachment points, i.e. where the club sits in the hands? Or grip pressure?

 

[DouginGA]

There is a lot to be said for proper fundamentals.
And then you get a PGA Tour pro who wins chipping and hitting sand shots cross handed like Couch .
But hey, try it all and whatever works.
And if nothing works buy a new club.
But I am with you on this RBB.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Right now for me, it's about both getting the proper position and the pressure, when I do that then like you describe it, it's a feeling the clubhead just floats through the ball, an effect of it going through the ball solid and not wavering in a grip that has lost its grip, whether due to poor positioning or pressure. Hogan describes the right hand as exerting pressure with the two pads below the ring and middle fingers, that the little finger should go down into the crevice between the fore and middle fingers of the left hand.

The right hand's fore finger and thumb are almost just along for a ride. If you get the grip solid, you can even practice swings with a club, and the fore finger and thumb lifted away. If you've got it positioned correctly, and the pressure right, the club should stay solidly in place.

When I do this, I can feel the muscles on the inside of my forearms, alive, but not tense.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Okay, I've written down a more detailed history of last evening

These are kind of my notes to myself about last evening's round. Perhaps one important thing to note about it was I played the front and back-9's in reverse yesterday, and at this course, the front-9 has always played harder for me, by usually 2 or 3 strokes. Yesterday, I reversed that as the grip epiphany became clear on the 6th hole of play of the back-9, and I then played the second nine holes with the feel of the grip taking hold. I don't know if this is really helpful to anyone, but it's helpful for my thinking about it.

So yesterday afternoon I headed to Delcastle, with hope that maybe I could play most of the holes before dark. I got there around 5, and saw a big line at the first tee, a league event was going on, but the starter informed me I could start on the back-9, then play the frontside after that. So I plunked down my money.


Now, during play last evening, I struggled some with the short game and putting, I was uncomfortable not having had the warmup time I've been using prior to rounds on the weekends. Yet amazingly, I shot my best score ever last night, an 86, in spite of 35 putts. So what happened?

It happened on the 6th hole of play for me, the 15th at Delcastle, a par-5. It was on the tee that I took what I had read by Hogan about gripping the golf club, and then felt it. Suddenly, the club felt solid and locked in place, and all I would have to do is make my weight transfer back, fire with my hips, get my right elbow tucked back into the body on the downswing, and the clubhead would go firing through the ball. I ripped a beautiful drive down the left half of the fairway, and it faded back lightly, getting out farther than any prior drive I've had at 15. I hit a 3-wood next, and hit it with a good high soft fade, and would end up about 40 yards short of the center of the green. That's the closest I've ever been in two shots at the 15th hole. I'd then play a too frisky pitch shot over a bunker, and 2-putt for par.


16, my grip was good, but I failed to get my hips firing, and blocked my drive way right. I hit the 17 degree hybrid up short of the green, pitched on and made bogey.


17, I hit a nice soft cut 6-iron which I thought was on the green. But I must have caught it more solid than I'm used to and it ran off the back slightly.


18, I locked my driver into place with my grip, and nailed it. On the 18th, I've always been pleased the times I put it on top of the hillcrest, a decent drive. Last evening, I got my drive to run over the crest of the hill. I then had to hit a 3-wood off a tough downill lie, hit it pretty solid, although because of the downhill affect on the loft, I actually drove the ball down some. It then hit the upslope on the other side of the valley, and ran up to about 90 yards from the center of the green. My gap wedge would go just to the back fringe.


So after not playing all that well for the first 5 holes of the back 9, I had gone on to hit one green in regulation, put another just over the back, and put another ball on the back fringe. And the 16th hole, I had struck the hybrid to a position just short of the green, from a long way out, and out of a gnarly thick lie.


Now it was off to the frontside, I looked at the sun's position and saw that I might have a chance to it done before dark.


The first tee I ripped a nice little fade down the left margin between rough and fairway. I think I may discover some alignment issues while I get used the effects of the grip locking into place, but I ended up in good position. I then hit a pitching wedge nice and solid about 12 feet short of the hole. Nasty 3-putt, grrr.


