Statistical proof to get started with Hogan's 5 lessons..

[Augster]

HCP Index History​

8/4/06 3.7
7/21/06 4.5
7/7/06 5.8
6/23/06 6.2
6/9/06 6.9
5/26/06 7.0
5/12/06 7.0
4/28/06 6.7
4/15/06 6.2
10/21/05 6.2
9/30/05 6.6
9/16/05 6.5
9/2/05 6.5
8/19/05 6.5

This is my USGA Handicap index. As you can see, for most of late last year, I was a 6.5 and down to a 6.2. A seven handicap. What I've been for about 6 years.

Our season ends in October and starts up again April 15th. You keep your handicap from the previous season at the start of the next. Which sucks.

I read Hogan's 5 Lessons in December and worked on it a little over the winter. I decided to rebuild my swing from scratch, because my previous swing was "wrong" and just not repeatable enough to get my scores any lower. Practice in earnest didn't start until April when the ranges and courses opened up.

My handicap "ballooned" a whole .8 points mainly due to it being the early season. I did get to play an event or two off of 8 which was fun.

Then the nice weather got here. I never shot a round in the 80's in June. That was a first. I haven't hit a range ball in over 3 weeks. Yet I put up a 4 under 32 on the backside on my course on Friday and a 35 1 under on Sunday on the same nine.

Noting that I haven't hit a range ball and am still shooting scores, is telling me that the swing is REPEATABLE even without any practice.

My handicap is trending to a 4. A 3.x index is the lowest I will have ever had if I can keep the scores decent for the next two weeks.

I would like to thank Mr. Hogan and really wish I had STARTED with his book when I took up the game.

Get the book. Practice EXACTLY what he says, and watch your scores come down.


EDITED to add 8/4 Handicap.

 

[halifax_golfer]

i agree. The hogan book is awsome. The only thing that I didn't fully copy from it. was the overlapping grip. I just feel like my hands and arms are closer to one unit when I use the interlocking grip.

So far my impressions are the same though, The book definitly helps you to build a very repetable swing, and you will have added confidence that your swing is repatable.

Chris.

 

[Eracer]

This gives me great hope. I know it's much harder for a 7-handicap to become a 4-handicap, than it is for an 18-handicap (me) to become a 10-handicap (which is my goal). I'm reading the book and trying to put the lessons into practice. I do feel that I am making progress on eliminating a lot of the variability in my full swing, i.e. my shots are becoming more consistently good. My grip is much improved, I'm more conscious of my stance and posture, and I'm working on the supination (although I'm tending to hit some thin shots when I focus on wrist angle (maybe due to improper shoulder rotation, which has always been a weak point for me.) The "Hogan thing" I have the biggest problem with is the elbows-pointed-at-the-hips. I just can't seem to get comfortable with the tension that it puts into my wrists and arms. I really feel that I need to keep my elbows in a more natural position, which is pointing well outside my hips. I am trying to concentrate on keeping my arms connected to my torso (I do the hip-to-hip drill a lot).

Anyway, I feel my full swing is improving since I started reading the book. Now if I could just learn to shake the Chyips...

 

[Loop]

Statistical analysis you don't need 5 lessons.

2002: hdcp 14
2003: 5 lessons hdcp 20
2004: scrapped 5 lessons hdcp 12

But then again, I read a lot of stuff...

More seriously, Hogan is a nice book, but it's not a bible.
For example, his downswing explanation is very vague and contradictory. He writes that the arms and hands are completely passive throughout the whole downswing, yet before impact, he asks the student to supinate the wrist with a bowed left wrist at impact...
I like Carl Lohren, and even though he's vague too on some descriptions, he makes things really simple for the golfer to understand and apply.

my 2 cents rop:

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

This gives me great hope. I know it's much harder for a 7-handicap to become a 4-handicap, than it is for an 18-handicap (me) to become a 10-handicap (which is my goal). I'm reading the book and trying to put the lessons into practice. I do feel that I am making progress on eliminating a lot of the variability in my full swing, i.e. my shots are becoming more consistently good. My grip is much improved, I'm more conscious of my stance and posture, and I'm working on the supination (although I'm tending to hit some thin shots when I focus on wrist angle (maybe due to improper shoulder rotation, which has always been a weak point for me.) The "Hogan thing" I have the biggest problem with is the elbows-pointed-at-the-hips. I just can't seem to get comfortable with the tension that it puts into my wrists and arms. I really feel that I need to keep my elbows in a more natural position, which is pointing well outside my hips. I am trying to concentrate on keeping my arms connected to my torso (I do the hip-to-hip drill a lot).

