My try at duplicating the Ben Hogan Golf Swing

Lol, I just realized that I am long-winded and type too much. Some of my posts are a whole stinkin page long!

I need to invest all this typing time into club moving time!!

I am commonly asked..."which Hogan are you looking at to copy? Before he found out the secret? After the secret, after the crash, after he stopped playing competitively?"

I'm analyzing and experimenting with all of them, but so far, based on my flexibility and muscular boob, I may be working towards these (I have no idea what year they are, and if they are pre or post secret):

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

I don't think my swolen upper body will allow me to do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Basically, I think I can physically get close to however he was swinging in his 40, 50, and 60 year-old range. But I'm using something from all the different eras to get an understanding.

Why do you want to do it? If you want to score do this. Go to the range and start with your NYS (No Thought Swing) Analyze your tendencies, ie fade, slice, draw hook. Make small adjustments based ONLY on grip, ball position and stance. ALWAYS HAVE A TARGET. You will get there. Finally...chipping and putting...PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. All the best as your HDCP comes down.

Ben Hogan Swing Project wrote:

My goal.........to see how close I come to duplicating the Hogan swing. I've been at it for a few weeks now. I'm making very slow progress each week. Hopefuly, I'll have this accomplished withing the year, but who knows how long it will really take!
Many out there say it is not possible, because he had a secret.......I say there is no mechanical swing secret, just mental secrets and secret feelings. All the "secrets" are in his videos!
Wish me luck!
Here's my baseline video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Ran into a neighbor that lives on the other side of our subdivision. He was walking his dog and saw a few stray golf balls in my yard and golf became the topic, and of course Hogan came up. He mentioned that one of his favorite courses is Bobby Jones in the Buckhead area and I said I also play there a few times. He asked how often I played, and that we should get together sometimes. I said I was not headed back onto the course until spring time, and I was reluctant to tell him about my project. Not because it is anything wrong with what I'm doing, but because I always have to explain "why," then deal with all the "WTF is wrong with you stuff" lol. So I just mentioned that I was in the garage tweeking my swing and working on a few things. He said he was doing the same this winter and that he was re-reading 5 lessons. Then he asked me if I had read 5 lessons and what I thought about it. And you already know what my answer was. "Nope, but....ummmmmm. I'll get to it soon." (Heck, soon could be 5 stinkin years!) He was kinda shocked that I had been into the game for 4 years and hadn't read it yet.(I'm used to that shocked look now). We rambled on some more about what the 2012 season was gonna be like, who was gonna be the front-runner.....what Tiger was gonna do....yada, yada.

The main reason for me rambling on and on and the neighbor is because he said something that caught my ear. He mentioned something like "Well, ya know, 5 Lessons is THE only golf book anybody needs. It's the best selling golf book of all time." So, I got curious and wanted to know when it was written, and that kind of stuff. I also wanted to know the date published to see which one of the swing vids I'm using as my training guide comes closest to that date.

Did a google search for "five lessons golf." Clicked on the Amazon link. Looks like the one I clicked on was published in 1985, but the original one was published in 1957. I scrolled down to the section that says "What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item" and "Similar Items" just to see other related books. I saw "Power Golf" (I've heard of that one mentioned a lot too), but didn't see an original publishing date.

So I decided to do an amazon search for "Power Golf" to hopefully find out the publishing date. Nothing. Then I did an amazon search for "Ben Hogan."

HOOOOOLLLLEY SHMOLEY!!!!!! I WAS SHOCKED!!!!!!

There are not only 5 Lessons and Power Golf, but a whole slew of Hogan books. This guy must have been good or something!