Hole 2, my arms casted a bit, but I still managed to deliver a solid sort of hit, a bit off-center from the sweet spot, but leaving me around 210 yards to the green. Out came the 3-wood, and I hit it good, so good it looked as though it may have enough to roll on the green. I would find the ball just 6 feet short of rolling on and giving me my first ever on the green in 2 at a par-5. I hit a chip that was too frisky, and 2-putted for par.


Hole 3 was my bad hole on the front. The arms casted away from my body, and I hit a slice into the fairway bunker on the right. I hit out, then underclubbed with a 9-iron to the green. But I did chip and putt for a bogey.


Hole 4, I hit a beautiful high soft fade to the center of the fairway, leaving me 125 yards to the green. Hit an 8-iron about 10 feet past the hole, and 2-putted for my par.


Hole 5, I ripped a low roping fade that would stop about 100 yards from the center of the green. The pin was in the back, and my pitching wedge was hit solid, just a bit too solid as it went on to the back fringe. I made my par.


Hole 6, the par-3, I had taken my 4-iron out of the bag, so I tried choking down on the 19 degree hybrid. Hit a lousy topper as I didn't commit to the shot well. My lob wedge to get on the green was short, I chipped on and two-putted for double bogey.


Hole 7, I aligned my drive too much down the left, and with only the slight fade going, it hit a tree then bounced favorably into the fairway, but leaving me a long way back. I hit the 3-wood, and drilled. Ball was below my feet so it cut harder, but I still got the ball to just shy of the 100-yard marker. It was also in thick grass on the upslope side of a ditch-like feature. I hit a terrific 9-iron that carried just over the front bunker, and it would roll to 10 feet short of the flag in back. I made the putt for a birdie.


Hole 8, I pulled my driver too hard left, getting into tree trouble. I played out to 80 yards shy of the green, hit a full sand wedge pin-high but 20 feet left. In the dark, I misjudged the speed badly and 3-putted.


Hole 9, didn't get the cut on the 6-iron, was just short of the green. Chipped on, and two-putted for bogey.


But last evening really made me aware of how important it is to have a grip that locks the club into your hands. It simplifies things, and makes the club do your bidding. I realize now that many of my poor shots were likely caused to some extent by a grip that let the club get loose, and when that happened, I'd try to react to correct things but that's almost impossible in a fast coordinated activity like swinging a golf club.


Think about it, though. Hogan describes a swing as a chain-reaction of events. If at the beginning of the chain, if your grip isn't solid yet tension-free, the error will magnify as it wiggles down the chain. And that's deadly, because a tiny error at the beginning results in maybe an inch of error at the bottom, and that's a fat chunk of turf out of the ground instead of the clubface striking the ball. But when the club gets gripped properly, you'll become aware of it in a new way. When you strike the ball it'll feel like it's floating through the ball, because with a solid grip you won't feel the grip of the club vibrate or twist in your hands. The ball will leap off the clubface as you transmit your energy efficiently into the ball. That can give you a few more yards, or as in my case last night, some my longer drives I've ever had.


I mean, if this wasn't a fluke round last night, and only time will tell on that, I think it could result in me beginning to hit 7, 8 or 9 greens every round.

 

[SiberianDVM]

I mean, if this wasn't a fluke round last night, and only time will tell on that, I think it could result in me beginning to hit 7, 8 or 9 greens every round.

I have always felt before a round, that this is gonna be the one! Unfortunately, I keep finding new ways to screw up.

My instructer used to work for the Hogan company, back when the man ran it. He knew Hogan, played golf with Hogan, worked for Hogan, and was a touring pro for a while. We talk Hogan a lot. I play mostly Hogan clubs. In addition to having read 5 lessons at least a dozen times, I have read every book about the life of Hogan that I can find.

My instructor keeps telling me that no matter how much I practice, I will never be as good as Hogan, and to listen to HIM, not what I read in 5 Lessons.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

I have always felt before a round, that this is gonna be the one! Unfortunately, I keep finding new ways to screw up.