Anyway, I feel my full swing is improving since I started reading the book. Now if I could just learn to shake the Chyips...

I will give a little more support to Augster Statistics. As you mention it is much easier for a mid to high handicap to lower their scores. I had been going through some issues and started re-reading this on July 10th. So far I am breaking it down more, as I feel the last time I read it I just treated it as a book more than a instructional aid. 3 years ago I was a 15, since moving up here it has been going up. I got as high as 24.9 last year. This year it seemed to stay steady around 22. I have only made it through the first two segments, and am taking time to solely concentrate on each for a few rounds. My grip was funamentally screwed up just since I last read this book, and do not remember noticing it to be a problem the first time. The first round was pretty bad and I shot in the hundred, simply trying to get used to the grip. In the five rounds since, My handicap went from 21.9 following my round on 7/14 to 19.8 following my round yesterday. This was over a span of only 5 rounds. I did not see that much progress since my first 3 years of golf. It is also the first time I have broken back into the teens since moving up here.

I Really never thought I would see a 15 again since moving up here. At this point I am not convinced I will not see it by the end of the year. I have had no blowup rounds since simply fixing my grip. I will be on vacation next week and will probably reread the 3rd fundament during that time.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Statistical analysis you don't need 5 lessons.

2002: hdcp 14
2003: 5 lessons hdcp 20
2004: scrapped 5 lessons hdcp 12

But then again, I read a lot of stuff...

I think a large part of my problem is that I simply read too much stuff. Probably the reason it will take me about 2-3 months to read this book this time through. I guess I am not saying everything in the book will be in my game afterwards, however it does provide a solid foundation as a reminder to things that you may forget over time. One of those "Oh yeah, I remember my instructor telling me that when I started". Obviously I forgot how to grip a club over the last 2 years, because I did not remember my grip being different from the book a year or so ago. I will also say that I occasionally view video of my swing, and just over a span of changing my grip back, it forces me to keep my head back throughout my swing. I tried to work on this through simply video with not much success, my head would simply float forward out of the circle from the time I started the downswing. I did another last week, more to see my swing, and I noticed my head stayed stable and within the circle the entire swing. Again, at that point I had only changed my grip and read the second part, and was not really even giving thought to addressing the issue.

 

[Bravo]

I gained much from the Hogan book as well - as much as I have from anything...current index 7.8. In fact, at age 51 my ballstriking is the best it has ever been. My putting is so much worse than it used to be though. If I could take my putting/short game from five years ago and put it with my current ballstriking - I would be about a 5 index.

Like many here, I often play with the same guys from week to week and then play with strangers on new courses or in tournaments. When I play with a higher handicapper - I tend to watch (silently) their grip and set up. It is amazing to me that in almost 100% of the cases, they have a bad grip and incorrect set up. I played with a guy in a tournament two weeks ago who was about my age and a 12 handicap. He played a lot and was steady with few blow up holes...but I could blow the ball by him. I saw his grip and said to myself, "You'll never hit it a long way with that grip. You simply CANNOT."

If anything, the Hogan book to me is the BIBLE on how to hold the club and set up to the ball. Yes, as Loop indicated, you can certainly debate his swing theories and methods. But I would maintain to the vast majority of high handicappers here, that if they would buy the Hogan book and simply learn how to hold the club properly, understand the very subtle nuances of grip pressure points with the fingers, and how to set up properly - their scores (without modifying their swing) would improve remarkably....

