Sunday, February 15, 2009
Ben Hogan's Secret; Revealed or Concealed?
Ben Hogan supported a series of articles about his secret technique over the years. Chief among these were the Life Magazine articles of April 5, 1954, which was entitled Ben Hogan's Secret: A Debate, in which top pros of the time guessed at his secret (including Walter Burkemo, Claude Harmon, George Fazio, Sam Snead, Fred Gronauer, Mike Turnesa and Gene Sarazen). A little more than a year later, Ben Hogan revealed his secret in the famous 8 August 1955 Life Magazine article. It was his revelation with his endorsement. Why do some believe to this day that there was more information that he did not reveal that allowed the secret to work only for him? And why wasn't the information in Life Magazine repeated in Five Lessons? Was it simply because the information in Life Magazine was not one of "the Modern Fundamentals of Golf?" Sometime later, Hogan offered to reveal his actual secret for a reported sum of 100,000 dollars. The deal never came to fruition. Is there still some relevant information about Hogan's swing that has not already been revealed in the books or magazines or videos of his swing?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Didn't Hogan's caddy write a book? Did he claimm to reveal his secret in his book?
ReplyDeleteHogan never had a regular caddy. Many shagged balls for him over the years, the most well known of which is Jody Vasquez (link below). Jody does reveal that Hogan told him the secret was the bracing of the right knee and the right side. That was a fundamental in Hogan's book and likely a secret or key tip for Jody's swing, but not "the secret". There are a number of books that attempt to address Hogan's secret, such as the one entitled "Ben Hogan's Secret". It is a really good novel, but the author states up front it is fiction. Good Golfing! MC
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jodyvasquez.com/