# My try at duplicating the Ben Hogan Swing



## Hogan Project

My goal.........to see how close I come to duplicating the Hogan swing. I've been at it for a few weeks now. I'm making very slow progress each week. Hopefuly, I'll have this accomplished withing the year, but who knows how long it will really take!


Here's my baseline video:

The Ben Hogan Golf Swing Project: Take 1- antswing 7-26-11 DTL - YouTube

Many out there say it is not possible, because he had a secret.......I say there is no mechanical swing secret, just mental secrets and secret feelings. All the "secrets" are in his videos!

Wish me luck!


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## Hogan Project

One of my playing partners asked how the project was going and who I was using as a teacher. Told him I am working on the address right now and that I have no teacher. 

At this point, I only listen to my eyes. That's my secret. If someone gives me a book with a description of how to do a dance move, it will be from their perspective, from what they feel. My perspective may be totally different. I may translate what they are saying as something way off base. Plus they will surely leave out an intricate detail because to them, the detail is so much a part of a common human move, that they will expect everyone to already know of it. 

If they give me a video to duplicate, I can break it down into mini moves, and just get in a mirror till I am spot on. 

So my hypothesis is that I cannot duplicate hogans swing by reading the book or someone telling me how to do it. I just have to break the address onto 1 inch mini moves. Same for all the rest.

The hogan videos are my #1 training aid. Without them, this project is impossible.


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## Hogan Project

An example of how I translate the address position is not quite what Hogan put it. If I had to describe it at this point:
- My head is turned about 5 degrees to the right of center.
- I am looking at the ball with my left eye.
- My chin is down.
- My upper back is slumped with a curved spine.
- My right knee is bowed inward.
- My left foot is turned slightly open to the target, and left knee bowed a bit inward.
- My shoulders are rounded forward; feels like 
- Feels like someone has jumped out of a horror movie with a Rambo knife, and has jammed it direct into the middle of my shoulder blades and upper back.
- My right elbow feels like it is bowed out about 5 feet, but video shows it to be only 1 inch.


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Golf Swing Project: Take 2- antswing 8-21-11 DTL - YouTube

7i DTL

Takeaway is much too far inside.
Transition is over-the-top
Pivot doesn't keep moving.

During practice, if I pause at the top for 2-3 seconds, everything comes together nicely; no over-the-top.Gotta figure out how to make the same result when making a full, non-stop swing as is in this video. Whew......I have a loooooong way to go. I do notice a difference in my follow-thru....its a lot higher; I can no longer swing a hybrid, or 5w, or 3w in the basement because of the club now hitting the ceiling. This was not happening in the past.


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Golf Swing Project: Take 3- antswing 8-22-11 DTL - YouTube

In the 'Take 3" swing, focusing on the takeaway. Trying to understand why right shoulder keeps rising while taking it back. Gotta do more to keep right shoulder down.

The funniest part of this video is swing #3, where I wanted to really FEEL my elbow jabbing me into my side during the downswing; doing this caused the club to move in towards me, which moved it away from the ball. I hit it just off the toe, and ball went flying sideways and bounced like a pinball around the garage, including into the ceiling above, which is our master bedroom, where my wife is lying in the bed. lol, I thought I had put my eye out. This is where my Mom would have said, "Mr. Anthony, you know we don't hit or throw in this house!!

The part you don't hear is when my wife yells "What are you DOING down there????? The sane people are trying to SLEEP!!!!!!!!"

LOLOLOL!!! I may have to set up a secret camera while I'm practicing to catch her hilarious reactions and comments!


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## Hogan Project

Just got off the phone with Kim. She gave me a speech about having consideration for her sleep. I said "I did consider it lol........I considered that if the birds are chirping, and the sun is up, it's Hogan time!! Do you think Hogan laid in the bed when there was daylight?? lol" Then she requested that I pllllleeeeeaaaase move her truck out of the garage when I am being Mr. Hogan. She then reminded me of the cracked windshield on my own truck. Yeah, I cracked the windshield, but I wasn't practicing; I was doing something totally different………. I was in need of a golf fix (kinda like a drug fix lol). Here's the story: 

It had rained non-stop for about a week, and I couldn't get out to the course. I checked the forecast every day hoping to get a round in at some point. The stinking forecaster said the rain would be over late Thursday nite and Friday would be "partly cloudy." Sooo, I took off work on that Friday. Cleaned my clubs and packed my golf bag that Thursday nite. Got up early Friday morn, had a champions breakfast, and headed to West Pines course for a well-needed round of 18. Left home and the skies were clear as spring water. Got closer to the course and it started to get dark. Parked my truck, and it got reeeeeeeal dark. It was about 10am and there was 1 other vehicle in the parking lot. My thinking was “I’m not letting a few dark clouds scare me away…..there WILL be some golf played today!!” Opened my door, put my foot on the ground, and the bottom of the black clouds above fell onto the earth like a stinkin waterfall. I was sooooo determined to play that day, that I got my clubs out, and splashed my way into the clubhouse. I walk in with my shirt and pants glued to me cause of the typhoon outside. The guy at the counter was locking the place up and said “Ummmmmmm……buddy, not gonna happen today. It’s a dang hurricane out there.” Of course, I didn’t hear him, cause I NEEEEEEED to play some golf. I just stood there cold and dripping onto his carpet. I said something stupid like “well, it may just pass over.” There was a television to the right of the counter that had the severe weather beep at the bottom of the screen with a splotch of red over about 3 counties. I stared at him, stared at the tv, stared at the range, stared at the parking lot, then just walked out in disgust. Didn't even say bye. (My apologies to the guy at the counter....my disgust was really for the weather man!) Got back in my truck and headed to Walmart to buy some wiffle balls to hit in the garage. Bought a few bags and headed straight home. Got home and the monsoon was still spitting on everything. I pulled into the garage and set up my "indoor range." I started hitting the plastic, wimpsy, flimsy whiffle balls towards a wooden target about 30 yards from my garage door. (I was hitting in the opposite direction as I am in the Take 3 video). I put up a target and had a pretty good time hitting it, but the balls just made that "whhhhhrrrrrllllllllll" sound with no real bang. I had a splendid idea.......and this is where i went wrong........I thought that since I was hitting the wimpy whiffles direct to the target, with EVERY club, EVERY time, that I would do the same if I hit a real ball. The precautious, adult side of my brain said that I should not hit a hard a$$ed golf ball into the wooden board, but into a nice, thick, safe, bed comforter. Soooooooo, I went upstairs and got one out of the closet. I got a bungee cord and tied it to a couple of yellow hooks that I screwed into the girders. Now if you can picture this, the comforter is MUCH larger than the wooden target on the wall behind it, so logic should say that I was being safe. I teed a Pro V1 up, grabbed my driver, and swung like I was at a Remax long drive championship. I must have been ramped up with adrelanine, cause I pull-hooked it into the concrete brick wall above the washing maching; the ball missed the giant comforter, ricocheted towards my truck, and right into my windshield, which left a nice sparkly crack. The funny part about it was I just stood there trying to figure out what I did to hook it......lol didn't even care about the $300 windshield I just destroyed lol. I can barely type this right now.......still laughing about it LOLOL!! The not-so-funny part of this is, of course, I ended the indoor driving range session, and forgot to take down the comforter. Kim got home and had all kinds of questions about why her comforter was bungeed to the wall. I told her I was "thinking" about hitting a few balls, but I didn't think it was a good idea (wink-wink lol). I eventually told her about it a couple of years later when we had friends over for dinner. We were all sharing funny stories of our marriages. My wife actually laughed about it; I told her the cracked windshield came from a hail storm. 

I haven't fixed the windshield yet....maybe I'm keeping it that way as a reminder lol.


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## Hogan Project

Here's my 'Take 4' video. Was experimenting with the famous Hogan concentration drill. 
8-22-11. 10:45pm before bed. 7i DTL and FO

The Ben Hogan Golf Swing Project: Take 4 - Concentration practice - antswing 8-22-11 - YouTube

After watching this video, I laughed out loud that I had worked for an hour on getting the takeaway kinda in the range I wanted it to be in, and was satisfied for what I had put into it. Then I make a final recording of the full swing (the 'Take 4' swing), and I am nowhere near what I practiced for the hour. Old habits are hard to get rid of. New habits take time and repetition. Will do a few swings in the a.m. and make sure I have an understanding of what the takeaway should feel like..........then practice it for a month......or two......or six...............or thousand.


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Golf Swing Project: Take 5 -Takeaway practice - antswing 8-23-11 - YouTube

In the 'Take 5" swing, still focusing on the takeaway. Didn't have but a minute to swing this morning; had to take daughter to school for a special function. Once we were about to walk out the door, I literally ran to the basement to get 60sec worth of takeaway on video. This is actually the best way to see what your real swing looks like, just grabbing a club and doing one, single swing, rather than rehearsing with 25 swings to "practice" for a video. I proved this to myself last nite; I did about 200 takeaways until it looked good, then took a 20min water/food break. I came back to record 1 last swing to confirm that the takeaway was perfect, and my muscles lost their memory while I ate grilled chicken, brown rice, and green beans. Or maybe there's something genetically engineered into todays foods that automaatically erases all Hogan swing thoughts lol.

Analysis: still don't understand the correct feeling. Right shoulder is still rising. When I slow things down and compare to Hogan, his right elbow appears to bend the instant the takeaway starts. Mine takes a second for the bend action to start. Even with this "wrong" move of mine, my club is very close to the plane line, but if I'm gonna match Hogan. I need for right shoulder to NOT rise. 

Next practice session, I'm gonna focus on the right elbow bend and tweak it till it's right. That's the hard part; what feels right to me does not match what I am trying to do. Just another lesson of "what you feel is not real".


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## Hogan Project

Comparison of me vs Hogan. 
- My right elbow is not bending early enough.
- Once my right elbow gets behind my body, it is pointing up. Hogan's is pointing down. 

Basically, Hogan's right shoulder is flat during the takeaway, and mine is heading upright.


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## Hogan Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S4fOp1NId0

Got tired of working on the takeaway for the past 2 weeks. Wanted to play around with the full swing. I apologize to everyone following me, as I am not supposed to be thinking about impact till sometimes next year! Couldn't help it...........It has rained for the past week and I can't get to the course. Had to get some swings out of me. Also experimenting with a new camera angle. 

I saw a still photograph of Hogan at impact and had an "aaaahhhhhaaaaHHHHHAaaaaa" moment. His supinated left wrist got me veeeeery curious, and I began experimenting with a few things.

My swing has changed dramatically in the past few weeks. I am absolutely smashing the ball into my homemade range. The ball sounds different when hit by the club, and the canvas "pops" when the ball pounds into it. When swinging in my basement, I now cannot complete a full swing because of the club wanting to fly up into the air during the follow-thru. Tearing a nice hole right into my HVAC ducts. I've GOTTA get to the course!!!

Swing is still nowhere near Hogan's, but I am understinding a LOT about his mechanics now!


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## Hogan Project

My goal is only to duplicate the Hogan swing. This is not based on doing what Hogan's book says, or doing what Hogan said, or doing what Hogan's caddy or closest friends said........only to do what I see in his videos.

This is a point that I've had to make a lot over the past month regarding this project. 

My method is as basic and simple as can be. Break the video down from all angles. Practice each and every move in a mirror and camera until I have an understanding of what they should look like, then transfer this look into a personal feeling. This is the most important part of the project............finding my own personal feeling. Practicing the waggle and playing it back 1,000 times till I am close, then understanding what the muscles in my arms, feet, back, shoulders, quads, etc feel like while I am doing it. It all becomes muscle memory.

Same concept as giving an 8 year old kid a Michael Jackson or Elvis DVD. After watching is for a few days or weeks, they can jump up and do most of the moves. spot on. No training class, no book, no understanding of what Jackson or Elvis' "intentions" were. Nobody told them what the 5 fundamentals were of moving like Elvis. They just saw it and moved as he did. They probably won't go out and sell millions of records and have hit music videos, but they are able to accurately do the Jackson or Elvis moves.

