Ben Hogan's Ultimate Secret

► About Christo Garcia's Channel

This video is brought to you by Christo Garcia, the founder of the Miracle Swing Experience. Christo is a highly experienced Golf Instructor, with over 20 years of experience in the field.

He has been sharing his expertise on YouTube for more than 13 years, providing top-quality Golf Instruction to help golfers of all levels improve their game.

Throughout his channel you will learn about the Golf Swing, including Golf Backswing Drills, Golf Takeaway Tips, Golf Impact Positions, and more. His expert Golf Tips will help you perfect your posture, alignment, grip, and weight transfer, and achieve a consistent and powerful Golf Swing.

Christo also shares his insider secrets on how to create solid iron contact and increase your Golf driver distance. With his guidance, you'll learn how to make small adjustments to your swing mechanics that can make a significant impact on your game.

[jimbarr]

Before I even listened to this video I said to myself "the secret" is his practice effort/time invested. I listened to a video of Hogan explaining the countless hours mastering his game because he had a family to feed. It was survival for him. Not unlike stories of Jack Demsey and his road to the championship. Jack could not stop fighting and he could not think of taking a knee. The athletes that came out of the depression error found their passion themselves via "the work". Your channel is great and we are spoiled today with the amount of information sharing. I enjoyed the video on your friend with the Trevino swing. I tried that swing out and it produces a nice little straight shot (fairway finder). Can't wait to try it out during my next game

[matthewoberton]

Yes Sir! Trevino said his confidence came from his practice!!

[billhill]

Thanks Christo, you're the best!!

[stevedriscoll]

Forgot to add earlier, I am a big fan of your channel and keeping the Ben Hogan legacy alive and very well

[truthlifefishing]

I think "the secret being in the dirt" is not only PRACTISE, but also hitting down into the ground and using the ground as a dynamic surface from which the ball is launched and the body leverages off. In order to maximise that launch one must dig the club into the ground. I think he knew that, but perhaps could never fully understand the science of what he was experiencing.

SO the the "dirt" reference I think has a few equally critical levels. 
Metaphorically: Practise. 
Literally: Technique.
Spiritually: One must dig deep within themselves. His father committed suicide in 1922 when Ben was ten years old. This event is a massive factor. It is never really analysed as to what it did to him.

It is ALL of it. The work, the study, the thinking, the dreaming, the pain.

You're the man Christo. Your work has been a real honour to his life and family.

[billygraham]

Christo: I heard a story about Gary Player; that he was out practicing as a young player on the pro tour and an older pro asked him what he was doing? And he explained he was practicing. The old pro said golf is mostly luck, you don’t need to practice. And Player said “the more I practice the luckier I get.” (Ask Gary Player about that next time you see him.)

Playing once every 6 weeks is not enough to maintain a scratch handicap, even if you practice several days a week. Actually you’d be doing well to play to a 6 or 7 if that’s all you would play and practice.

But practicing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But I really enjoy going to the range. And when they were letting us have 2 big buckets on the Player Club thing, I’d hit the two and some people would give me a bucket or leave a lot of balls behind — but I enjoy tinkering. But I am sort of glad they only gave out one basket because at my age I could maybe injure myself hitting so many balls!!! I have my hands and arms “shoulder hinge” swing down pretty good, BUT it isn’t “automatic.” And I NEED to warm-up the muscles. I need to hit about 15 to 20 balls before I’m even able to swing full force. And I need to hit at least that many more balls before I have all the mechanics in mind and under control.

But if I have been away from golf then I cannot swing properly and I forget elements of my swing (mechanics) and I do make mistakes and that adds strokes to the card. So, as Sam Snead said, every day do some practice, even if it is just in the back yard and making practice swings for 10 or 15 minutes.

I would say though that the chipping and putting come most naturally to me, sand too, but only because I practiced chipping and putting (and sand) for long periods of time to get to where I have totally memorized what I want to do with my chipping and putting (and sand) strokes — I cannot get away with not practicing as to the full shots.

