Andrew Rice Golf

Posts Tagged ‘ben hogan’

View the HD video lesson HERE

 The speedchain is a tremendous teaching and training aid for just about any golfer looking to get a sense for what the body should be doing throughout the golf swing. And by now you should all know I am a big fan of getting the body to work correctly. While it may not be the easiest aid to use and “operate” it is superb at communicating the feel of the transition and downswing.

Ben Hogan has long been admired for his dynamic golf swing and the effortless ease with which he drove his weight up onto his front foot.  It often looked like he was “cracking a whip” when he swung a club. Training with the speedchain will get you to sense the hip drive and weight shift - just prior to – the arms and the club completing the back swing. A necessity for delivering maximum power and snap into the back of the ball.

The speedchain is made up of a sturdy grip attched to a length (20′) of chain where the links get bigger and heavier as they extend out away from the grip. The weight of the chain forces the body to work as efficiently (correctly!) as possible. I would recommend using or purchasing the XX Strong Model (for all golfers) as the heavier chain limits the amount of whipping in the terminal end of the chain – it just seems a little safer.

Here’s a teaching/training aid that is guaranteed to help your swing and as a bonus it offers an excellent core workout as well - I cannot recommend it enough!

FYI – I am in no way affiliated with the manufacturing or selling of the speedchain.

 For more information on Speedchains and purchasing click HERE

View the HD video lesson HERE

If you have been following this blog you more than likely have heard about the 84 degree secret.  Let’s take a look at how this line applies to the swing of Ben Hogan.  It is important to remember that top golfers generally are flush up against the 84 degree line prior to any part of the body initiating the downswing.  Some of the golfers are not necessarily all the way to the top of the backswing when they initiated a dynamic downswing, i.e. their hands and arms were actually still completing the backswing while their bodies (hips and legs) had already begun the downswing.  A dynamic move is when one part of the body is travelling in the opposite direction to another part of the body.  Starting the lower body forward while the arms and club are still going backward creates energy or snap in the swing – just like when a whip is cracked.

Ben Hogan with the Club at the Top

Ben Hogan Approaching the Top

Let’s look at the swing of Ben Hogan. In the first illustration notice how he is just about against the 84 degree line with his right side and his swing appears to be the correct length. This is due to the fact that his arms and club have not completed the backswing, yet his body is about to start its move to impact. In the second illustration Hogan has completed the backswing with his arms and club, yet notice how far his mid-section is off the 84 degree line. This is because he is already halfway through the downswing with his body.  I have read many an article about Hogan’s so-called reverse pivot, but he did not have a reverse pivot, merely a very dynamic swing.

It is this dynamic motion that allows golfers to have what appears to be a slow and easy swing, yet efficiently generates tremendous speed in the clubhead and causes the ball to go a long way. 

If you try this in practice start with small swings with a 7 iron. Focus on the rhythm of the shot – it should almost feel like you are making miniature figure 8’s with your body.  Well, you could either do that or take some rumba lessons!

Thanks for reading and please feel free to post your thoughts and questions.

The Moment of Truth

Impact is the most important part of the golf swing! The ball spends an average of 1/2000 of second on the face of the club, yet it is during this time that it receives it’s all-important travel itinerary.  How high; how far; what curvature or spin rate; and ultimately what destination is all determined in that fraction of a second!

The above picture is an ideal impact position.

• The weight is comforably on the front foot
• The handle is leading the clubhead into the ball and thus the clubhead is travelling down for a ball-first, divot-second hit
• The head is over the ball with the weight in front of the ball leading to body curve

There are only three errors a golfer can make at impact and here they are:

Head and Weight Back

In this example the head has worked back behind the ball too much and the weight remains on the back foot.  This  golfer scoops the ball off the turf and tends to hit weak, high fades and slices with the occasional pulled shot.  Should a divot occur it is most often before the ball is impacted.  This is a typical “weekend warrior” swing!

Head and Weight Forward

In this example the golfer has found a way to compress the ball and actually strike it well, however, due to the upper body being positioned in front of the ball, direction is a major challenge.   This golfers’ tendencies will be to hit pull draws with the occasional push or flare.  There is not enough body curve in this mid-level impact position.

Head Too Far Back with Weight Forward

This impact position is invariably the demise of the better golfer.  Here the golfer has found a way to attack the ball from the inside while still delivering a downward blow to the ball, yet there is too much of a good thing!  The head hangs back while the hips drive to the target, dropping the clubhead too far to the inside and encouraging the hands to have to flip through impact.  This golfer will tend to play well with good timing, but should things get ‘nervy’ they will hit blocks and quick, sweeping hooks.