Same concept as an actor playing a major role, having to duplicate the person to make it believable enough for the audience. Think of any movie you saw where the actor was so convincing that when you left, you commented on how believable they were, from even the smallest details. There are also MANY actors that screwed it all up too, only mastering one particular part of the persons persona; they were spot-on for a minute or two, then lost mental focus and became themselves for a few moments, which just ruined everything.

All my golfing career, I have been told of the "golf bible" written by Hogan. I have never read his 5 Fundemantals book. Once I get as close as I can to his movements, I will purchase the book and read it in detail. I want to see just how much the book matches the muscular movements I have put together. If I am able to match his mechanical movement, I am succeeding.

I have coworkers that are stunned that I haven't read the book yet. One guy actually brought his into the office and slammed it on my desk. He said "BHP" (that's what he call's me now) "how the heck are you going to duplicate the swing and you haven't even read the instruction manual??? What the hell???? You are going at this all wrong. Take the book and keep it as a gift." My response was "thanks for the kind offer, but I kindly wish to submit into evidence the many, many statements from a gazillion Hoganites around the globe saying that they have read the book and they understand what it says in context, but their swing is nowhere near that of Hogan." 

So my theory is that if gazillions have depended on reading the book or the magazines to understand/discover the secret move, or secret thought, or secret whatever, and no one has seemed to have accomplished this, then I must take a different approach. I don't want to become person number gazillion-one.

The book would probably help in understanding his method, but I want to gain an understand by actually carrying out the movement I see him doing. I am not sure if my method will help or hurt. I read another post last nite from a guy that is wanting to understand the Hogan "starting down/transition" theory. He said he finally got his hips to move like Hogans on the downswing, and his ball striking improved a great deal, but when he looked back at the book, Hogan said something about the hips start the downswing. Since he was making his move happen using his left foot, he said that he couldn't be right because Hogan said the hips were the way to go, so he tried focusing more on the hip "because Hogan said to"; his swing went to crap shortly thereafter. Said he was back to the drawing board to "gain more understanding on the Hogan hip move." 

What the heck???? If his hips started to look like that of Hogan, even if he was mentally thinking of his left foot, why toss it out because the "instruction manual" said otherwise? 

And I proudly state that I have put together many projects without ever reading any portion of the instruction manual. My wife can attest to that lol. May have taken me a couple of cylinder heads to realize that if I crank down the rocker arm bolts too tight, the hydraulic lifters will get smashed lol.


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 7- Hip and Elbow Impact Drill - antswing 9-9-11 - YouTube

Felt like experimenting with the impact area. Here, I am playing around with one of my custom-designed hip n elbow drills. 

Tomorrow, one of my golf buddies is coming to town for the day. I FINALLY GET TO GO TO THE COURSE....YEEEEEEEEHAAAAWWWW!!!!!!!!!! I get to see what the ball does coming out of the grass instead of from my basement floor. The downside..........I still don't have an iPhone to take to the course to do any recording. Hmmmmmm, I wonder how I would look setting up a laptop on the first tee box??


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## Hogan Project

Well, I finally got to the course on this past Saturday morning and it was outstanding! However it didn’t start out that way. I left home an hour early to get plenty of time on the driving range and chipping green. As I drove up, there was the usual Saturday morning line at the 1st tee. I parked, and then walked to the pro shop to pay for 9 holes and a large bucket. I propped my bag against a wall outside the pro shop door, and walked inside to another long line of Nike and Taylor Made capped Men ready to whap at a few balls. As I walked in, there was a grey-haired elderly man sitting at one of the tables. You know, whenever I play at a municipal course, there’s ALWAYS one of these dudes somewhere around the place lol!! I stood in the line for about 10 minutes; the elderly dude walked out and stood outside smoking a cigarette. He came back in….and that’s where it all started…He said “Hey young buck, that your bag out there?” I said “YES SIR!!”with a LOT of enthusiasm, cause I was excited about getting out of the basement to the outdoors. He responded with “what chu know bout persimmon woods? You don’t know nuthin bout that old school stuff.” I laughed it off and said “they’re just clubs…nothin special………..I’m tryin to learn a little something with them.” He chuckled back and said “yeah, don’t nobody round here know nuthin bout real wood clubs.” That comment got the middle-aged guy behind the counter started. “He he he he…….yep, if you got persimmon in your bag, that means you know something bout the game.” These types of comments are what I don’t like to hear; people labeling me as some type of “good” player just because I have some wooden clubs in my bag. I paid for my 9 holes and large bucket, and quickly laughed myself right out of there; too much pressure lol. I need to get a special shirt made that I wear to the course that says “I am not a good golfer. I am working towards the swing mechanics of Ben Hogan. I wear these Khaki pants, white shirt, and Hogan hat to help make it easier to analyze and compare my swing to his. I swing with wooden clubs to keep a certain swing feeling, and cause I like how they look. I really have no idea what I am doing. Please do not watch me right now because you will be very disappointed. But you should see me in about a year……..I may surprise you!”

I immediately went to the range and started with my impact-elbow-hip drill. I’m still trying to get Kim to come up with a snazzy name for it; my hope is that it will allow her to become a part of the project. There was one guy on the range with blue shorts and a white shirt. As I walked towards the hitting area, I saw him swatting at balls. From a far-away distance, looked like he was only moving his arms and shoulders, but the ball was flying off the ground like bullets! As I got closer, I noticed all the intricacies of his swing compared to what I am trying to accomplish. Veeeeeeery different; his hips didn’t move at all, but he had a consistent strike and the ball was going long……much longer than me. I dropped my bag on the ground and………it started again. He asked how I was doing, then said “whoa, you got real wood clubs lol??” I said, “Yep, just tryin something different today.” I always use these clubs, but this is my common response so nobody is waiting to see anything spectacular from me. I worked on the impact-elbow-hip drill for about 15 minutes without a ball, then eased a few balls into the mix. Took some 60% effort swings; the first few went straight, but right, because I forgot to supinate the left wrist and pull the left shoulder back. When I did remember the left wrist/shoulder, flight was in the middle and acceptable.

I then went to the chipping area to do what I enjoy the most: to see how many I can chip in. Today it was 2 out of 20 minutes worth. I made it a point to over-exaggerate the impact-elbow-hip drill while chipping each ball. Looked just like what I am doing in the ‘Take 7’ video, except it’s a small chipping movement, but same head down/hip thrust/left foot stomp/left knee snap/left shoulder roll-around. I probably looked ridiculous out there lol. My right side began to pain a little, because I am getting so crunched, and because it is a movement I have never done before a couple of days ago. As a bead of sweat began to drop from my nose, I wiped it on my sleeve and looked up towards the clubhouse back door. There was the old guy still puffing on the cigarette with one hand in his pocket staring at me. He yelled out “yah, I see ya down there…….you know what you’re doin young buck lol……. I yelled back “nah, not really……I’m still tryin to figure it out!” That’s when I picked up all the range balls and headed over to the upper putting green to check the green speed, but mainly to get out of his view lol. 

Greens were medium speed. I waited for Bruce and Larry to arrive. While I waited, I sat at a bench on a hill above/behind the 1st tee box and watched the crowd of 5 carts and lots of walkers. I took note of everyone’s practice swing and real swing, pointing out what they are doing that is in line with my goal. I noticed the younger guys (18-30ish) seemed to swing as hard as they could, and most of their balls curved right. Most of the older veterans (50-60ish) swung smooth and easy; most balls went down the middle or drew left. Note to self: get the mindset of an old veteran!
Bruce and Larry finally arrived and we met at the first tee. The crowd that was initially there had teed off and were well into the 2nd hole. It was surprising that it was not busy at 10:22am on a Saturday morn. First thing Larry says when he walks up is “MAN! You got real wood clubs. LOLOLOL! I gotta see this! You might make me get mine out of the closet!” Bruce says, “uhhhh, it will surprise you….I wish he would get rid of ‘em….he’s taken my money for the past month lol!” Bruce was right, but my improvement had nothing to do with the club, just the mechanics I am working on. 

We toss up a tee to select hitting order; it’s Bruce, Larry, then me. Bruce hits a driver that pushes right, but is in-bounds. As we laugh aloud and comment on how lucky he is to be in bounds, 4 carts pull up and 3 more walkers with push carts. A minute ago, there was no one around, now the whole world. But I didn’t mind because I had been on the range practicing my drill, and on the chipping area doing the same, so I had an idea of what the new swing feeling was. Almost my turn up at the plate! Larry is doing a bunch of practice swings and getting ready to hit his driver; his ball went towards where Bruce's was. Then it started again. One of the older lookin dudes standing behind his push cart said "you swingin real woods my man?"

I said "yah, just figured I would try somethin different today." He asked what it was and if he could see it. I handed him the 3wood and he swung it a few times. His buddy laughed and said "you can barely swing that $300 nike in ya bag. What you gonna do wit real wood!?" Then of course he told his friend, who started commenting about the clubs, then the guy next to him, then a wildfire lol. Everybody was talking about wooden clubs and how the game has changed. Then the worst part: the dude in the hawaiian looking shirt said "come on, give my man his club and let him do his thing. He didn’t bring real wood out here for nuthin. Trust me, I saw him on the chipping green swingin it just like Ben Hogan. I ain’t lyin….."

I tried to offset the comment by saying "lol nooooooo, it’s just the hat. My swing is nowhere near Hogan lol.” This is when I wanted to be at home in the basement with just me and the crickets and spiders. If you’ve seen my post about the Taylor Made Tour bag, you will know what I am talking about. I seem to have issues with people expecting me to do a certain thing or perform a certain way based on the type of equipment or clothing I have on. When I finish the Hogan swing project, I’m gonna start a Ben Hogan Golf Mindset Project lol…..how to cancel out the gallery on the first tee box! I walked up to the white blocks and tried my best to stay focused on the elbow/hip/impact drill. Dropped a ball on the ground and did a few practice drills. I didn’t swing all the way around my body; just enough to keep the elbow/hip/thrust feeling. I don’t tee balls up if I’m swinging 3wood or smaller, cause when I’m on the fairway, no tees are allowed. I treat the tee box as just another fairway; gives me more fairway practice that way. I walked into the ball just as I’ve practiced the past few weeks. I did the waggle a few times, then set my left foot forward of my right about 1” closer to the target line, then right foot perpendicular to target line. The right knee was bent in a little, just as I had practiced. With my head down, I took the club back, and loaded my right side, and swung through with the elbow/hip thrust feeling I had practiced on the chipping green. I don’t remember seeing the club make contact with the ball/ground (I gotta look into this…….as I think about it, I don’t think I have ever seen the club make contact with the ball….what the heck am I looking at when I swing???? Maybe my eyes just roll around in my head or something lol!!!! Gonna get one of those high speed cameras and put it on my eyes !).


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## Hogan Project

(continued from previous post)

Well, surprisingly, I actually made contact with the ball.It went straight right with a nice high trajectory and landed just a little farther than Bruce and Larry. It was on a side-hill about 10 yards from OOB. I think it went right because I forgot to supinate during the downswing / impact area. One thing I do distinctly remember is the feeling of the drill movement during the swing, and that as I saw the ball heading on an ok path, I did the Hogan finish, where he falls back on the right heel, then steps forward on the left foot towards the target; kind of an out of balance adjustment he makes. 

The Hawaiian shirt guy then says “I TOLD YA! My man can swing that wood!” That’s about all I did was swing it. Really all I did was get lucky under pressure lol. Wish I had that on camera to analyze. Want to know what my left wrist/hand was doing at impact, as well as the overall areas I have been working on night and day.