- Afternoons with Mr. Hogan: A Boy, A Golfing Legend and the Lessons of a Lifetime by Jody Vasquez (Mar 25, 2004)
- Ben Hogan: An American Life by James Dodson (May 3, 2005)
- Ben Hogan's Magical Device: The Real Secret to Hogan's Swing Finally Revealed by Ted Hunt and Sean Connery (May 26, 2009)
- Ben Hogan's Short Game Simplified: The Secret to Hogan's Game from 120 Yards and In by Ted Hunt (Oct 27, 2010)
- Golf Fundamental von Ben Hogan. Der Golf Albrecht. by David Leadbetter and Lorne Rubinstein (May 1, 2001)
- Hogan by Curt Sampson (May 5, 1997)
- Hogan: The man who played for glory by Gene Gregston (1978)
- Miracle at Merion: The Inspiring Story of Ben Hogan's Amazing Comeback and Victory at the 1950 U.S. Open by David Barrett (Oct 8, 2010)
- Mr. Hogan, the Man I Knew: An LPGA Player Looks Back on an Amazing Friendship and Lessons She Learned from Golf's Greatest Legend by Kris Tschetter (Oct 14, 2010)
- My Partner, Ben Hogan by Demaret; Jimmy (1955)
- The Complete Guide To Golf by Ben Hogan, Cary Middlecoff and Sam Snead (Jun 18, 2011)
- The Complete Hogan: A Shot-by-Shot Analysis of Golf's Greatest Swing by Jim McLean and Tom McCarthy (Jan 3, 2012)
- The Secret of Hogan's Swing by Tom Bertrand and Printer Bowler (Sep 29, 2006)
- The Upset: Jack Fleck's Incredible Victory over Ben Hogan at the U.S. Open by Al Barkow (Jun 1, 2012)
Ben Hogan: An entry from Gale's Notable Sports Figures by Julia Bauder (2004)
- Ben Hogan: The Man Behind The Mystique by Martin Davis (Sep 2002)
- Ben Hogan's "Secret" by Bob Thomas (1997)
- The Final Missing Piece of Ben Hogan's Secret Puzzle by Dave Hamilton, VJ Trolio and Brent Raklovits (Oct 26, 2010)
- The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan by John Coyne (May 15, 2007)
- I Remember Ben Hogan: Personal Recollections and Revelations of Golf's Most Famous Legend From The People Who Knew Him Best by Mike Towle (Mar 1, 2000)
- Ben Hogan's Secret: A Literary Portrait by Bob Thomas (Sep 1, 2001)

There were a few more, but I got tired of copying them.

Man, I'm gonna have a lot of reading to do!

Gary Woodland has a cool lookin swing, and a nice left hand at impact that looks very familiar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

For your laughing pleasure..........

Here's some of my old vids converted from 8mm tape. I did no type of swing analysis back them. Only thing I was worried about was how far the ball went and if my finish was balanced. I didn't know anything about alignment or foot position. A guy on the driving range showed me the interlocking grip. I used to record our golf outings so we could get together at family cookouts and laugh at them. Dang, I forgot I wore a golf glove back then!

Wolf Creek 8-24-07. When I initially got into the game. Whew....took me a while to get the guts to load this vid on here lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Tup Holmes. 3-16-08. A year later. Think I was trying to figure out how to hit a draw on this day. Note the closed stance. Never understood it. Gave up on the draw. Went back to the straight and the fade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Bobby Jones 7-20-08. After playing a little bit more, and reading lots of golf magazines. Looks like I had on my Tiger red that day lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch...


I also remember later in 2010 when I got a big Taylor Made tour bag and brought it to Bobby Jones and embarrased myself on the first tee. Hit both tee shots into the creek! Too much crowd pressure lol.

I didn't start all this "tweeking stuff" until June 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

I had no idea that Hogan's club went in a loop during the waggle, from high to low, in a circular motion. I always thought it went straight back away from the ball, then straight back to the ball.

It's kinda difficult to see from the DTL and FO views.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

I got a lot of requests for the DTL view. So here ya go.

Same looping motion happening with the clubhead. Looks like the wrists are making things happen, but I am not sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Ben Hogan DTL view - address vs entire swing - Shell Hole #3

I put together a comparison of Hogan's address vs the rest of his swing. Want to understand how different body parts compare to the address position, such as hand and head movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

This video is from an 8mm tape of my first time ever setting foot on a golf course or holding a golf club. Sorry for the bad quality, but it's the best I can get it for now. It was a company outing that I only attended for the free food and prizes. I was into competitive softball in those days and figured that golf couldn't be that hard. One of the "expert golfers" you see in the vid (my coworkers) gave me a lesson on the first tee box; how to grip the club as well as how to align myself to the target. I'm the guy in the light blue shirt, beige cargo pants, white tennis shoes, and black Nike cap (borrowed the cap from one of the coworkers). I had fun out there but didn't get any further urge to play again until another company outing in 2007, where a guy bet me money that I couldn't hit the ball in the fairway, and that I could use any club I wanted to. I shrugged my shoulders and said "no prob, you're on!" Of course I picked the driver cause it was the biggest, baddest and most violent looking, and cause my ego wanted to hit it as far as possible.......I failed. Sliced every ball off the map. Then I was hooked!

