Ben Hogan's Secret

10 April 1946.

This is the date that Hogan discovered his breathrough technique that solved his hook for all time. I used a generic description of April-May 1946 in my book because it was not that germaine to what he did (e.g., the when), but I have since had time to do some research on it and I am convinced that this is the date. I will add the why in a future post.

Good Golfing!
MC

Henny Bogan and the Secret of Ben Hogan book update

I approved the physical proof and made a few minor corrections this past week. The book is being printed as we speak. It was a significant milestone to finally get the physical proof.

While it seems like it has taken forever, it has been just about a year since I started writing the book and closing on a year since I felt I had enough to constitute a book.

In fact, looking at my emails, it was 25 Nov 2008 when I sent my first email to Jules Alexander to broach the idea of using his photography. Time flies

I will send a notice out when the actual booksite is up and running.

Good Golfing!

Mark

Henny Bogan and the Secret of Ben Hogan book

I approved the electronic proof for Henny Bogan and the Secret of Ben Hogan on 9 Oct 2009 and I will approve the physical proof this week. I will shortly send an update to the mailing list when this site is activated for purchases.

Meanwhile, book number two is coming together. It is an amplification of aspects of Henny Bogan and the Secret of Ben Hogan intended to clarify many of the instructional elements that were not developed in the first book. I hope to publish the second book by spring in time for the golf season.

Good Golfing!

Mark

Henny Bogan and the Secret of Ben Hogan Cover

This is the cover for Henny Bogan and the Secret of Ben Hogan. I sent some minor revisions (7) back yesterday and should get to approve the changes next week. Back cover and then proofs are next. Should be getting close. I also published an updated Ezine article that discusses more of the facts related to the story.

Henny Bogan and The Secret of Ben Hogan

I wanted to provide an update on the book. I revised the name and this past week I approved the font, style and chapter layout for the book. Once the overall design is approved, we complete the back cover and set a price, it is all systems go for the publishing! I will update and activate the order mechanism available through the web site. I plan to send this note via email, as well, so look for the email as verification that I have you on the list. Thanks for the interest in the book! MC

Ben Hogan's Secret

My previous blog left us with the question of what Ben Hogan was trying to do with his swing that caused him to hook (in the first place). The subtle or implied issue is that a hook is a symptom of a problem or issue and not something to fix per se, for instance like a faulty grip or an improper swing path or a weight and balance issue. So while it is roundly acknowledged that Hogan had a hooking problem, it is rare indeed to see that issue decomposed to assign cause to his action and to also look at why he did not do more about it before 1946.

The reason Hogan hooked the ball is because of the action he initiated to hit the ball farther when he was competing with the other caddy’s at Glen Garden Country Club, Fort Worth in the 1920s (likely 1924-1927). The caddy’s played a game where they hit balls toward holes for nickels. The winner obviously won money but the loser had to gather all the balls up for the next round. Hogan was younger and smaller than the other caddy’s and found he could not hit the ball nearly as far. At the time he was doing two things over all others; fighting for his place in the pecking order to get choice corners for selling newspapers, as well as with the other caddy’s because that was the nature of the caddy yard, and he was learning to play golf. He combined the two to derive a golf action that enabled him to hit the ball farther and farther as he matured. The action was similar to throwing a punch, with the movement of the arms keyed to the rotation of the hips. He likely worked on his timing in order to have his right arm launch just as quickly as possible to follow the action of the right hip. He staged it off the hip just like throwing a punch, as he would later relate in his books. I should add that this was not the "cartoony" hay maker, often depicted as being wound up behind the head, but the punch of someone who knows how to use his hands, akin to a boxers jab or short punch that travels a short distance propelled off the hip. While it may not be obvious, timing release off the hip, all things being equal, means that everything is rotating powerfully to the left through impact. Without some other form of swing compensation, the shoulders, arms and hands work aggressively left or closing through the ball. The obvious problem with this action is that it causes a low running hook, but this type shot was ideal for the dry fairway conditions of the golf courses he played in Texas. Hogan likely worked on his swing in earnest during this time period, as much if not more so than he did throughout his life while earning a reputation as a tireless ball striker.

It would be no easy feat to change this basic action that had been so ingrained by the time he turned professional in 1932. He would struggle with a hook problem initially through 1938 and then off and on through 1946, when he finally figured out a way to cure the problem once and for all. He revealed pronation as his “secret” in an article in the 8 August 1955 Life Magazine. Pronation is what he added to his swing to solve the problem, and a careful look at his swing reveals that he continued to maintain the link between his hips and his arm swing throughout his career.

If pronation was indeed his secret, what was left to reveal that has had many speculating for years about his real secret?

Ben Hogan's Secret: The Heart of the Matter

If you ask the next 100 golfers you meet about Ben Hogan’s swing and what he was trying to achieve, you are likely to get the same answer from each golfer. The question is, what was Hogan trying to do with his swing? And the invariable or inevitable answer will be that he was trying to cure his hook. Hogan was a bit dogmatic about answering questions, often pausing for embarrassing amounts of time to give even the most rudimentary of answers. He did not suffer fools and was ice cold to those who misquoted him or who published a story without careful scrutiny of the facts. There is a story told about a dialogue he had with a German professional golfer that involved the topic of hooks and causes and cures. Hogan did not react well to the question of the cause of a hook and the dialogue became somewhat tense when the German pro was a bit insulted at Hogan’s insinuation that if the German golfer was indeed a pro, then he certainly knew what caused a hooking ball flight action in the swing. The German pro had to acknowledge that he did indeed know and a pleasant conversation ensued thereafter.

The somewhat obvious point of my story is that all things being equal, a hook is the result of something done in the swing. Much like a slice, it is the result of a deliberate or inadvertent act or flaw of some type that acts on the ball in a manner that causes the result. To further belabor the obvious, Hogan was attempting to do something with his swing that caused him to hook the ball. He always talked about developing a powerful, consistent, repeating swing. The manner in which he tried to go about it produced a hooking action. What was it that caused the problem in the first place?
Many believe Hogan’s insistence on an inside move, with the right arm close to the side, caused the hooking problems. But many golfers swing from the inside and it is roundly acknowledged as a good players swing. Still others maintain that his flat plane was the obvious cause and that anyone who swung similarly would have the same problems. But Hogan always disputed the characterization of swing planes as flat or upright unless the discussion included some type of context about the golfer’s stature and body type. Hogan felt it was erroneous to characterize swing planes as one or the other without accounting for the golfer. Part of the reason he was adamant about this topic stems from his own stature. Jules Alexander reports on his website that Hogan’s arm length was 35”, which is pretty long for someone 5’7” or 5’8”. The technique that Hogan adopted to cure his hook, often referred to as the old Scottish technique of deliberate pronation, was thought to help golfers get the ball off the ground easier (while helping the average golfer hook). Again, these examples start a bit into the discussion, assuming that Hogan’s problem was the hook.

But what was causing him to hook it in the first place????