I got better with the supination as we played along. A quick note on this supination attempt; I’m not sure if I should be trying to do this or if I should be doing something else to make it happen on its own. I’ll know when I 

officially get to that part of the project. After a while, the swing started to feel “natural”. Now it definitely wasn’t perfect. I had my fair share of mis-hits and flubs, but overall, it was gooooooood because based on “feeling”, I was doing what I had been drilling all week. My 9-hole score of 44 was nothing to be writing home about, but I did beat Bruce by 13 strokes…..again lol.


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 8 - Takeaway DTL 9-18-11 - YouTube

3wood. Back focused in the takeaway. I've been wandering around the Nile for the past week. Playing around with lots of drills. Gotta get back on track. The takeaway is improving, but still not where I want it to be.

0:45 Right shoulder still easing itself up. I understand why this is happening now, just gotta work on it.

1:50 Club plane is different. Hogan's is turned down to line more. His wrists have hinged differently than mine. If I get to the top with less of a cupped left wrist, my club is right in the area as his. Gonna stay with the cupped wrist for now, but will learn both versions later.

During the takeaway, the top of my head is moving towards the target. Looks and feels kind of stack-n-tilty. Next phase of the takeaway is to cure these misses.


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## Big Hobbit

Really interesting stuff. Yes there's some fundamental differences but I like the tempo... and the hat.

Would really like to know what ball flight you get out on the course.


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## Hogan Project

Big Hobbit said:


> Really interesting stuff. Yes there's some fundamental differences but I like the tempo... and the hat.
> 
> Would really like to know what ball flight you get out on the course.


Thanks Big H. And I respectfully disagree with you....there are MANY fundamental differences lol. I really have no idea what I am doing at this point, but in time, it will all come together. As far as my ball flight, it is not impressive right now. About the same as what I had before I started with the project. I think that has a lot to do with my impact area; many of the players in the 60's and 70's era were angle hingers, where at impact, the right elbow is on the hip and the right arm is bent. I may not be at that point in the project till a few months.


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## tutp36

is this your real experience? let me read first


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## Hogan Project

tutp36 said:


> is this your real experience? let me read first


??? Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean.


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## Tim

Yes. This was interesting.
From how it looked in the videos, it appears you have his swing down pretty close.
So................ Whats your name?
What part of the world are you from?
Why are you doing this?
And welcome to the forum.


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## Big Hobbit

Big Hobbit said:


> Really interesting stuff. Yes there's some fundamental differences but I like the tempo... and the hat.
> 
> Would really like to know what ball flight you get out on the course.





Hogan Project said:


> Thanks Big H. And I respectfully disagree with you....there are MANY fundamental differences lol. I really have no idea what I am doing at this point, but in time, it will all come together. As far as my ball flight, it is not impressive right now. About the same as what I had before I started with the project. I think that has a lot to do with my impact area; many of the players in the 60's and 70's era were angle hingers, where at impact, the right elbow is on the hip and the right arm is bent. I may not be at that point in the project till a few months.


Mmm, looks a little laid off at the top, with the wrists cupped too, and the follow through is a bit flat. A bit of a guess but I'd say a lot of your shots go low with a bit of fade/slice.


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## Hogan Project

Tim said:


> Yes. This was interesting.
> From how it looked in the videos, it appears you have his swing down pretty close.
> So................ Whats your name?
> What part of the world are you from?
> Why are you doing this?
> And welcome to the forum.


Thanks for the kind words, but believe me, I am nowhere close right now. I have an idea of how most of his swing works, but an not yet able to translate this from my mind to my body.

The point of this project is to:

1. Gain an understanding of the science of "success duplication".
2. To see how close I am able to come to matching the Hogan mechanical movement.
3. To see if am able to train myself; to convert my "natural" movement to something totally different.


The indirect result of the project will possibly be:

1. An in-depth understanding of the golf swing
2. Improved ball-striking


At this phase in the project, I have no idea if the main points or indirect results are at all possible. I will let you know when I am finished.


----------



## Tim

Sounds interesting. Why Hogan? Why not Nicholas or Palmer or Woods?


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## Hogan Project

Tim said:


> Sounds interesting. Why Hogan? Why not Nicholas or Palmer or Woods?


Agreed that the journey is very interesting but right now mostly frustrating lol. I have an idea of most of Hogans mechanics, but I am unable to translate it from my mind to my muscles/body. 

A few years ago, I got suckerd into this golf game on a bet, and ever since then I've been tinkering with the swing. I have studied all the greats over the years and finally got the urge to go take lessons. The closer I got to signing up for lessons, the more I was intruiged by what I saw in videos of really solid, high school, college, and pro swings. Most all of them had the same basic fundamental mechanics. I just couldn't understand why I could not easily do it; the reason......I hadn't tried hard enough and put enough time into it yet. I took a survey of all the golfers I ran into. Different age ranges, races, demographics, gender, etc. I asked "if you were given the chance to take a lesson from a pro golfer, and if they had the ability to transform your swing into a very close likeness of their swing, who would it be? And who in your opinion is the greatest golfer of all time? The greatest ball-striker of all time? Who has the most unique signature to their swing"

Hogan got the most votes.


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## Hogan Project

One of my friends asked,"If you want to get better at golf, and if you want to learn the Hogan mechanics, why not just hire a swing instructor that teaches the one-plane method, or one that has an in-depth understanding of what Hogan was doing and his secret. Would save you lots of time so you could get out on the course and enjoy the game."

My response: I did think about getting a "one-plane swing" instructor, but realized that I would be missing the critical lessons learned from my infinite failures. 

Example: If I had a parachute on my back and were dropped on a large Egyptian island that measured 390,000 sq miles, with a map that showed exactly how to get to the fun-filled golf resort on the other side, I would miss all of the incredible journey in between. 

In my case, I want to jump out of the plane with the map in my hand, then as I am coming in for landing, the map is suddenly torn away from me by a quick wind and taken off into the distant ocean. I land and stand there dumbfounded and lost. I've heard so much about the golf resort; it's absolutely magical there! I fold my parachute, get out a bottle of water, and start the journey. As I walk, I stumble across lots of cool treasures along the way. Lol, who knows, in my case, I may just wander around the 390,000 sq mile land mass forever, never even getting close to the golf resort, but that is ok too, cause along the way, I met lots of new people, made a bunch of cool friends, and even some cool enemies, discover lots of interesting towns, and learned a lot about myself. I can either stand and stare at this Nile River, or dive into it and start swimming upstream lol.

And....there is no Hogan secret.


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## Hogan Project

In the 'Take 8' vid, my hips start turning immediately upon taking the club back. Lol, I didn't see the hip thing cause I'm so frustrated with what my head and right shoulder are doing.

The other flaws in my takeaway are:
1. Leaning the upper body towards the target, or either keeping the upper body in place too much. 

Tonite, I've experimented with different head and hip movements. All of them look close on video now, but feel ABSOLUTELY wrong. But my "right" has been what I have learned over the past few years. Gotta retrain myself to know that this "absolutely wrong" feeling is the new "right!"


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## Hogan Project

I remember someone telling me that I should focus on Hogans concentraton drills in order to gain a better understanding of his mechanics. They were right. From the address, to takeaway, to "the top", regular swing vs concentration are spot on. This should be all I need to master this part of the swing.

Regular swing is on the left. Concentration drill is on the right.

Ben Hogan DTL on beach - regular swing(left) vs concentration drill (right) - YouTube


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## 373

Good God! If I actually knew, much less could actually verbalize everything wrong with my swing, I'd give up the game and take up competitive knife fighting.


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## Hogan Project

For the past couple of weeks, I've been really frustrated with the takeaway, and my lack of focus was getting me nowhere. I would go to the basement with the mindset of "ok.....gotta focus on the takeaway until I get it. I will be doing nothing else with that stinkin 3wood until the takeaway is acceptable. NO full swings, no ball contact, NOTHING else. Get some Marine Corps focus about yourself!!" 

And I would start my usual routine. 

1. Set the computer up in DTL view.
2. Turn on the 100 degree spotlight that probably gives the neighbors the impression that I am lighting a nuclear reactor.
3. Press record on the computer.
4. Walk over and get into the address position. Hold it for a few seconds.
5. Go back to the computer. Stop recording. Draw a plane line from the hozel of the club, straight through my back.
6. Press record again.
7. Walk back over and get into address position, but this time, perform the full takeaway/upswing in concentration-drill tempo. Do this movement 5-6 times. Then do same movement in real body speed.
8. Go back to the computer. Stop recording. Run the video back of the concentration drill and watch as the club begins its climb.
9. Is club on the plane line? Yell "YES!!" 
10. Is my right forearm in position? Yell "YES!!" 
11. Is my right hand/wrist in position? Yell "YES!!" 
12. Is my left shoulder nice and flat? Yell "YES!!" 
13. Is my left shoulder still flat? Yell "YES!!" 
14. When hands get to lower back, is club still on plane line? Yell "YES!!" 
15. Is right leg starting to become a giant kickstand? Yell "YES!!" 
16. Is left knee tired of playing hide-n-seek....now poking out pointing towards the target line? Yell "YES!!" 
17. Watch my wife walk through the basement door, and over to the washer and dryer. As she walks back towards the door with a basket of clean clothes, she says "Ummmmmm, who are you yelling 'yes' to down here?" I say "the takaway concentration drill is getting close!! Couple more weeks!!" She gives me the blank stare again, and walks upstairs, cosing the door behind her. Then she opens the door, sticks her head through, and says "You know, there are medically supervised facilities for people like you," then closes the door again lol.
18. As video frames are forwarded, is club maintaing its glued-to-the-line relationship? Yell "YES!!" 
19. Once club gets to the top, is left wrist in correct position, and right leg kickstand loaded? Am I in a position to spring the motherbluffing spit out of the shaft! Yell "YES!!" 
20. Say to myself, "ok concentration drill mastered. All positions are acceptable. Looks close to Hogan!"
21. Now fast-forward to the part of the recording where I did the real speed movement.
22. Do same frame-by-frame analysis.
23. Watch as club remains glued to plane line, and wrists do exactly what they are supposed to, and legs/knees cooperate.
24. Then withing a half-a-second, watch as everything gets off plane and all positions get out of whack.
25. Cuss
26. Scratch my head and wonder "I can do it in concentration speed, but WHEN THE HECK WILL I BE ABLE TO DO IT AT REGULAR SPEED!?"
27. Go back to step #7 and repeat everything a few times, then get tired of cussing, and forget about the takeaway all together, and just start hitting balls, like I promised myself I would not do lol. 


This is what I've done the past few weeks..........until today!!! I didn't cuss! Takeaway is close now. The lesson I've learned going through all this is "what I feel is not real." Video coming soon.


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## Tim

LOL.
Sounds like your wife has a real nice sarcastic sense of humor also.


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## Hogan Project

Whew......it's been a while since my last video. Been busy with kids, wife, business, and life. I'm still working on the takeaway/upswing in the early morning and late evening.

In this vid, I'm still focusing on the takeaway. It's getting more comfortable, but there are still a few areas of it that need tweeking. I have been out on the course a few times, and I am absolutely amazed at how the ball is flying off the club, and how it is sounding. I can hear the ball as it bullets away from the ground. Has a whir sound.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 9- Takeaway/Upswing Focus - 10-20-11 - YouTube

I'm glad the weather is changing to cold, so I am forced to stay inside and avoid the course. One problem that the course is giving me is that I still get the urge to play in our foursome, which means, as much as I try not to, I end up wanting to compete and win the money/trophy. I've consistently won it every time now. Bruce says "Man, if I was hitting the ball like you are now, I would be happy.....you need to forget all the Hogan stuff!" Just as I have always said, the goal here is not to play better golf and make incredible contact, the goal is to see how close I can come to the Hogan swing.........but I won't complain one bit if my game keeps going in the exciting direction that it is! 

Also, I've stumbled across a few things that Hogan was doing. None of them are secrets, because they are right there in his videos.....