Wow! I just noticed at 10:55, I hit some kind of draw or hook!! How the heck did I do that?? Been trying to hit a draw for the past 2 years now...with no success!

Just playing around with the right hand(s). This is a vid I made on Dec 29, 2011. I'm posting it now because a discussion topic came up today regarding Hogan's club path.

RIght now, I'm only working on the teeup - walkaway - walkin. NOT the full swing or any part of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Today, 1-21-12, working on the teeup - step back - step in. Took a few weeks to convince my mind and body that teeing up the ball on my right foot was normal. Still a long way to go.

00:07 My old method from 2007 thru 2011
00:26 1-4-2012 teeup
00:45 1-8-2012 teeup
1:07 1-21-2012 teeup
1:53 1-21-2012 Hogan teeup comparison
4:11 1-21-2012 DTL 2-right hands practice
4:27 1-21-2012 FO 2-right hands practice

01-22-12 Tee-up, Step-Away, Step-in:(a) My club is rising too early. While stepping back, Hogan's clubhead is always in contact with the ground. It slides on top of the grass. From initial tee-up, all the way to the stepaway, bottom of club is touching grass. Club does not rise until left hand adjusts left watch-pocket. Looks like left pants adjustment is in sync with right forearm/wrist raising the club to parallel. Club rises as final left foot is planted and weight begins to shift towards stepping back into ball.

(b) During stepaway, my chest is turned too open to the target; need to be a bit more facing the ball.

( c ) I am stepping back much too far. Need to take smaller steps.

01-25-12 Tee-up, Step-Away, Step-in:Getting better. I'm starting to understand the rythm of this part of the swing.

Up next: Waggle Stage 1 (training should start within the next few weeks.)
As left heel makes contact with ground:
- Head look to target
- Right foot rise turn slightly CW (weight is on left foot)
- Wrists pull in to waist using bent elbows (during pull-in, weight settles on right foot and is now distributed evenly between R and L foot)
- Slight bump of clubhead towards target (need to investigate what is triggering this; wrists? elbows?)
- Look to ball
- Waggle (needs complete breakdown)

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Still working on the tee-up, step-away, step-in. I notice that I am stepping into the hitting box with right foot too open.

Wanted to dabble with Step-in/Waggle Stage 1. Whew......lots going on there, and LOTS that needs understanding/tweeking.

0:36 Totally confused. Brain doesn't know how to translate what I described in words into physical movement.
0:56 Doing in my mind what I think the waggle should be.
1:25 A little later in the practice session. I've taken a few looks at my waggle vs Hogan to understand the differences.
1:55 My left, right, top, and bottom brain is fried.

no such thing as a one plane swing. There are two pivot points in the golf swing: around right leg on backswing, around left leg on the downswing. two pivot points, two planes. Hogan made the two planes very close together, but they were not one and the same. Hogan himself said his down swing plane was steeper than the take away, and if you look at the video, it was.

btw, you're waggle is a off brother. You're raising the club up, and that's the last thing you want to (you're simulating a change in planes). I will give you this, if you can waggle correctly, you understand Hogan's swing.