Analyze your shot pattern on the golf course and start to get an idea as to which of the above categories you fall into.  Get in front of a mirror and work towards improving or tempering certain elements of your impact position.  As you do this remember feel is very seldom real when it comes to golf.  Create the correct look in the mirror and then absorb what that ‘look’ feels like and take that out to your next practice session.

Things to Ponder:

• After two rounds of play in the WGC Bridgestone event all of the major winners of 2009; Cabrera, Cink and Glover all sit at two under par.
• If you watched last weeks final round at the Buick you might have caught this little cheese from the final fairway.  Rumor has it that David Feherty is to blame, but Tiger and Valvoline Williams sure did get a kick out of it.
• In the book “Bobby Locke on Golf”, Bobby Locke selects  the top player of his era with each club.  From the driver to the putter, even including the 2 wood and 1 iron! The most interesting selection  I thought was that he selected Ben Hogan as the best PUTTER!

The Vardon grip?  The interlock grip?  The ten-finger or baseball grip?  What is a strong grip? Does that mean I must hold the club tighter?  There seems to be so much confusion about what constitutes a good, functional grip that I thought I would address a few issues pertaining to our one and only connection with the club.

I must first state that the grip is part of the “fundamentals’ of golf.  Not! While the grip and aim and set-up are important to your ability to hit a golf ball, they are by no means fundamental! The grip is not integral. I have seen way too many golfers with great grips hit poor golf shots.

The club should be held primarily in the fingers with the hands kept close trogether.   I have no preference for the overlap, interlock or baseball type grips.   Success has been had with all of them!

A strong grip is one where both hands are rotated away from the target; a weak grip is one where both hands are rotated toward the target and a neutral grip falls somewhere in between.

A Strong Grip

A Weak Grip

Things to ponder:

• Tom Watson won more money at last weeks Open Championship than all of his previous 31 Opens combined!
• How about this for the greatest job in golf!  If I did not already have the greatest job I might consider this one.
• I played Haig Point on Daufuskie Island yesterday and it was fantastic!  The condition was excellent and if you don’t mind being belittled by a very big golf course I would recommend a visit.

 Thanks for reading!

So often I read that it is important to be “behind the ball”.  While this statement is almost correct I would prefer for a golfer to be “over” the ball and this sense initiates with the set up position.

The Set-up

 The set-up encompasses ball position, stance width and spine/shoulder tilt.  Let’s take a look from the ground up.

With the irons I would like to see the ball played from the middle of the stance – keep in mind, that in order to hit down on the ball, a must, the weight must be in front of the ball.  Notice that I said weight and not body or head!  When the ball is centrally located it is that much easier to hit down on.  As you get to the longer clubs(woods) slide the ball up toward the inside of the left heel.  In the Ben Hogan illustration you’ll notice how his ball is not quite in the center but a little forward.  This is due to his pronounced hip slide into impact which still allowed him to be able to hit down on a more forward ball position.

As far as the stance width goes, I prefer a narrower stance than a wider one and here’s why.  A narrow stance allows for the weight to get to the front foot easily – that’s why you should be chipping and pitching with a narrow stance.  Too wide and you’ll have a hard time getting onto the front foot without excess movement.

Head position and spine tilt is the most important factor in the set-up!  I read an article yesterday pontificating about if you tilt away from the target you’ll reduce your slice.  Well, you might reduce the slice, but you’ll have a hard time making solid contact with the ball.  All the best ball strikers set up as Hogan has here, with the head positioned between the feet, the left eye over the ball and the spine just about vertical.  There should also be a minimal amount of shoulder tilt when the spine is vertical.  Make sure you avoid any excess tilt into your back side as this will make it almost impossible to get “over” the ball at impact.

Set yourself up to get into a great impact!

Things to ponder:

• Harbourtown and the TPC Louisiana are both Pete Dye golf courses. They look like they are from different planets!
• Can Steve Stricker finally get the job done on Sunday? It’s been a while!
• Tiger Woods is a great champion, but does he play golf the way it was meant to be played? Does modern equipment let him play the game “his way”? I offer Greg Norman and Nick Faldo as contrasts.
• I was going to ask, ” When will Sergio grow up?” but I’m not sure he ever will.
• Will Sergio ever grow up?