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## Hogan Project

I'm getting a lot of emailed and PM questions. Here are a few of the answers:

_"Thanks for coming up with this project! I'm learning a lot from watching you. When I first read about this thread, I said, oh boy, here we go again....another wanna be dreaming of copying one of the greatest golf swings of all time....take that back....THE greatest golf swing of all time. I'm loking forward to when you start working on the transition and impact. There's one problem though, adn I'm not being anal or anything, but Is it really necassery to pull your pants up over the navel?? I had to get that off my chest, but keep it up!!"_

Lol...thanks! I should have shown the end of the video when Kim drove in the garage. She pulled in while I was in mid practice mode. I turned around and her eyes went direct to the belt above my navel. I hit one of those model poses out of a golf magazine, where you put the club on your shoulder and turn your head and look into the distance. She rolled the window down, and said, "Why..............................................................why me??????" LOLOL, it was perfect!! Then my 4th grade daughter burst out laughing, so I told her I am taking a vacation day tomorrow to come eat lunch with her, and I'm wearing exactly what I have on now, with the pants up a little higher lololol.

On a serious note, I have always pulled the pants up high around the navel not just to match what Hogan is wearing, but because it makes it easier to analyze and compare. A delicate detail I realized a few weeks ago is that when I pull the pants up like that, there are specific creases in my pants that I am able to use as data during the entire swing, mainly around the right hip/thigh/hamstring area. Same for the shirt.......the creases and tension tell a lot about what is going on. Danm, who would have thought I would have to analyze the dudes clothing lol.


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## Hogan Project

My response to the statement _"no one could have figured out Hogan or else they would hit it as well as him." :_

Any golf swing can be duplicated, including Hogan's, and even Charles Barkleys. And I know everyone will say "who would _want _to swing just like Barkley lol??" It's not a question as to who would want to swing like him, rather if you could train your body to do so.

Actually, any human mechanical movement, as well as language, speaking accent, etc. Anyone in this forum can duplicate Hogan. This is expecially true for those that happen to have the same anatomical build, including height, and flexibility. I think the problem is that they haven't broken the swing down enough and put enough repetitive experimentation into it to understand it. I think Martin Ayers has gotten the closest.

The key to this duplication is to break the swing down on paper as far as you can, do as much research/video analysis as you can, and armchair quarterbacking as you can to get the ideas flowing, then remove yourself from behind the computer screen and get many, many, many corns and calluses upon the hands until the mechanical movements match.

A question for everyone: If Hogan himself walked up to you on the driving range and said, "hey young buck, what the hell are you doing to the golf swing! I will show you exactly how I swing the club." Then he grabs your hand, puts it on the club, and walks you through the entire mechanical movement. The question: If you were able to do exactly as he instructs, and were able to mirror his swing, would you believe you were swinging like Hogan, or would you say "nahhhhhh, I'm not swinging like Hogan cause I'm just a plain ordinary guy, and it's HIS swing and he is the greatest golfer that has ever lived."

Now if the statement would have said, _"no one could have figured out Hogan's mental game and thought patterns........"_ then I would absolutely agree, because we can't measure them. But we can measure every single mechanical movement.

Now, let's say someone (wink-wink) does happen to duplicate the Hogan swing; does this mean they will go on tour and become #1 in the world? A loud resounding NO, unless they have the mental game to match, and can play every type of shot, from every type of lie, out of every type of condition/surface, in front of thousands of cameras/people, under the pressures of having to win to pay a mortgage, eat, etc. My Hogan swing project has nothing to do with matching his mental game, but merely the simple swing.

Conclusion.............allow your mind to train your body and never tell it what it can't do, because both will believe it. Hmmmm. I may have to patent that one lol!


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## Hogan Project

Over the past few months, I have done enough discussion and heard enough points of view about what I am trying to accomplish, and I think I am starting to understand the confusion. Many say that it is possible for me to duplicate the swing, but i will never touch Hogan's dynamics.

Here's what I think people are trying to say regarding the dynamics piece:

Hogan gets up to the 1st tee, does his signature swing and hits a 3-wood. Goes 210yds with a piercing, resounding blow that echoes throught the course. Flight of ball is a 5-10 yd power fade. Ball explodes off the tee. Sounds like "BOOM..POW..BAM..CRUSH..BLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" If NASA engineers were there, they would have measured the impact/velocity/force as off the chart, and in amazement would quickly call scientist from around the globe to research and anaylze this in-human ability.

I get up to the 1st tee, and do an exact duplicate of Hogan's signature swing with my 3-wood. Goes185yds with a semi-piercing, much less resounding blow, that can only echo within the next fairway. Ball doesn't really explode off the tee, but does have some pop. Just sounds like "POP!" Flight of ball is a 10-20 yd draw. If NASA engineers were there, they would have measured the impact/velocity/force as bottom-to-middle of the chart, and wouldn't call anyone.

For me, I have succeded with the project, as my only goal is to duplicate the signature swing.


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## Rothenfield

This has been quite an interesting project on many levels. My one thought, as someone who has a hard enough time developing my own swing, is what swing you will end up with for yourself? Do you see yourself using the “Hogan” method that you worked so hard to develop, or can you switch back to something else?


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## Hogan Project

Rothenfield said:


> This has been quite an interesting project on many levels. My one thought, as someone who has a hard enough time developing my own swing, is what swing you will end up with for yourself? Do you see yourself using the “Hogan” method that you worked so hard to develop, or can you switch back to something else?


Rothenfield, at this point, I am working on the Hogan takeaway/upswing. I am still able to successfully do my "original" takeaway/upswing. Over time, I think will be able to both, however, I'm training my body to now think that the Hogan version IS the "original."

Whenn you say, _"as someone who has a hard enough time developing my own swing....." _IMO, your body does not know what swing it should have until you tell it.


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## Hogan Project

elevatedcamRF (right front) comparison.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 10 - Takeaway/Upswing Focus - 10-25-11 - YouTube

I've been working on the DTL view for past couple of months. Now, ready to move on to my next camera angle. I will be doing EVERY camera angle of EVERY video I can get into my posession. That includes Down-the-line, Front-On, Rear, Overhead, Right-Front, Left Front, grid, etc.

Still focusing on the takeaway/upswing. As you saw in the DTL Take 9 swing, I was getting close, but when you see things from a different angle, such as in this elevated view of the Front-Right side, many flaws jump right out of the screen. This is expected, and will happen as I move on to other camera angles. Just part of the territory. 

0:00 to 2:28 : is the initial recording; you can see that my right arm/elbow are doing some strange things, and my left arm isn't straight as it should be. 

2:33 to 7:15: After about an hour of tweeking and retweeking, I was able to understand how to make the necessary changes that I was satisfied with for now. I understand what the movements feel like.....and what I feel is not real. Now I need to put in whatever amount of practices to further ingrain the feeling. The cool part about this is that I am still able to do my old swing movements. Kinda like if someone were learning a 2nd language.......they can speak the 2nd language fluently, but somehow their original language is still hiding in their throat lol.....

Other glaring issues: 
- my impatient left knee
- my impatient hips
- my leaning head
- my low pants/belt buckle
- and another 25 issues that nobody else may see, but I do.

This is getting fun!!! On second thought, I'll probably be stuck working on this camera angle for a couple of months.........hmmmm...the fun just ended.


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## Rothenfield

It sure looks like “fun”, and amazing to me that you are able to maintain both “languages”. I’m still trying to learn the language of my one Pig Latin swing. 

At what point will you feel like you’ve accomplished your mission?


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## Hogan Project

Rothenfield said:


> It sure looks like “fun”, and amazing to me that you are able to maintain both “languages”. I’m still trying to learn the language of my one Pig Latin swing.
> 
> At what point will you feel like you’ve accomplished your mission?


LOLOLL!!! Pig Latin....toooo funny!!

Accomplishment will be when I am able to comfortably, and effortlessly match all of Hogans videos. Slow-mo analysis of DTL, FO, FR, FL, Rear.

Then I'll move on the the "Ben Hogan Golf Swing Force/Power/Dynamics Project."


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## Hogan Project

One thing I am having difficulty with is my overly-muscular frame. I was heavy into competitive bodybuilding for many years, and packed on a solid muscular foundation. Grrrrrrrr! Too much chest mass! If the chest was flat and birdy, the left arm wouldn’t be so restricted. I can forsee this being a big problem when I get to the transition/downswing study. Left arm is going to be tough to drop down with a swollen, compressed pectoral standing in the way. Or maybe the left arm doesn’t drop straight down……we’ll see when I get to that phase.


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## Hogan Project

PM message:

I admit I gave you a bunch of negative comments and trouble when I first read about this project. Not because I had anything against you, but because I have studied Hogan for many years even before you were born. Hell, I saw him play...in person!!. I’ve seen lots of stupid idiots buy the damn hat and khakis and think if they waggle the club, and swing persimmon, that they are a Hogan clone. When I stumbled across your thread, I was a doubter, and pissed again, and said a few things that were out of place, but very true if you knew my professional golfing background, but with every new video you put up, I’m beginning to think this is maybe possible. Now I did say MAYBE!! And that’s a BIG maybe!!!!!!! A very BIG one!!! So don’t get comfortable by any means. Keep workin at it. This has turned out to be pretty good to keep up with. Now, I consider myself a semi-supporter of your project. Im interested to see how you'll make it through P4, P5, and P6, and what you see the secret to it is. And DO NOT USE MY FREAKIN NAME IN ANY OF YOUR POSTS! That's why this is a PM.



My response: 

Thanks for the semi-support, I think lol. Man _"John Doe," _you just punched me in the stomach a few times and busted my mouth, then kindly straightend my shirt and gave me a tissue to clean my lip lol. Actually your earlier comments were not negative to me, they were just a rushed judgment. Based on my old thinking, I would have said the same things. I have no idea if I will accomplish the Hogan swing, but I have a good idea that I will try and try again unitl all the trying is gone from me........then I'll gather myself, replenish, and start the trying process all over again. I highly respect that you saw Hogan play, and look forward to your honest, but violent way of critiquing me lol. Now, my wife is another story. When she read your PM, she was pissed (and I was lovin every minute of it because looks like she is more involved in the project than she wants to admit lol). She said "how can he say all that disrespectful stuff to you, then want to be best friends?? SOME PEOPLE! You need to block his messages." I saw no disrespect at all........just a true Hogan fan not afraid of tellin it like it is.

One very curious line in your message....."professional golfing background." In what capacity? Player, coach, or what???

Again, thanks for the semi-support lol, and looking forward to more fights in the future lolollool. Now I gotta research what P4, P5, and P6 mean.
Ben Hogan Swing Project


*Boy, I hope posting this doesn't cause any problems lol. But he, or maybe even she, only said "DO NOT USE MY FREAKIN NAME IN ANY OF YOUR POSTS!" *They never said, "don't post my freaking posts."


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## Hogan Project

This guy Richard Elliot does a few golfer imitations. He does Colin Montgomerie very well. He's just having fun mimiking it with it for the camera and while at seminars/clinics. Anyone that has followed the European tour when Monte was hot may have an idea of how Monte swings and his signature moves. The preshot routine, setup, and swing that Richard Elliot does looks veeeeeeery close. I've never analyzed Elliot vs Montgomerie, but even before I even had to do that, I could easily recognize who he is imitating.

What's his ball flight? I have no idea and no care. 

Will he join the European Tour since he's able to mimick Monte's swing? Probably not, but he could easily join European Tour clinics and pro/ams.

If he shows up to a driving range, and does his full Monte imitation, will anyone recognize it as the swing of Colin Montgomery? Yep

RICHARD GILLOT IMITE MONTY - YouTube

Colin Montgomerie swing imitation by Richard Gillot. Excelent - YouTube


I wonder why no on thinks the same cannot be done with Hogan? Maybe when someone is at the top of his sport and is thought to be an icon/legend, they cannot be touched........just a thought.