Yesterday, I was sitting back relaxing on the phone talking with my Dad about our upcoming golfing season.We plan to crank up the tournaments on March 3, 2012. He is in his late 60's and retired. He's going on and on about how we have no chance against him this year because he now has the time to focus on his complete game. Says he will be counting the number of days per month that he DOES NOT practice. He says this number will be counted on one hand. He knows what I've been doing since last summer and says I will not improve my game at all hanging out in my basement. So he rambles some more about his advantage over us and that he will be offering us strokes so we don't get depressed and quit the game.(trash talking is the fun part; helps build the hype up until game time!) He mentions that he is on ebay trying to buy some irons, but can't get past the credit card section. I tell him to add his bank account as a backup funding source and everything goes smoothly. I ask what he's getting. He says "a couple of Cleveland wedges and a Hogan hybrid." I kind of joked that there is no such thing as a Hogan hybrid, cause Hogan wouldn't be caught using one. It would make the game too easy lol...he liked tough things!! I tell him that he just needs to get a complete set of irons instead of buying one here-n-there and having a mismatched set. He says that he will eventually. Then he said "yahhhh, I had a set of Hogan irons a couple of years ago....I gave them to OP (his brother). WHAT!!!! I NEVER KNEW HE HAD A SET OF HOGAN CLUBS!!!! Dad had been playing with them since we got into the game in 2007 and I had no idea. I didn't know who Hogan was until last summer. And in those days, my Dads clubs didn't spark any of my interest because they didn't have a name like TaylorMade or Ping or Nike. When I watched PGA golf on weekends I never saw any Hogan commercials. So my next question was "SO DOES OP STILL HAVE THEM???????" Dad said, "yep..I think so." Lol....all this time he knew what my project was all about and he didn't realize that maybe I would want a set of clubs made by the guy I'm studying????

Now I'm standing up pacing in the living room lol.

OP plays once a year. So I ask if I can possibly get his bag and conviently swap all the Hogan irons. I would put my set of Sports Authority specials in his. Dad went to OP's house and got the bag. I went by Dads house and picked them up. Grips are kind of ugly (some type of Lamkin royal blue with white barbells all over it. I like old-style leather wrap grips. Clubs are 3i thru E. What the heck is an E club??????? Extra????? or Evil??? or Equalizer?? or Elevator??? or Easy????

The faces are a bit worn in a spot. Looks like someone was hitting it in the same place every stinkin time! When I picked one of them up and did a practice swing, my stinkin wrist almost snapped. WHAT THE HECK IS THIS CLUB MADE OF???????? FEELS LIKE I'M SWINGING AN IRON PIPE!!! Or maybe the clubs I've always used are just extra lite or something. Whew...gonna take some time to get used to.

Club description:
Shaft label is red with Hogan Apex and a #3.
Clubhead : Hogan with red underline. Forged. Edge. Club number.

Anybody got weight specs on these? Anybody use them now?

Full set of Ben Hogan Producer irons found at the Mobile, Alabama flea market. 2i thru 9i. And Spalding leather bag with working zippers and 1, 3, 4 head covers.

We were on the way to Mardi Gras in Mobile and Anita recommended that we stop by the flea market to browse. Of course I complained because the wives can lose their minds in there for hours. Then Kim reminded me that "you know, somebody might have golf stuff laying around....." She said the magic words!!

My daughter pointed out a golf bag at a nearby vendor. As I approached, I could start to see the "Ben Hogan" name imprinted. I tried by best to control my emotions, but I sorta yelled out and jumped in the air as I saw they were a complete set (Kim is still shaking her head on that one....says I acted like a kid on Christmas day! "Really????? Do you have to make a scene....you got people staring at us like we have no home training!") Well what does she expect lol??? She was absolutely right. Santa had come by the flea market and left me a gift!!!! You should have seen me trying to "act" unconcerned about the clubs. Lol, the lady at the booth had already seen me jumping like I won the lottery lol! I started talking loud to my kids saying "yea, these clubs are old and crusty. They are not worth anything. They look very used and no one would play with them cause they are so old and outdated. Even the bag is ancient. I can't think of anybody that would be caught being seen with it." I was saying all this really loud so the lady wouldn't jack the price up cause I squealed like a pig with I initially saw them. I walked over and said in my most neutral, monotone, non-emotional voice "I see you got these old beat up clubs here that are so outdated, my golf buddies would laugh at me if I brought them on the golf course." She said, "the price is on the bag." There was a small neon orange ticket that said "$30." I said, "Yeaaa, I don't know if they're worth even $10, just cause they are so old." She said "they were my dads....I'm not sure what he paid for them back in the 70's, but probably more than $30." I said "ok...I'll do $30 even though I'll probably get them home and toss them in a corner of my basement and let em rot."

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHAWWWWWWWWW WWW!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch...