The Loop

Greetings Golfers,

Last week, a good friend sent me a new article about “Hogan’s secrets”. People are still obsessed with Ben Hogan’s golf swing. And rightly so.

I certainly don’t claim to know Hogan’s secrets … but I do understand what I think was the basis of his swing.

Hang in there with me as I try to explain.

First off … make a figure-eight using a golf club or just putting your hands together. Stand as if you’re addressing a shot … then make a waist-high figure-eight swing. 

Swing out away from your body on the backswing … then … loop it down and behind you on the downswing … then swing out and up away from your body on the forward swing … then swing back down toward your body … and start all over again without stopping.

Keep it slow and easy so you can feel the transitions … and the “lag” in the downswing.

This figure-eight move made the opposite way is death … taking it back inside and then coming over-the-top.

The correct figure-eight move is how you feel swinging in-to-out … and Hogan’s famous supinated left wrist at impact. The bad figure-eight move gives you a collapsed left wrist at impact.

The collapsed left wrist at impact is a disaster. People do it 2 ways: trying to scoop the ball up into the air … and the over-the-top move. No matter how much modern golf clubs try to compensate for that terrible impact-position … the clubs can’t save it.

A similar good move is a shortstop making a sidearm throw to first.

Hogan’s book “The Five Fundamentals” about set-up, grip, backswing, and downswing is great. And he has a drawing about how the downswing is on a lower and different plane than the backswing … and a comment about skipping a stone into the water … which makes sense if you understand the figure-eight analogy.

However, the book can be rigid and confusing. Much of the grip and set-up were important for Hogan … but not necessary for everyone else. And the stuff about the tied-up arms is not good for most players.

What I think is important is Hogan’s motion. None of the other stuff matters if the basic motion of the golf swing is bad.

Speaking of bad … I’ve been bad. I can’t keep-up with emails. If you’ve responded to my blogs recently … and I haven’t replied … please don’t take it personally. Some weeks I get up to 500 responses and I just can’t catch-up. Though I might if we have a rain day.

Also … I’m a villain because I worry about kids setting-up stands near the golf course. It’s not about losing golf ball or lemonade sales. In fact, I admire entrepreneurship. But the other day, one was set-up directly behind a green. The parent sitting there insisted it was safe and that they knew what they were doing. I guess that a bladed wedge-shot coming in at 1,000 mph is no problem if you’re “watching”. I held back my tongue - not about the safety issues - but in response to snarky, nasty comments of the parent. I would never light-someone-up in front of their kid.

I want people to enjoy playing golf. Hogan had an amazing swing that we can all learn from. And people should be safe on or near the golf course. People do hit wild shots. We’re not all Ben Hogan.

Cheers!

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com