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## Hogan Project

PM message:

Can you do an analysis of Hogan's swing with audio? Would be interested to see what you describe is happening. Also would be helpful if you can add audio to your own Hogan Project videos so I could get more of an understanding of what you are doing, because I am reading the 5 Fundamentals book and working towards some of what Hogan teaches. I'm also trying to find his secret too.

My response:

Once I am finished with the entire project, I will do a full analysis of Hogan, including the audio. Not trying to be funny, but at this point, the only analysis I could offer is that he is standing on two feet, has a golf club in his hands, club went above his head, and then hit the ball, and he is watching it go bye-bye. Unlike many others out there, I am not a good armchair quarterback. I can only speak to what I am actually doing. When I hear someone say something like: "Hogan was bringing the club into the ball by intentionally supinating the left wrist and rolling the forearm, becuase he was thinking of avoiding the left side, while mainting 34.7766 percent of his weight on his big toe. His intentions were to pitch the right elbow and bilaterally make his right hand split into three mini hands," I chuckle. Maybe they have some type of special psychic ability to know what he was thinking, but I do not. Right now, I have no idea what was going on in his swing.......well, actually I do have an idea about a few things, but they don't matter until I get finished with it all.....around my 80th birthday lol.

I'll look into adding audio to my practice videos.

Regarding the 5 Fundamentals book, I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so when I've accomplshed my mission. It's gonna be interesting to see if he describes what I am doing.

I'm looking forward to you posting your swing videos, and like I've said thousands, of thousands of times. There Is No Secret. Everything he is doing is right there in EVERY video. Heck, he even told you what he was doing and even demonstrated it in his _"Well, the most important...uhhhh....thing in the golf swing to me is"_ video lol!

Ben Hogan Swing Project

Ben Hogan Golf Swing - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

I played my final round of the season this past Saturday. I won our year-end tournament with a stinky 92........hey! no laughing lol! I may have 6-putted a few greens, but I still came away with the victory! I used my Hogan takeaway/upswing that I have been working on for the past month, combined with my "just swing down and hope the ball is in the fairway" swing. I was doing the same P1 thru P4 moves you saw on the 'Take 10' video. Then P5 was literally a "just turn my brain off and swing down and around towards the ball and pull my hands around and up my left pants-pocket." Ball still has that model-rocket sound when it leaves the ground with 3W, 5W, 4Hy, and 3Hy. Irons have no distinct sound.

The trophy is mine to keep until we get back on the course in March 2012. I sure am glad that the "friendly competition" is over, because it was detracting from my swing project. Even though I am supposed to only be in the basement working on the takeaway/upswing, I still had to worry about making contact with the ball, because of our Saturday morning golf outings, and because I wanted to be able to respectably keep up with the guys out there. That was a big mistake; not a good idea to tear a car down and work on the suspension/lifters/camshaft, and at the same time, putting it in the local Friday nite quarter-mile race for the pink slip. Soooooo, now that "keeping the ball in the fairway" is over, and the competetive ego is put aside for a few months, I can now put my balls away and get deep into the "swing" of things lol.

I recall someone asking me which Hogan swing I would be focusing on. They asked:
Pre-secret good Hogan (1942-1946), or
Post-secret/pre-accident Hogan ('46-'49), or
Post-accident to last win ('50-'59), or
Old-man Hogan ('60's +) 

For now, I've been training my P1 thru P4 using the Shell Wide World of Golf vids, which I think is part of the post-accident era. Well, almost time to open the chapter of transition, P5, and P6, and after experimenting with a few moves, this appears impossible! What the heck was this dude's ligaments and tendons made of???! WHEW!! I think Old-Man Hogan is the easiest to work towards, because it involves a lot less flexibility, and the available videos of him in the yellow, Mister Rogers sweater are of reasonably good quality/resolution. But, you know, I like tough things (hmmmm, I think I've heard that somewhere before lol), and the Old-Man version of Hogan is just not as exciting as the mid-life version.

So......onward I go men, with hopes that I don't pull my scapula out of my humerus and clavicle socket too far. CHARGE!!!!


----------



## Surtees

Nice one on the win and good luck trying to keep your body together! keep us updated!


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## Rothenfield

I have to admit that I haven’t read everyone of your posts, but it’s obvious that you’ve put a lot of hard work into your ambition. That’s very admirable and I wish you good luck moving forward. 

I'm hoping that you come up with a new project that you will share with us soon. I would enjoy reading about it.


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## Hogan Project

I got a question asking how my ball flight was doing.

Right now, there is no ball flight, cause I'm done with the course/range till March.

Everything related to the swing project is going down in the 1st floor, Computer Simulation/Biomechanical, Physio-kinetic swing labratory, which has multiple State-of-the-Art, super-hi tech 2-dimensional swing analysis devices, and NASA-level advanced focus lighting ...........ummmm............better known as my basement with a laptop, iphone, and Walmart spotlight lol.

I do hit a ball sometimes, just to see if it goes into my canvas net, or ricochets off the brick wall and goes out my garage window. Last week, my neighbor said he was violently brought out of his sleep by the sound of shattering glass. Said he stepped outside to investigate and was about to call 911, until he heard the repeating hits of my golf club. I was working on keeping my head down, and somehow that made me hit it real fat; the ball popped straight up over the canvas wall, and out the garage window. The funny part of it all is watching me right after the glass shattered lololol. I immediately put the club down, turned off the lights, and swiftly shut everything down without hesitation...........like my mom was gonna get me lol. Hey.....I pay the rent in this muthuh! I've got to put together a video showing nothing but my mishits and shanks; they are hilarous!!

Sooo, that's 2 plexiglass windows 49.5" x 17.5" at Ace hardware total cost $42.02, and a couple of "I told ya so's" by Kim.

Regarding the swing, I'm getting excited by the transition and right elbow move. So far, this part is easier than the takeaway was! Didn't say it was easy, but easier than the takeaway. I'll get some videos up tonite.


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## Hogan Project

This vid is all about the right leg. I noticed something really different about it in all the past videos. Made a change; now, it feels like I am opening the right leg as the club comes down. 

Also, major grip change. The left wrist now has left thumb going straight down the shaft at address, and the face of the club is VERY, VEEEEEERY open. So open, that I was afraid to swing, because I thought ball would go into the basement brick wall to the right. Took me about a week to get the guts to make a full swing, but when I finally did, contact was EXTRA solid. Wish I could try this new setup on the course!!

Regarding the transition, I know and understand what Hogan is doing, but I'm not focusing on it in this video.

One issue I'm having with the basement is that I am unable to make a full follow-thru because of club wanting to explode upwards as it comes out of my left shoulder. I'll deal with it till March.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 11 - Right Leg Focus - 11-20-11 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Experimenting with the transition. Why isn't the transition happining better? Because I am stinkin scared! I haven't gained enough confidence to turn my shoulders away from the ball as I should be. I'm turning maybe 75% worth, when it should be 100%. What is the fear?? Hard to explain, but the further I turn away from the ball, the more I think I won't be able to get back to it and square the face. With the face this open at address, it just doesn't seem like I will get it closed, and the ball will shoot rightwards, then ping-pong around my basement and clock me in the groin or eye! My mind knows this is just not true, but my mind and body still haven't become trusting friends yet. Then Kim will have another official "I told you so" moment, and yap yap yap about me hitting a ball in the house in the first place lol. Sooooooo, until I get enough courage to make a full shoulder turn, I will be a bit over-the-top as I come down.

How have I proven this fear theory? When there is no ball in front of me, I easily make a complete turn, and the transition looks goooooooood.

My plan was to work on the swing for a couple of months without a ball, but at the end of those two months, whenever I decided to put a ball in front of me, I would probably turn from tough manly-man, into fragile-flower-man. So I will keep the ball there..................for now.

0:00 5-iron DTL
0:25 5-iron FL
0:58 5-wood DTL
1:10 1-wood DTL
1:48 450cc Driver DTL (ball sitting on mat, no tee)
2:15 5-metal DTL
2:22 5-iron FL slow mo replay
2:48 5-iron DTL slow mo replay

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 12 - Transition Experiment - 11-21-11 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Time to answer some emailed questions. Most are from youtube. All gave permission for me to post these........well maybe except one.

_(Q: ) How much time do you put into the Hogan Swing project each day? I'm doing somethin similar, but not based on any pro swing. I'm just doing my own, but I'm trying to see if I can become a scratch. What do you think about Hogan compared to the Stack and Tilt? That's what I'm working on. I see some of the footage of Hogan and there is some S&T there. You know, Hogan was self taught too like waht you're doing. Good videos !_

(A: ) Right now, about an hour a day of actual swinging of the club and/or drills. About another hour of video comparison and Hogan analysis. And while driving to work/on the elliptical, I have the iPhone on a nonstop loop. I would recommend you to pick a pro as a baseline. It would give you something to compare yourself to. Someone that has super high resolution footage!! Unless you're just interested in scoring and the aesthetics don't matter. Sorry, I don't know anything about stack and tilt. Your swing looks good. Follow thru reminds me of Tiger. How's the progress? What handicap did you start at?


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## Hogan Project

_(Q: ) The take 12 video looks good! What you're doing is very interesting. Keep at it. It would be good if you had a casio high resolution camera. You must have a natural nack at visual learning. That style wouldn't work for me. I have a hard enough time with an instructor standing right beside me. I'm wondering why do you swing so slowly? Is this some type of drill? Does this have some kind of intention, like Hogan's concentration drill? It's like your backswing is in slow motion or something. What's the secret to making your hips pivot and go nonstop? Mine turn just fine when I'm going from P1 to P6, but when I get right around impact, they stop, then start again. Your's are pivoting like Hogan's nonstop. Would love to play a round one day with a guy that swings like Hogan! I've been playing about 23 years now and I'm a 5. What's your handicap and where are you from? You said you aren't going out to the corse again till March. Must be cold there. YOu must be in the upper east coast area. Hit me up on my cell. Thanks._

(A: ) Thanks XXXXXXXXXXXX. I think all us humans have a natural nack at visual learning. I think the problem comes when we want to learn visually, but realize that we are learning from a pro, or a master at their craft, then we say "naaaaah, there's no way I can do that cause I'm just a plain guy." The pro has 2 arms and 2 legs just like you! When I started all this "nonsense" (that's what my wife calls it), I said that anybody could duplicate Hogans swing. I need to make a small change to that statement. ANYBODY THAT CAN HIT EVERY HOGAN STATIC POSITION CAN DUPLICATE THE SWING. The difficult part is putting all the static still shots together. When I show my buddies all the static moves, they say "damn, that's all Hogan's doing." But when they try to instantly put all the statics together, they look like they are bowling, or playing tennis, or doing some other swinging sport. Nothing against your instructor, but if they can't do the moves, or can't logically explain them, I'm not sure I would be trusting them with my learning. For me, visual is all I have to go by. I haven't met anyone that can do and teach the Hogan swing.


Why does my takeaway and backswing look so slow? Cause at this point, I'm just a Hogan infant. I'm just learning how to crawl lol. Hopefully in about a few months, I'll graduate to toddler, then teenager, then get my real Hogan drivers liscense. Until then, all movements need to be slow and calculated so I can engrain them into muscle memory. All of it is one big swing drill.

My hips: It's funny that you bring that up! In the beginning, I was also focused/worried about the highly discussed Hogan pivot. Funny part is that I look at the Take 12 vid and notice that the hips are kinda pivoting like they should be, but I haven't thought anything about them.....AT ALL. Now I gotta look back at my notes and figure out when this started happening. I think it was around the time I was focusing on the right leg movement. Lol, I'm not gonna think about the hips; heck, that might change the transition or something lol. 

I shoot in the mid to high 90's from the white tees. Low score is 92. I don't have an official handicap. I'm in the Atlanta, Ga area. I'm not avoiding the course because of the weather, just avoiding the competetive ego, and to get deeper into understanding the swing.


