Ben Hogan’s Magic Elbow – Best Ben Hogan Swing Tips!
Are you seeking to become a sensationally excellent golfer? As far as Ben Hogan is concerned, your skill starts (and concludes) with sensation.
If you like the history of the game of golf, then you must admire the amazing Ben Hogan! Still to this day, Mr. Hogan has among the purest golf swings the planet has ever encountered.
Focus on “Feel”
Hogan’s first training piece for Esquire in 1943 (edited by ThinkingAboutGolf.com) shares his swing guidance for high-handicappers to begin swinging like the professionals. The main takeaway? You definitely need to focus on “feel.”
“You can understand excellent golf if you use the sensation of feel,” Hogan explained. “The possibilities are that you now don’t perceive the sensation of a swing.”
Not Just Physical, But Also Psychological
In Hogan’s eyes, mastering how to acquire the proper sense for a swing is as much psychological as it is physical.
Summary
In my view, golf is the coolest pastime ever played.
Regrettably, however, in numerous regions of the globe, it can’t be played all year-round.
If you dwell in one of those regions that finds itself under heavy white snow for part of the year, you must discover methods to maintain your game strong when you can’t go outdoors to hit balls.
Fortunately, there are a number of practices you can do in the comfort of your own house to remain prepared to hit the links.
In this article, I’ll inform you about my favorite ten exercises that you can practice indoors. Whether it’s too frigid, too hot, too dark, rainy, or you just need to get some fast practice in, I’m certain you’ll discover that these practices can substantially enhance your golf game.
The Setup
Hogan described every facet of the grip, even detailing the importance of individual fingers.
His justification was that the grip is the one point of contact that the golfer has with the club, and that any shortcomings in the grip will undoubtedly manifest themselves in swing flaws. For the posture he stipulated shoulder-width distances with the back foot perpendicular to the goal line and the front foot pointed somewhat ahead for correct stability and hip rotation.
The Backswing
To assist the reader in interpreting the swing plane, Hogan utilized an illustration of a sheet of glass around the golfer’s body. He described an orderly takeaway utilizing the hands, arms, shoulders and hips with pressure between the shoulders and hips to store power for the downswing. He detailed the pre-swing waggle not as a way of freeing tension but a mini-backswing that psychologically prepares the golfer for the shot.
The Downswing
To Ben Hogan the most essential facet of the downswing was the initial unwinding of the hips. The torso, arms, and ultimately the hands follow in sequence. He emphasized the significance of prolonging the release of the hands and wrists, known today as lag.
Summary
Hogan’s final section was a synopsis of the individual elements of the swing.
He insisted that the arms remain near to the human body until the last movement of the follow through. Hogan furthermore understood that by striking the ball hard a golfer can indeed have a more reproducible and a more potent swing.
Value
Today’s instructors find numerous elements of Mr. Hogan’s method attractive even 50 years later. His focus on the grip, the introduction of the swing plane and the coordination of motions during the downswing are currently extremely esteemed. They additionally tackle the most prevalent dilemmas of players today: grasping the club too firmly, swinging over the top and casting the club by freeing the hands prematurely.
Limitations
Some instructors also mention factors to bear in mind when implementing Hogan’s fundamentals. The first is that Hogan was possibly the most consistent ball striker ever to play the game, and relying too strongly on his strategies may not generate rewards for lesser-skilled golfers.
The early unwinding of the hips for instance could be catastrophic to a golfer who doesn’t reach Hogan’s athletic role at the top. Additionally, his stature was diminutive by 21st-century norms, and with adjustments in swings and gear over the years, his particular guidelines may not apply quite as favorably for golfers today.
Proper Mechanics for a Golf Swing
Golf swing dynamics are a perpetual source of controversy among trainers.
These instructors generally fall into two camps: Those who instruct in “swinging,” where the club essentially reacts to gravity as if it were a pendulum, and those who teach “leverage,” where the club adjusts to the use of muscle power as if it were a lever. But when you take the moment to consider the dynamics of the golf swing, you recognize that both parties are conveying the same thing.
Relaxed Hinges
Swing instructors, notably Jim Flick, may mention the wrists as pivot positions for the pendulum (club) while leverage instructors, namely Ben Hogan, will call them hinges for the lever (again, the club) but each accomplishes similar action.
The wrists are loosened, and the club—be it pendulum or lever—prompts them to cock and uncock during the swing in response to its motion. Tense muscles slow the wrists down and disrupt their correct cocking activity.
Rotating Shoulders
In both approaches, the hips stay moderately still while the torso coils together with the hinging of the wrists. By rotating the shoulders early in the swing, both arms can stay straight and relaxed until the hands attain waist high; this maneuver is frequently termed a “one-piece takeaway.” At the waist-high stance, the shoulder joints merely permit the arms to advance up to the peak of the backswing—for a right-hander, the left arm stays fairly straight while the right elbow bends—and the momentum of the swing normally brings the hands to the top.
Modification of Path
At the peak of the backswing, the golfer senses pressure in his wrists as his hands and arms start the downswing, but the momentum of the club induces the wrists to stay cocked. Paradoxically, both methods call this instant “feeling the clubhead.” It is this tension as the clubhead attempts to proceed with the backswing while the golfer starts the downswing that keeps the wrists from uncocking until the hands return to waist high.
Downswing
The downswing is merely a reversal of the backswing.
During the backswing a right-handed golfer will detect pressure in his right hip and leg as his hips oppose the turning of his shoulders; similarly, in the downswing the golfer will sense pressure in his left hip and leg as his body unwinds from its coiled stance. The right shoulder may dip somewhat, but this is neither a major motion nor is it intended; it just occurs as a natural portion of the swing. The arms and wrists straighten as they resume their setup placement, and velocity turns the golfer’s body to the left after the ball has been hit.
Natural Movement
Ultimately, a golf swing is a very natural motion; Annika Sorenstam remarked that it felt like she just revolved her body and the ball got in the way.
When learning to swing a golf club, the crucial issues for most golfers are the takeaway and the alteration of path; these movements cause more trouble because they are big motions utilizing both hands and arms simultaneously. Get these two motions right and you will learn to swing with very little difficulty.