You were reporting to us you were getting a push (off to the right). I’m a hands/arms “hinge” swinger these days (last 10 years), converted over from a rotational swinger, rotating at my shoulders (e.g. Moe Norman or DeChambeau). You, Christo, are a rotational swinger and you are very connected at the right elbow. I too connect at the right elbow now but later in the downswing, in the hitting area. I raise my right elbow as I reach the top of the backswing, as it need not be connected at the top given my hands/arms “hinge” technique/mechanics. Seems your approach is to stay connected as much as possible, as you will be connected at contact. I’m not saying that will hurt your back, but it would hurt my back if I stayed that well connected at the right elbow and tried to get deep into a backswing — just saying. So you’ve learned to lift the right elbow a little to relieve some of the stress/torque of that “right elbow connected” and “purely rotational” style swing. But here you compromise on your principles by doing that.

Now you did a video on “hinging” coming down off the top. But maybe you did not like that after trying it? It does require a different general approach to swinging the club. Personally, I’m of the belief that if you’re not a “brute force” player like DeChambeau, and rotating from the shoulders (i.e. high on the torso), then the best alternative is to swing the hands/arms “hinge” style, which is actually rotational “in the hitting area” —?but not so much rotational before that. I am telling you this because it is something to try and easier on your back. I will tell you that power-wise it is right there with the DeChambeau style swing style — you won’t lose any power or distance, even though you are primarily swinging with just the hands and arms. You know something already about this swing, but I would encourage you to look into it more. Alternatively, if you just cannot bring yourself to swing the “hands and arms” style I described, then I would encourage you to experiment with the rotational swing with the hands more up on plane at all times — a la DeChambeau or Moe Norman. Your swing as it is compromises between all these swings, yet THAT itself is not a bad thing, but I have tried swinging like that and it hurts my back.

Let me wrap up by pointing out you had a guy showing you to finish low and left — I would tell you that with the “hands/arms” hinging style swing to do it right you should (must) get the hands low and left in the “hitting area” — though how “low and left” your hands will be in your finish will depend on other factors, including how much your hips open up after contact. So you’ve been through all this, but you are not making the leap to put it all together. And I would dare say Hogan was a “hands/arms” hinging swinger. I’m saying “swing with your back to the target for as long as possible, ” which takes full advantage of the “hinge” that is a main feature of the “hands/arms” hinge style swing. If you decide to give the “hands/arms” hinging mechanics a go I will explain all this better for you — a few fine points defy easy description and it would be pointless to talk about them if you are not working towards the “hands/arms” hinging type mechanics.

[a.u.]

Christo, you are right, but like you, so many of us are still busy making a living, and that does not always mesh with practice. This is the reality we deal with as amateur golfers; we are probably not going to be able to spend the time necessary to improve to whatever level we think we should be at - until we are retired. So there it is.
Two steps forward and one step back.
I will say this: working on tempo and control has helped curtail the need for the 10, 000 ball regimen.

[stratovani]

The biggest problem I have with my golf game is that I'm consistently inconsistent. I know I have it in me to produce a more consistent game, but I just don't practice enough. I do swing a heavy club in the living room, as well as practicing short putts, and watching YouTube instructional videos, but hitting balls all the time would improve my game. I'm not looking to play on any tour or competitions, just to show improvement over time.

[jayscott]

Ben Hogan's secret is that he was Ben Hogan and he knew he was Ben Hogan not somebody else. "The secret is in the dirt" has to do with practice, yes. But it also is referring to the fact that you need to figure out you and you need to do you. Stop trying to swing a golf club like you think you should or to copy the "look" of how you see another player's swing appear. Take all instruction with a grain of salt and trust your instincts more. Guys that don't need to practice much, don't need to practice much because they own their technique and it feels simple to do for them, especially the full swing. Really good players spend most of their practice time on the short game. If you need to practice the full swing a lot, then keep digging, you haven't found you yet.