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## Hogan Project

_(Q: ) Hey man this is starting to get good. You said that you are addressing the ball with the club wide open now and the left thumb straight down the shaft. Sounds just like what Hogan was doing when he found his secret. Can you do a video closep of yoou grip? What happens for yuo if the club is square? You need to reearch HOgan's equipment too. They were super heavy and the faces were bent open. IMO, I think you ahve already discovered Hogans secret.So waht the F is it!??!! I'm tired of chasing this crap! Driving me insane. Pay me no mind. Just my personal rant and venting session LOL! And who's your instructor. Nobody can just all of a sudden start teach themselves to swing like Hogan in their basement. Come on._

(A: ) If I use my new weak grip, and address the ball with the face square, ball will go very hard left. When I experimented with this, first few balls just went to left side of the canvas net, near the PVC frame. When I got the nerve to swing harder, ball missed the net and went into my wife's garage door on the left side. So I MUST keep it wide open. That's why I'm telling everyone I am somewhat fearful to make a full swing now. The club looks veeeeeweeey strange with the toe flipped to the back when it is adressing the ball. 

LOLOL! Cool quote! This should be on a t-shirt "Hogans secret. So what the F is it!??!! I'm tired of chasing this crap! Driving me insane."

Ok, since you took the time to email me, I'll fess up. My instructor is this dude that's in a bunch of youtube videos. He wears a white hat, and khakis. They call him "The Hawk" or something lol. Couldn't resist lol. But seriously, all I'm doing is what I see in the Hogan videos.


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## Hogan Project

_(Q: ) You're scared of the ball???? LOLOLOLROFLMAO. You're just another fu**ing Charles Barkley. Get a life. What a crock and a waste. Just swing like the sh*ty swing you were born withand forget all this Hogan wannabe bull****. F**k you very much for wasting my time!_

(A: ) Uhhhhh, not really scared of the ball when it is just sitting there, but a bit terrified if I shank one off the wall and it becomes my new eyeball. 

LOLOLOLOL (I don't know why I'm laughing, but I don't want you to have all the fun by yourself, but I wasn't talented enough to laugh myself onto the floor like you did lol. I'll keep trying though). 

Sorry, there are no crocodiles around here, just a few crickets and spiders. 

It's actually a semi-waste; this has helped me get brand new garage windows, that are now plexiglass and unbreakable. Yes!!

But I AM swinging the sh*ty swing I was born with lol. 

Anytime sir!.....or ma'am.


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## Hogan Project

_(Q: ) I see the Hogan transition in your swing. Damn, I've been trying to do that for 10 years now lol! And you already got it figured out in a couple of months. You need to get this put on the Gold Channel so they can get rid of the Big Break. I need a closer view of the hands at P4 and P5. Best to do this with a high speed camera then I can really understand how the transition happens. Check out my youtube channel for my swings from front and down the line. Let me know what you think the problem is. Thanks for the laughs too! Great sense of humor._

(A: ) I admit that I am starting to understand what Hogan is doing, but I haven't figured everything out, or how to apply all of it..............YET. Golf Channel, nahhhh, not enough old schoolers out there to make enough of a case to get a Hogan viewership. Now if this was a Ricky Fowler project, very possible.....but wait a minute.......then, I would have to wear all orange pants, orange shoes, orange bent, orange unders, orange hat, orange socks to work lol! Your swing looks good. I have no idea what you are working on, but it's a bit herky jerky, but then again look at my sucky swing...what the heck do I know! You should ask an actual teaching pro about your inside takeaway.


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## Hogan Project

_(Q: ) Where's the audio you promissed? This would be a lot easier for me if you just explained exactly what you are doing in your videos. Like Sevam1 did in his back yard. Check him out on youtube.Man, youre doin all this ffrom your basement! I never would have thought you could actualy work on the full swing inside like that. I'm looking forward to your next video WITH SOUND AND EXPLANATIONS._

(A: ) Hey, I never promised any audio, I just said I would look into it. So, I'm still looking lol. Yah, of course I've seen all the sevam1 vids. The difference between us is that he actually knows what he is talking about. I'm still trying to figure it out. When I get the next video out, I'LL THINK ABOUT DOING IT WITH SOUND AND EXPLANATIONS.


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## Hogan Project

_(Q : ) I really enjoy these videos, they're awesome!!!! any how i sent you a message on youtube stating the same thing.....im wondering what did you use in training aids to get to this point.....ive been playing for 5 months and i have the same desire for Hogan as you do....and want to accomplish this same swing.....but i dont know how to go about it....

i have some dvds and they're's all kinds of clips on youtube.....what route did you go....

by the way my name is XXXXXXX, i live in eastern KY........keep up the great work...

also Jim Mclean has a new book about hogan coming out at the first of the year....supose to be a good one!!!!

I'm glad ive found someone like you that has the same desire for Hogan as I do....I've read 5 lessons twice and power golf briefly once. 

there's bunches and bunches of good references out there on hogans swing. such as a book called the fundamentals of hogan by David Ledbetter.....now i like that book, but the arrogant Ledbetter tries to emphasize what hogan was doing wrong....i hate that part about it.....i think hogan may have a better track record than Ledbetter...lol 

The thing I've found real confusing is the things that hogan states in the book such as the elbows tied together, and feet and so on i could go for days......anyhow i really think you are getting it down pat.....how long have you been trying to accompish this???? 

I hope you dont mind me asking questions cause ive studied hogan probably as muchas you have.........so ask away.... 

Keep up the good work, hope to hear from you soon..._



(A: ) Let's communicate via the public forum threads. Talking via email is cool, but only 2 brains are active. In public forums, there are potentially hundreds of brains involved, and hundreds of backgrounds, and maybe even one or two people that actually understand this stinkin game. One of those hundreds of forum users may see something that we're discussing, and may have some insight that could help us both figure this crazy game.

The route I initially thought about taking was to read the 5 Fundamentals book, because Hogan's name was on it, but I was hesitant because I've heard of and spoken to many many people that want the Hogan swing, and are trying to find "the secret" by reading the book, but are nowhere nearer than when they started. So, my thinking was "why would I want to read the book if nobody has been able to swing like Hogan after reading it."

So my logic is to analyze his swing in 2-dimensional videos and compare mine to that.

And, there is no secret. Everything Hogan did on the course and range was witnessed by thousand of eyes, and hundreds of cameras. There was never a cape, or magic wand, or top hat involved lol. Now, David Copperfield is a different story.....how the heck did he make an airplane disappear lol????

I posted my usual routine a while back in the thread. It's basically record my swing, then compare it to Hogan's. Most times, I'm working on a particular area or bodypart.

As far as training aids, I did build a PVC plane device. It is just a pvc pipe that I set to the right of me at address. It's set at the angle of a 5 iron. Helps me to keep the club on the plane line during the takeaway and upswing. It is also handy during the downswing. Hogan's club always appears to be glued to the plane line.


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## Hogan Project

I am intruiged by Hogan's transition. I want this area in red.


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## Hogan Project

Transitional magic! But absolutely not any secrets hiding anywhere. It's all in the video! Very clear to see, even at this grainy resolution.

Pay close attention to the clubhead......

Ben Hogan slow motion video - Transition training 1 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

_(Q: ) Why on earth would you want to duplicate the Ben Hogan Swing at all? 

Unless of course you want to develop an out of control hook, and then spend half a lifetime pasting compensations on top of it to straighten it out. 

It's a bit like having plastic surgery to make yourself look like Brad Pitt. And even if you do it perfectly, you won't be able to act worth ****. 

THe Hogan swing is not as horrible as Tiger's current version - granted. And not nearly as horrible as Norman's. But they are all horrible. These guys got their success despite there swing mechanics, not because of them. _


(A: ) Hmmmm, this is a very good question. I've never really thought about why I would want to duplicate Hogan's swing. But after thinking about it for a while, the answer is quite simple.....it's because I want to develop an out of control hook, and then spend half a lifetime pasting compensations on top of it to straighten it out. 

I had another thought about what you said regarding plastic surgey and Brad Pitt. 

You said "It's a bit like having plastic surgery to make yourself look like Brad Pitt. And even if you do it perfectly, you won't be able to act worth spit." 

I don't know if you realize it, but your statement is absolutely brilliant! Here's my analogy: Let's say that for years you look like the elephant man, then you sign up for plastic surgery to look like Brad Pitt. The surgery is a complete success. Who chares about acting.........you look like Brad Pitt now.....lololl! 

Note to self: Make a t-shirt that says "Your success is defined by you*r social community*." (The bold lettering would be crossed out)


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## 373

I don't get it. Hogan's swing was developed to avoid his problem hitting a hook. If you manage the "Hogan swing"... Well, a hook certainly won't be a problem.

As for why someone would want to develop a swing like a very successful pro, I find it to be about as dumb a question as I've heard. The pros do things better than we do. The more our swings learn to do what they can do, the better we would be. What in the world is wrong with that?


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## Hogan Project

Compilation of vids that helped me get an understanding of the transition.

Ben Hogan slow motion video - Transition training 2 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

In this video, I was just playing around with a few things that felt nothing like a golf swing. During my analysis, I ran the slow-mo a few times just to see how ridiculous the swing looked, and was shocked to see that I was SOMEHOW getting close to the angle-hinged position. I WISH I KNEW HOW I WAS GETTING THERE!!!!!!!! It would be so helpful if I could just type exactly what I am doing, but I have no idea right now.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 13 - Angle Hinging Experiment - 12-1-11 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Ever since I was experimenting with something I saw in a couple of Hogan's videos, my sucky swing now has a different feel. This is what it feels like now (from the 1:12 thru 1:18 mark). Like the ball is being lifted from the ground or something. Then the club wants to shoot out of my hands and through my floor boards. I have to purposefully stop it. MY NEXT HOUSE WILL HAVE HIGH ENOUGH CEILINGS TO DO A COMPLETE SWING!!!


A perfact Hammer throw a slow motion video just watch the skill - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

I get the same questions all the time regarding "why" I'm doing this. Here's my reply from another forum:

Is your primary goal to have a swing that visually replicates Hogan's as closely as possible or to improve your game ? Yes, visual replication is the goal, and if I am able to get the visual down, then that has to, in some way, give an indirect ballstriking result. And by visually, I mean putting my swing vs Hogans, side-by-side on a screen, and step through it frame-by-frame. If the positions are close, then I am making progress. I think game improvement will be an indirect, but automatic occurance.

How long have you been playing golf ? Picked up my first club in 2007 at a company outing. I was a competetive softball player back then. One of my coworkers bet me that I couldn't hit the ball 100yds into the fairway. Said I could use any club I wanted to. I picked the driver cause it was the biggest lol. Had no idea about loft and side spin and grooves. Gave me 10 chances at it. 1st ball went about 200yds but had a small steering wheel attached to it; turned hard right. Ball #10 sliced two fairways over; after that day, I was hooked!

How often do you play ? March thru October, about once per week. One thing I puposefully do on the course that probably seems strange: I take no practice swings.....ever. Not even when putting. I have a reason for this.

What do you usually shoot ? All-time low this year is a 92. Avg score the past few years has been 101-108. Putting avg is approx 1.7.

How will you measure the success of your experiment ? For this phase of the project, Visually. For future projects, Better scores and Better ball striking.

Do you find your experiment more satisfying than playing a round of golf ? Sorry, don't know yet. havent finished the expriment yet. But, I can say, that there is not much satisfaction hitting balls 13yds in my basement swing lab lol!


Other thoughts.....why did I chose to use Hogan as my example? Because I like the way the swing looks, and I've never seen any other ordinary person have a swing that looked aesthetically as his. It's the most eye-appealing to me. If I had to pick a player of today, it would be Rory McIlroy, but again, this is not based on wins or performance or driving distance or any of that kind of stuff.....only the aesthetics.