 

[charnockpro]

Read this book too

The L.A.W.S of the golf swing by TJ Tomasi


This basically gives a blueprint for anybody, matching their swing to body type etc...

well worth a read

 

[Rynamite]

I just ordered hogans 5 lessons from half.com. Hopefully it'll help me out.

 

[Big Brother Dunk]

5 Lessons is one of the top books available, but as Loop illustrates, not every swing teaching method is for every golfer.

 

[dave.]

Grip
Stance
Alignment
Posture


Hogan just de-mystified the swin in a language we can all understand.But his thoughts on the lateral hip movement have now been superceeded by modern equipment (he learned the game with hickory) and some of those pictures are a bit strange (the band around the arms thing).Plus his left thumb on the top is regarded as to harsh for the average golfer,and imo his posture is on the upright side. (I don't like having the weight on the back of the feet,its easier on the balls imo).But my understandiong of the golf swing started with understanding what he meant by on and off plane,and then you wrestle against the tendency to swing on a 2 plane swing because you finally realise that Hogan was right.................regardless of where you measure the plane from,hitting hard with the torso and maintaining a one planer is the easiest and most consistent way to hit a ball for the majoirty of golfers.

I am still trying to fathom how he managed to figure out he could control the length of his swing with one thumb and how he controlled distances with his right knee.This knee was the secret he supposedly had,lose flex and the swing is fooked.His genius though was figuring all this out himself,there were no such things as mechanics before him.

Utter genius.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

It is an incredible book and there's more packed into it than the first reading might seem to show. It does an excellent job of setting a person on the path of understanding what a golf swing should accomplish.

The first lesson on the grip alone is easily worth the price of a new copy of the book today.

I think also Hogan left things out, but the point of his book wasn't really to teach everyone to swing exactly like him. The point is to give you the markers to find a way to a good repeatable swing that is achievable even if you only get to play once or twice a week with one evening of practice. Hogan had the advantage of a lot more practice than most any of us will ever get, and I suspect he probably had a great deal more native physical talent.

 

[cypressperch]

The Hogan book is a classic.

I would highly recommend the book, but I do not think it is the best book on the golf swing. My choice for that high honor would be 'The Golf Swing Simplified' by John Jacobs. First, it is far easier to understand the text. Second, though not as artsy, the illustrations are more instructive. Third, there is an amazing connection made throughout the book between the flight of the ball and what the golfer is doing before and during the swing.

People would be absolutely amazed how much they could help themselves to better golf swings if they truly understood the "geometry of golf." That topic is covered more thoroughly and clearly in this book than any where to the best of my knowledge.

This book does an outstanding job of presenting the fundamentals in a way that fits any golfer's personal attributes. For example, you will learn to know when you have a good grip for YOUR swing rather than someone else's.

This book does me more good than seeing a pro for making corrections now that my swing is based pretty much on this book. The basic theme is all about making consistently solid contact. Your understanding of what produces solid contact will be increased and that has to be helpful to anyone trying to get better at this great game.

Best of luck to all. Sincerely, Cypressperch

 

[halifax_golfer]

How long is it. . ?...

Chris.

 

[Rynamite]

I would highly recommend the book, but I do not think it is the best book on the golf swing. My choice for that high honor would be 'The Golf Swing Simplified' by John Jacobs. First, it is far easier to understand the text. Second, though not as artsy, the illustrations are more instructive. Third, there is an amazing connection made throughout the book between the flight of the ball and what the golfer is doing before and during the swing.

People would be absolutely amazed how much they could help themselves to better golf swings if they truly understood the "geometry of golf." That topic is covered more thoroughly and clearly in this book than any where to the best of my knowledge.

This book does an outstanding job of presenting the fundamentals in a way that fits any golfer's personal attributes. For example, you will learn to know when you have a good grip for YOUR swing rather than someone else's.

This book does me more good than seeing a pro for making corrections now that my swing is based pretty much on this book. The basic theme is all about making consistently solid contact. Your understanding of what produces solid contact will be increased and that has to be helpful to anyone trying to get better at this great game.

Best of luck to all. Sincerely, Cypressperch

I'll have to put this on my list to read next. Thanks.