My instructer used to work for the Hogan company, back when the man ran it. He knew Hogan, played golf with Hogan, worked for Hogan, and was a touring pro for a while. We talk Hogan a lot. I play mostly Hogan clubs. In addition to having read 5 lessons at least a dozen times, I have read every book about the life of Hogan that I can find.

My instructor keeps telling me that no matter how much I practice, I will never be as good as Hogan, and to listen to HIM, not what I read in 5 Lessons.

Yeah, I know it may be different for others, and I may have some advantage in this that my body type is similar to Hogan, who wasn't a big man, and he was slender as well. But then, I don't expect to get as good as Hogan, I certainly won't have the time to practice as much as he practiced.

I suppose there's also the oddity perhaps that I had gotten to where I was already, in the 90's with a sub-90 round, with a grip that I now realize was poor. I did not have the club solidly in my hands, and it was last night when I finally felt what Hogan was describing in the first lesson.

Learning, learning is different for all of us. I'm just trying to make my own little notes here as I discover some things along the way.

I know that last night is no guarantee that I'll begin hitting more than 6 GIR's a round. Yet I feel quite positive about some factors with it. First, that I hit those 4 GIR's on the front side of the course, where I have traditionally struggled. Second, just the difference in feel of the clubhead, where nearly every strike it felt like the clubhead went through the ball with no twisting.

There has to be some sort of positive thinking and push to improve. Last night at the second hole, when I was walking up to my ball in the fairway, I thought to myself, "This is going to be the one I put on that par-5 in 2." And I came up just about 6 feet short with that 3-wood I hit.

I had taken the 3-wood out of my bag because of the struggles I had had hitting it from the deck. I realize now a lot of that trouble had been caused by a poor grip, where a little error gets magnified by the long shaft and bigger clubhead. Now with my grip more properly formed, the 3-wood is becoming a club I can hit consistently, and that points to a tangible improvement, I think.

 

[Farquod]

Hogan describes the right hand as exerting pressure with the two pads below the ring and middle fingers, that the little finger should go down into the crevice between the fore and middle fingers of the left hand...The right hand's fore finger and thumb are almost just along for a ride.

Yep, that's still how I grip the club, with my right thumb and forefinger never touching. My thumb does absolutely nothing, while the inside of the first digit of my right forefinger has a great callus where it rests against the club handle. You grip with just the last 3 fingers of your left hand and the two middle fingers of your right. For righties, 'natch.

Jones used to hold the club this way as well, and his grips were specifically designed with a flat portion where his forefinger hit the club. That is against the rules now, however.

But wait, there's more. 5 Lessons also has a great drawing detailing where the calluses on your hand will form if you hold the club correctly.

GREAT! All my calluses are in the right place.

Then I read Snead (grip the club lightly, as you would a live bird) and Penick (place your hands on the club, don't twist them into position) and both say that with a correct grip, you should have no calluses.

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Well, everybody can't be right.

Find what works, then groove it. And write down what you do so you can go back to it later when you have some problems. Another Hogan tip that's gold.

Dig it out of the dirt.

 

[Gary W]

Then I read Snead (grip the club lightly, as you would a live bird) and Penick (place your hands on the club, don't twist them into position) and both say that with a correct grip, you should have no calluses.

Then again, on any given day I would bet Hogan hit twice as many full swing shots as both of them put together. Gonna get calluses no matter how you grip it when you practice that much.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Yeah, I know how Penick said a golfer shouldn't get calluses, but I think it's a fair bet that if Hogan got calluses, I'm not too worried about that.

I went to a range last evening and worked hard on getting the grip to be automatic in its formation, and then on two other things -- not letting my right elbow get too far away from my body on the backswing, then on firing my hips on the downswing. If I turn my torso with the idea that right elbow doesn't go wandering to the outside, I set myself up nicely to go after the ball from the inside. Then it's key that I get my hips firing so I don't hit a block to the right.

I get those things right right now, and I can pretty well count on hitting a nice soft cut. My swing is getting more controlled now, yet more powerful oddly enough.