Another question I get a lot.....why don't you just put all the effort into the "swing you were born with," rather than focus on trying to change your "natural swing" into someone elses? I am confused as to how people come up with the definition of "natrual swing." To me, there is no natural swing that you are born with. Just as there is no speaking accent that you are born with. If a Korean child, born to Korean parents, in Korea, is put on a plane, and flown to a farm in South Georgia, and is raised from age 0 to 15 by a surrounding of people that speak with a southern accent, this Korean child will have a southern accent. Just because they are born to Korean-speaking, Korean-looking parents, does not mean that they will "naturally" speak the same as them.

Same for the golf swing......you weren't born with any type of predisposed "golf swing" built into your DNA. You learned it. If you grew up never ever seeing anyone speaking of, or playing golf, and someone handed you a club, you would just stare at it, and have no idea what it is for. You would either have to have someone tell you how to use it, or observe it being used. If they told you that you swing the club by squatting your butt all the way to the ground, then jump up and spin around in two circles, this would be your "natural" swing. And if you practiced the heck out of it, and burned it into muscle-memory, you could play golf with it.

There are natural ROM's for each of us, but not a specific golf swing.

Regarding the "effort" queston, I do think I could tweek the "natural" swing I have developed over the past 4 years into scratch. But, I have decided that I don't like the swing "accent", and now want to change it. Naaaah, let me reword that.....I don't see anything wrong with my original swing accent, but now I want to see if it is at all possible to learn a new one.


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## Hogan Project

Still experimenting with lots of things. Haven't put together a solid training plan yet. Won't do that till I can get a basic understanding of a few more things. Only felt like doing some 3/4 swings today. My lower back has been giving me a tough time for the past few days; probably from me doing sort of a backwards lean as I swing through. Kim says I should give it up cause I'm tearing my body down. I say "no way....I'm in too deep and have learned too much." If it gets torn down to the point of needing a back transplant, I'll just work towards the Hogan in the Mr. Rogers yellow sweater. Until then........ONWARD MEN....ummmmm and women........C H A R G E !!!!

I am getting soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stinkin tired of this basement. My daughter, the family artist, offered to paint a golf course mural on the white sheet I'm hitting into.  

If the weather is good this weekend, I'm gonna get out in the front yard yard and hit some of those birdieballs onto the neighbors roof. Just hope I don't get that urge to tee up a ProV1 to see if I can fade it around the two houses at the cul de sac.

0:48 5-metal
2:57 Sam Snead 1-wood
3:46 Taylormade Driver 450cc (ball on mat no tee)
4:21 McGregor 5-wood (grip is hard as a rock and feels like plastic. Ball ricocheted up into the girders. Probably hit top of club cause it rotates in my palm from lack of tacky grip.)
5:01 3-metal
5:33 5-metal
6:65 Sam Snead 1-wood slo mo

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 14 - 3/4 swings - 12-15-11 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Made it to the course on Friday afternoon, but not to play. I watched Bruce and my Dad battle each other for December bragging rights. Too perfect a day for them to pass it up. 69-70 degrees with very little wind. They were a little baffled by my choice not to play. They know about my swing reconstruction goal and only tried to talk me into it about 100 times. But luckily, I didn't even bring my clubs, cause I'm not ready to focus on ball flight/course management yet. But I did need to get out of the solitary basement atmosphere to smell the green grass and listen to some fiendly trash talking.

They only played the front nine. After 8 holes, they were tied. My Dad won on the 9th hole by 1 stroke, after Bruce's 2nd shot pin-balled off a pine tree. Didn't bother me not playing cause I got to do lots of caddying and swing analysis. I've put so much time into looking at swing video the past few months that I'm starting to get an understand of what I am looking at, and how to pick out the things that are fundamentally good and bad. I'm definitely not a swing instructor, but one of my main goals, besides the Hogan duplication attempt, is to help my Dad with his golf game. He is 67 years old, freshly retired, and shoots in the 95-101 range. He has fun playing the game, but what I see now in his swing is absolutely no weight shift. He swings off his back foot, which makes him very armsy. He is working is butt off swinging with all upper body. I don't know how he makes it through 18 holes without being tired and drained. 

He said he saw my Take 14 video and that my swing looks different, but that I will probably not be able to transition it from the basement to the course. Says he's working on his game too, and that he will be giving us extra strokes to keep things competitive. We'll see.......


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## Hogan Project

I reluctantly hung out with Kim on Saturday; I don't mind spending quality time with her, but I do mind SHOPPING NONSTOP FOR 8 STINKIN HOURS! 

I swallowed the above rant because when she stopped by a goodwill/thrift store, I got a chance to browse the "thrifty" golf area. There were a few used, off-brand clubs and bags that had been abandonded by their owners. I'm not sure if these are men's or women's clubs.

I stumbled across the following:

a Ben Hogan AMF 1-wood (cracked hozel area),
a Ben Hogan AMF 1-wood, (good)
a Ben Hogan AMF 3-wood, (good)
a Ben Hogan AMF 4-wood (missing screw in sole)

All appear to have the original AMF grip, based on the "exclusive Hogan AMF design" stamped on the end of the grip.

The 4-wood feels just like my TaylorMade 5-metal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id8_kwyZdkU&feature=youtu.be


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## Hogan Project

I've been reviewing my share of Hogan videos and have yet to see a full swing of him with his left heel planted. 

Has anyone seen any full-swing vid of Hogan where his left heel DOESN'T raise as he gets to the top?


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## Hogan Project

Even in his 3/4 swings, left heel is coming up, then slamming back down like he's stomping a bug. Veeeeeewy intwesting. Then next question is, why don't today's players stomp the bug?


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## stevel1017

I believe todays players are taught to keep the heel down, to quiet the lower body restrict the hip turn, and to increase the "X" factor creating more torque between the shoulders and the hips
I am not that flexible, I lift my heel


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## Hogan Project

stevel1017 said:


> I believe todays players are taught to keep the heel down, to quiet the lower body restrict the hip turn, and to increase the "X" factor creating more torque between the shoulders and the hips
> I am not that flexible, I lift my heel


Yep Steve. That does make sense. Thanks for the info. When comparing players of the 50's, 60's, 70's, & 80's, vs todays guys, there is a definite difference in left heel/foot movement. My theory on Hogan and the other old schoolers is that they were just using observational learning, or were taught to use the left foot; maybe to gain extra turn or leverage, or power. 

Hogan may have said he "didn't pay any attention to what his left heel did during the swing" because it's something that was ""normal"" to him. If we were to walk up to random people at different driving ranges today and ask them why they don't raise their left heel they would most likely respond with " I don't pay any attention to what my left heel does during the swing. I haven't payed any attention to it." But not because they don't pay attention to it, but because they never saw anyone else doing this and never made it a part of the swing.

I can imaging that today, if the top 5 money leaders on tour all of a sudden started to lift their left heel, the same swing mechanic would roll downhill to local driving ranges.

My main reason for being curious about the left heel is: 

Why did old-schoolers do it? 
(my guess is cause they saw the guy next to them doing it, and when he did do it, his ball went further)

Did it make a difference in distance/accuracy? 
(my guess would be increased distance/decreased accuracy)

At what point in golf history did it become more popular to not raise it? 
(I have no guess, but I would think it would have something to do with whoever the hottest player was at the time that didn't do it, and consistently won more than the guys that did it) 

My other reason for wanting to experiment/add this to my swing is cause Hogan did it. Has nothing to do with distance or accuracy in my case.

Also, my initial thought was related to your reason for lifting the left; flexibility issues. But when I look at old-schoolers, the majority of swings I see guys lifting it. Then the question comes to mind: were all the old-schoolers not flexible? How about Hogan, Arnie, and Jack in their youth. There are swings of them in their teens and early 20's lifting the left heel. Maybe everybody was just stiff as a board back then lol......but that isn't likely.


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## Hogan Project

I think I'm finished with all the general experimenting now. I have a basic idea of what is happening in the swing, and am ready to put together an actual training plan.

Based on my Take14 vid, I thought I was making pretty ok progress, but after re-analyzing Hogan's concentration drills, a lot more is starting to make sense. And when I say "make sense," I'm talking about how I translate what I see vs what I feel that I am doing physically.

I have had my biggest breakthru this week while analyzing the concentration drills from Coleman video, and Fr. Keller video. I've now made major changes in the setup of my feet, leg position, and weight distribution. From the address to the top, real vs concentration are veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery close in mechanical nature. This tells me I can now focus on concentration movements, because they closely match the real swing.

I did an analysis a few months ago of the Coleman DTL vid that shows the likeness.
Ben Hogan DTL Coleman Beach - regular swing(left) vs concentration drill(right) - YouTube

Tonite, I have just finished putting together the same type of analysis of the Fr. Keller video; a comparison of real vs concentration. I tried putting audio on it. Still converting it and trying to load onto youtube.

I will also be doing the same 'real vs concentration' comparison of the Coleman FO view this weekend. 

What do these vids tell me? That it should be absolutely no excuse for not mastering the takeaway/upswing/the top. (Boy, I hope I don't eat those words.)


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## Hogan Project

Ben Hogan Fr. Keller "Real Swing" vs "Concentration Drill" comparison - YouTube

Based on this "real swing" vs Concentration Drill, there are many likenesses. The following appear to be veeeeeeery close:
Setup
Waggle
Forward Press
Takeaway
Upswing
At the top

I'll be intently focused on the concentration drill for the next few months.


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## Hogan Project

Ben Hogan Coleman Beach "Real Swing" vs "Concentration Drill" comparison FO - YouTube

Based on this "real swing" vs Concentration Drill, there are many likenesses. The following appear to be veeeeeeery close:

Setup
Waggle
Forward Press
Takeaway
Upswing
At the top

What do these vids tell me? That it should be absolutely no excuse for not mastering these parts of the swing.


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## Hogan Project

Ben Hogan - angles AT THE TOP real vs concentration FO - YouTube

I am putting together my training plan. The angle measurements listed here are nothing absolute or scientific. Just me having fun with a bunch of lines and numbers. I am comparing the real swing vs concentration, and noting the range. 

Example: The angle of the outer right leg is ~77 degrees in real swing, and ~81 degrees in concentration. Range is 77-81 degrees.

This same type of data wil be gathered for DTL, R, LF, and all other views.


----------



## Big Hobbit

Hogan's leg movement is pretty typical of that era but something I hadn't realised is how much his left foot turns towards the target.


----------



## Surtees

I am loving your dedication to this!


----------



## Hogan Project

Surtees said:


> I am loving your dedication to this!


Lol, I'm gonna show your post to Kim! Maybe she will be excited about the project too. I just needed proof that there's at least one person out there that doesn't think I've lost my mind lol.


----------



## Hogan Project

I got an interesting comment from someone. What they said is very true.......*"If you learn to make your [Hogan] backswing right with slow motion (according the camera) it can be something totally different with normal speed".*

My main roadblock in the beginning was the difficulty involved in analyzing Hogan's real speed swing. I had always heard guys say "you need to focus on the concentration drill." Well, I didn't trust that he was doing anything close to the concentration that he's doing in the real speed swing. Probably because I've heard so many people say that Hogan had a secret, and he took it with him to the grave. So I deduced that if there was a big secret, then why would he show it all across the world at ProAms and clinics. I was caught up in the "secret" belief. I was becoming programmed by the thoughts/beliefs of the golfing community. And when top 100 teachers spoke of this same "secret" I figured it was the gospel.

Then, just for fun, I decided to put the slow-mo of the real swing, vs concentration, side-by-side; and compare dynamic movement as well as angular position. From the waggle to the top, I was shocked to see that they are just about the same movement, dynamic, position, etc. Nothing secret when I saw them side-by-side broken down. I am now transitioning from experimentation to major focus on the concentration drill.

I do agree that doing it in super-slow snail-paced fashion is much different than at rattlenake-strike pace.
I'll just start working at .0000000001 mph and ease it up throughout the years.

Current "concentration drill" focus will only be the waggle and setup. This could easily take a year, but who knows, I could get lucky and have a learning spike.