[teressaabbott]

I have a homemade golf swing but it works I shoot anywhere from 86 to 73 within the last month that's good enough for me

[randyderheim]

I think a lot of us are guilty of "practicing during the round." I know I am. I've tinkered with my swing on the course for at least five years and have seen my HCP go from a 9.0 to a 15.0. I'm not happy with that. I actually feel I'm capable of playing my best golf ever (at age 62) with incredible equipment really helping. (I started with blades and persimmon a few decades ago). I'm a 5 HCP on the range, when I practice, and a 15.0 on the course. Transferring practice to play is a huge roadblock for me. I'll play 85-90 rounds this year and hit range balls less then 10 times. My bad. My off season will be focused on practicing. When I was "good" I had a grooved swing. Not so much anymore. Thanks for this video.

[jihjp]

so true. 👍
if we warm up before a round, we hit better.🏌‍♂️ same for practice. if we practice daily, our muscles loosen up, mind works faster & become more prepared for every course/swing requirements ⛳🏌‍♂️👍🤠

[TheLastBabyBoomer]

"The joy is in the work." I'm similar as I cannot play well without regular practice and I am very jealous of people who never practice and still play well every time they go out. For me, it's in the dirt.

[MrLuigiFercotti]

I found that 2 practice sessions per week and 1 round was enough to advance my game at a point that was noticeable.
One practice per week and a round every two weeks would keep me where I was for the most part, with maybe a good round ever third.
Unfortunately, there have only been a few times when I could do that with life demands.

[kourt]

I'm lucky I've been one of those people that never really had to practice much. I feel like my full swing is always there but if I'm not playing atleast 1 time per week my short game and those 20-60 yard shots really suffer. Something that I found that was super crazy was I started doing the super speed training maybe 2 years ago, I already had decent speed (114 mph with driver) but after the first 2 months of doing the training 3 times per week I got up to 124 mph on course speed and sometimes hit 130. At first I was worried this would make me more inaccurate but it actually did the opposite. It straightened out basically every club. For me doing the speed training really helps me learn how to make an aggressive but on balance swing and for some reason that has drastically improved my ball striking to the point that I rarely even bother to go to the range. I'll hit warm up shots before tournaments but thats it. This year was my best year golfing ever. I set the course record at my local club, 62 (-9) and then tied it about 3 weeks later during a tournament that I won by 7 strokes! I played 3 tournaments this year and took first place in 2. Usually I'll play 7-10 tournaments and I'm lucky to win 1. I don't know if you're still doing the speed training but honestly I think its one of the best things I've done for my game, not just for the bit of increased distance but somehow its made my swing and ball striking even better.

[stevedriscoll]

Darn, Christo, I thought you were gonna talk about pronation, suppination, or some of the other endless tips. I am addicted to tips 🤣🤣🤣, which is why I am inconsistent. Hard work, practice, and digging it out of the dirt you say? Darn! Christo loved the interview of Gary Player titled Hogan vs. Bobby Jones. I think Gary got more out of life and his game than about anybody that ever played: due to his hard work and dedication in all aspects, especially diet and fitness. I was fascinated listening to him talk about the past greats and was a little surprised when he said not only was Bobby Jones' swing "pure perfection", but that Bobby Jones might have been the greatest ever. I got to see Jack play and Tiger, of course; but I would have loved to see Bobby Jones play (along with Ben Hogan live).

[manmonkey]

Hi from Paris!
Very happy, BH secret is répétition, nothing else

[erykvonkeith]

The secret is that he shortened his swing and kept his upper left arm connected his chest which helped his timing and sequence which was already amazing.

[truthlifefishing]

This why you should start competing Brother. 
81 with 2 blowouts on that track.
You could maybe go to Q School.
You're strong, balanced and mentally very IMPRESSIVE.
You might be closer than you think.
There is a guy on youtube James Wiltshire from England
and he is trying for European Tour and you score slightly better than him
at golf and mentally and physically, well its not a competition. He is a mess.
At least this winter do enough practise so you can go into your summer with
a goal in mind. Everybody dreams about putting 4 rounds together. At least try.

[theskillanalyst]

The secret is a bowed lead wrist in combination with the shaft plane. Lee and Moe share this connection.