Ben Hogan's Swing Secret, Explained | Film Study | Golf Digest

For decades, golfers around the world have studied and attempted to emulate Ben Hogan's golf swing. A lot has been written about his move, even from the man himself, but what is the secret to one of the greatest swings in golf history? Our very own Luke Kerr-Dineen is here to help.

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[HA-ebux]

The film study video series is my happy place. 🌊

[DiscGoStu]

Everyone who’s ever looked at my swing has said, “You have to weaken your right hand grip and stop opening the face on the way back or you’ll never be consistent.” And every time I’ve taken their advice it’s led to nothing but bad golf. Everyone’s body and swing are different, never trust anyone who tells you there’s only one way to do things

[steveberg-ezzw]

I just picked up golf, in my 50s, and went out with my son and about killed every tree, worm and bird on the course. I got hogans book- five lessons and I’m thru the grip stance and posture and went out to the range to give it a go. I will say I’m hitting WAY WAY better. I’m not talking tour stuff but not hacking a the ball. After getting thru the book I’m hoping i can put it all together enough to enjoy a round with my sons. So far so good

[themaestroswog]

Come on Ben Hogans swing was so much more than the video described. Almost every modern great swinger of the club has either studied hogan or been taught feels of the Hogan golf swing. Nothing simple about the golf swing! Here are just a few of the Hogan basics Set up and posture and what I call bracing .... Learning to use the left side for the right handed player .... The feeling of getting the right hand and elbow underneath the club while turning back but still staying on top of the ball ( not sliding or swaying or moving out of the wine barrel like another great teacher preaches) Loading into the right heal and ankle on the back swing and starting to move into the left heal and ankle even before the finish of the completed backswing. This is the two directional move that even Bobby Jones wrote about. Another major fundamental in Hogans swing was never allowing the right arm to ever have any tightness in it through out the golf swing. Than just to sort of make my point was Hogan explaining the swing plane and how it comes about. All of this is just scratching the service of building a great golf swing that can hold up to any pressure a player may put the swing under. The golf swing the hardest thing in all of sports but we all love the journey.

[joeldriver-sprg]

For a right handed golfer the death shot is a ball that starts left and keeps going which is a pull and can also be a pull hook. Hogan essentially got rid of that by weakening his grip and that allowed him to completely take the entire left side of the golf course out of play.

[Playpianokey]

Excellent! Appreciate the commentary. Your body personality is your swing. Mechanics are basic fundamentals but how we interpret them is unique.

[Jaezon]

Probably the greatest Golf video of all time. Well done.

[howtoactuallyinvest]

The arms stuck to side swing thought is everything. The key is actually the lead arm. Most focus you hear is on not flaring out the trail arm but keeping the lead elbow stuck to your side forces your body to turn correctly to square the club at impact

[djdibibar]

Been fighting a hook so experimenting with a neutral grip, now not hooking, but have hit some shanks! Always back to the drawing board.

[brianp]

Hogan taught an anti hook swing to a world of slicers

[danieln]

As someone who also fights a hook, I found Five Lessons and it changed my ball flight and my ability to consistently produce it. But to the videos point, if you don't need to remedy a hook, you might be making your problems worse. One thing that Mr. Hogan does not explicitly say that I can recall is delivering the club head with the inside to out blow or path. That club face path, with an open club face, will produce a small push-fade that is pretty controllable. But if you don't set up open, or deliver the face open, or slam the club face closed you are knocking on a snap-hooks door. That right elbow move, right elbow into front right pocket, is a good little move to keep your hands inside and create that in to out swing. I lost some swing speed with it however.

[A-FrameWedge]

Hogan’s grip was much stronger in the years before his accident when he was winning majors and plying some of his best golf. But after the accident he could not use his lower body like he used to, so this is why he changed his grip. He hit the ball great before his accident, but since his legs were so compromised, he found the ball going left, and he hated hooks.

[cyhawk]

Excellent stuff. Great final point, your swing is your swing. It's a lot in the grip!

[SuperNicktendo]

Key is that he's not actively moving his arms or wrists. The weak grip allows the wrists to bend with the path of the club which is why it looks like he's changing it several times in his swing. Too many analysts focus on the arm movement and which results in a ton of beginners spending too much power in the arms instead of rotation which leads to frustration

[LeeTrevinoFans]

My 10 mins. of bliss on YT are watching these.

Weve got a Moe video. Now a Ben Video. I need an LT video!

Cheers LKD!

[marktheblake]

Great point. These days the good teachers are calling these secrets "match ups" Hogan quite obviously found his.

[mazdaspeedmxlbs]

Iv solved the golf swing and had to make a completely new model. I don't use a swing plane. Currently the entire golf world sees the swing in 2 dimensions I use all dimensions. Iv really solved it

[richardbalangon]

Ben Hogan was the ultimate blue-collar champion, the standard-bearer of golf fundamentals and precision. He didn’t just play golf, he defined how it should be played. He would tell you that this video will put you in tall grass 😂

[vivektulja]

Very good analysis. Ben Hogan's secret is that there is no secret. Nicklaus says something similar in his autobiography about Trevino: That he discovered what worked for him. Golf swing isn't about copying someone or following some theory, it is about finding out what works for you.

[GreatGolfSwings]

Nicklaus also said he tried to have the biggest arc on the way back and the way through