ezra76 said:
Is this basically Hogan's attempt at using vernacular even a college student hasn't heard of to describe maintaining the shaft angle through impact? No offense but all those Hogan things are way too much overanalysis IMO. Just hit the little white ball as hard as you can.
Hogan was a very technical player. He believed that only by precisely controlling five fundamental things (grip, stance, posture, backswing, throughswing) could the average golfer build a swing that would allow him or her to develop a REPEATING swing and consistently break 80. That was the goal of his book - to help the average player learn a repeating swing that would help him or her break 80 consistently.
There is certainly value in the philosophies, "take dead aim" and "hit the damn ball"; but while they can produce great shots, they are by nature self-limiting. Golf is a partly a game of mechanics, and it is widely accepted that Ben Hogan had the greatest swing, and was the greatest ball-striker, of all time. He is teaching the mechanics the way he knows how.
Hogan's book is a difficult and technical read. But he believed in precision; he wrote a technical manual of the golf swing. He had to be precise. If you've read the book you would know that his minutia is accompanied by illustrations, and by logical and simplistic explanations. In short, he lays out the details, then shows and tells why the details are important, and finally provides practice methods (drills) to reinforce the learning. Adult Education 101.
Is Hogan's book right for everyone? Absolutely not. But his philosophy that a repeating swing is critical to success on the golf course cannot be argued.
You want to read a book that takes the mechanics of the golf swing to a whole other level? Over-analysis sine qua non? Read Homer Kelley's book, "The Golfing Machine".