----------



## Hogan Project

I made a fun observation yesterday. While I was on my laptop looking at grainy Hogan footage, my daughters set up the Wii game. They put in "Just Dance." Kim (my wife) was on the sofa beside me folding clothes. I glanced up at the TV and noticed the CG person dancing. I then glanced at my 4th grade daughter and noticed she was doing something similar to the CG. Hmmmmmm! Then I began my questions...

*Me:* 4th grade daughter, what are you doing?

*4th:* I'm dancing!

*Me:* Wow..that's cool. You're dancing just like the person on the screen. Looks like fun. I wanna try it too.

*4th:* Daaaaaaaaaaad, you're too old!

*Me:* Nooooooooo, lol, not too old. Didn't you see me at the New Year's party bustin a groove?

*4th:* But this isn't the same. You can't just do what you want to do. You have to keep up with the person on the TV and move just like they do, or you lose points.

*Me:* Well, how did you learn to move just like they do?

*4th:* I just looked at it over [our neighbor's] house and started doing it.

*Me:* Soooooooo, you didn't take a class at school on it?

*4th:* LOLOL! Noooooooooooooooo.

*Me:* Ummmmmmm, you didn't read a book about it to learn how to do it?

*4th:* LOLOL! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad! Noooooooooo. You're messing me up! I'm losing points now!

*Kim:* Ummmm, I see what you're doing.....can you just leave them alone and let them play their game??

*4th:* Mahhhhhhhhhm, He's trying to make me lose!

*Me:* Nooo, I'm not trying to make you lose. I just want to know who showed you how to do that, so I can get them to show me.

*4th:* (She hits pause now, and turns to me) I already told you, you just have to look at what the person is doing and do just like it. It's EASY!!!!!! (She restarts the game)

*Me:* Yep, it looks easy to me. Wow...look at that...you're doing your feet and arms just like they are. You're good at this. Sooo, how long have you been doing that song? Is it your first time doing that one?

*4th:* (She takes a deep breath and kinda slams her arms down to her side, then pauses the game again) NooooooooooOOO. (She turns to Kim) Mom...can you tell Dad to stop. He's making me lose.

*Kim: *(She stares at me, shaking her head, and mumbles under her breath) Ummph, ummph, ummph....will it ever end. (By this time, I'm trying to keep a straight face and not laugh, cause the 4th grader has no idea what I'm doing).

She finally finishes the game (and yep she lost), so I wait for her to play the same song a few times to get the score she is after. Then I ask her a few final questions.

*Me:* Well, looks like you've gotten that one figured out. You're getting better each time you play it.

*4th:* Yahh, it's one of my favorite songs!

*Me:* So, you never told me how long you had been playing that song.

*4th:* Me and [the neighbor] have been playing it since Christmas day.

*Me:* Well, why don't you stop playing that one, and pick a song you have never ever heard of before. See what your score is. You should be real good at it because you were really good with that favorite song you just did.

*4th:* Noooooooooooooooooooooooo, LOLOL, that doesn't make any sense. I won't have a good score cause I don't know what the moves are. I've never seen it.

*Me:* Oh, ok. So that means you will never know how to do that one then. Oh well. I thought you were good at this. (Then I get up and start walking away).

*4th:* (Now she's kinda huffing and puffing cause she can't understand how I don't get it.) Daaaaaaaaaad, I just have to play it for a while and I will be good at that one too!

*Me:* Ohhhh. Ok. I thought that 9 year olds couldn't learn stuff like that. I thought they had to be told how to do it by their teacher.

*4th:* Nope. I don't HAVE to have my teacher. I can learn anything I want to!

*Me:* (I raise both my arms like I've crossed the finish line at a marathon race and yell) YES!!!!!!

*Kim:* (Still shakin her head) Lol, you need help lol.

*8th:* (Then my 8th grade daughter who has been listening to the whole conversation jumps in) Dad, I know what you were doing, you weren't fooling me. You were trying to say that what 4th grade is doing is something like your Hogan Project. She was learning what she sees the people doing on the game.

*Me:* Lol, Ummmmmmmm, I have no idea what you are talking about. Now how would you come up with something like that lol. I was just watching you guys play the game.

8th grader says "yeah...right" and leaves. Now it's just me and Kim sitting there.

*Me:* I gotta put this on the forum!

*Kim:* Ummmm. make sure you don't say anything crazy about me cause I am not a part of your little Hogan stuff..... and don't use my name.


----------



## Hogan Project

Lol, I just realized that I am long-winded and type too much. Some of my posts are a whole stinkin page long!

I need to invest all this typing time into club moving time!!


----------



## Hogan Project

I am commonly asked..."which Hogan are you looking at to copy? Before he found out the secret? After the secret, after the crash, after he stopped playing competitively?"

I'm analyzing and experimenting with all of them, but so far, based on my flexibility and muscular boob, I may be working towards these (I have no idea what year they are, and if they are pre or post secret):

Ben Hogan Driver FO and DSL RARE footage - YouTube

Ben Hogan and Fr Keller - YouTube

Late 1970's AMF Ben Hogan Golf Clubs TV commercial - YouTube


I don't think my swolen upper body will allow me to do this:

Ben Hogan Pitch Elbow Driver Close Up - YouTube 

Basically, I think I can physically get close to however he was swinging in his 40, 50, and 60 year-old range:
But I'm using something from all the different eras to get an understanding.


----------



## Hogan Project

Ran into a neighbor that lives on the other side of our subdivision. He was walking his dog and saw a few stray whiffle balls in my yard and golf became the topic, and of course Hogan came up. He mentioned that one of his favorite courses is Bobby Jones in the Buckhead area and I said I also play there a few times. He asked how often I played, and that we should get together sometimes. I said I was not headed back onto the course until spring time, and I was reluctant to tell him about my project. Not because it is anything wrong with what I'm doing, but because I always have to explain "why," then deal with all the "WTF is wrong with you stuff" lol. So I just mentioned that I was in the garage tweeking my swing and working on a few things. He said he was doing the same this winter and that he was re-reading 5 lessons. Then he asked me if I had read 5 lessons and what I thought about it. And you already know what my answer was. "Nope, but....ummmmmm. I'll get to it soon." (Heck, soon could be 5 stinkin years!) He was kinda shocked that I had been into the game for 4 years and hadn't read it yet. (I'm used to that shocked look now). We rambled on some more about what the 2012 season was gonna be like, who was gonna be the front-runner.....what Tiger was gonna do....yada, yada. 

The main reason for me rambling on and on and the neighbor is because he said something that caught my ear. He mentioned something like "Well, ya know, 5 Lessons is THE only golf book anybody needs. It's the best selling golf book of all time." So, I got curious and wanted to know when it was written, and that kind of stuff. I also wanted to know the date published to see which one of the swing vids I'm using as my training guide comes closest to that date.

Did a google search for "five lessons golf." Clicked on the Amazon link. Looks like the one I clicked on was published in 1985, but the original one was published in 1957. I scrolled down to the section that says "What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item" and "Similar Items" just to see other related books. I saw "Power Golf" (I've heard of that one mentioned a lot too), but didn't see an original publishing date.

So I decided to do an amazon search for "Power Golf" to hopefully find out the publishing date. Nothing. Then I did an amazon search for "Ben Hogan." 

HOOOOOLLLLEY SHMOLEY!!!!!! I WAS SHOCKED!!!!!!

There are not only 5 Lessons and Power Golf, but a whole slew of Hogan books. This guy must have been good or something! 

> Afternoons with Mr. Hogan: A Boy, A Golfing Legend and the Lessons of a Lifetime by Jody Vasquez (Mar 25, 2004)
> Ben Hogan: An American Life by James Dodson (May 3, 2005)
> Ben Hogan's Magical Device: The Real Secret to Hogan's Swing Finally Revealed by Ted Hunt and Sean Connery (May 26, 2009)
> Ben Hogan's Short Game Simplified: The Secret to Hogan's Game from 120 Yards and In by Ted Hunt (Oct 27, 2010)
> Golf Fundamental von Ben Hogan. Der Golf Albrecht. by David Leadbetter and Lorne Rubinstein (May 1, 2001)
> Hogan by Curt Sampson (May 5, 1997)
> Hogan: The man who played for glory by Gene Gregston (1978)
> Miracle at Merion: The Inspiring Story of Ben Hogan's Amazing Comeback and Victory at the 1950 U.S. Open by David Barrett (Oct 8, 2010)
> Mr. Hogan, the Man I Knew: An LPGA Player Looks Back on an Amazing Friendship and Lessons She Learned from Golf's Greatest Legend by Kris Tschetter (Oct 14, 2010)
> My Partner, Ben Hogan by Demaret; Jimmy (1955)
> The Complete Guide To Golf by Ben Hogan, Cary Middlecoff and Sam Snead (Jun 18, 2011)
> The Complete Hogan: A Shot-by-Shot Analysis of Golf's Greatest Swing by Jim McLean and Tom McCarthy (Jan 3, 2012)
> The Secret of Hogan's Swing by Tom Bertrand and Printer Bowler (Sep 29, 2006)
> The Upset: Jack Fleck's Incredible Victory over Ben Hogan at the U.S. Open by Al Barkow (Jun 1, 2012)
Ben Hogan: An entry from Gale's <i>Notable Sports Figures</i> by Julia Bauder (2004) - HTML
> Ben Hogan: The Man Behind The Mystique by Martin Davis (Sep 2002)
> Ben Hogan's "Secret" by Bob Thomas (1997) 
> The Final Missing Piece of Ben Hogan's Secret Puzzle by Dave Hamilton, VJ Trolio and Brent Raklovits (Oct 26, 2010)
> The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan by John Coyne (May 15, 2007)
> I Remember Ben Hogan: Personal Recollections and Revelations of Golf's Most Famous Legend From The People Who Knew Him Best by Mike Towle (Mar 1, 2000) 
> Ben Hogan's Secret: A Literary Portrait by Bob Thomas (Sep 1, 2001)

There were a few more, but I got tired of copying them.

Man, I'm gonna have a lot of reading to do!


----------



## Hogan Project

Gary Woodland has a cool lookin swing, and a nice left hand at impact that looks very familiar.

Gary Woodland vs. Johnny Vegas Super G slow motion - YouTube


----------



## Hogan Project

Gary Woodland target line view superg slow motion - YouTube

Finally....I now have a "favorite golfer" of the new era! Gary! Gary! Gary! 

Hmmmmmmm, I wonder if he's using the heavy, flat equipment that was used in the 60's?


----------



## Hogan Project

For your laughing pleasure.............. 

Here's some of my old vids converted from 8mm tape. I did no type of swing analysis back them. Only thing I was worried about was how far the ball went and if my finish was balanced. I didn't know anything about alignment or foot position. A guy on the driving range showed me the interlocking grip. I used to record our golf outings so we could get together at family cookouts and laugh at them. Dang, I forgot I wore a golf glove back then!

Wolf Creek 8-24-07. When I initially got into the game. Whew....took me a while to get the guts to load this vid on here lol.
WolfCreek 8-24-07 - YouTube

Tup Holmes. 3-16-08. A year later. Think I was trying to figure out how to hit a draw on this day. Note the closed stance. Never understood it. Gave up on the draw. Went back to the straight and the fade.
TupHolmes 3-16-08 - YouTube

Bobby Jones 7-20-08. After playing a little bit more, and reading lots of golf magazines. Looks like I had on my Tiger red that day lol. 
BobbyJones 7-20-08 - YouTube


I also remember later in 2010 when I got a big Taylor Made tour bag and brought it to Bobby Jones and embarrased myself on the first tee. Hit both tee shots into the creek! Too much crowd pressure lol.

I didn't start all this "tweeking stuff" until June 2011.


----------



## Hogan Project

Ben Hogan waggle analysis - Left rear view - YouTube

I had no idea that Hogan's club went in a loop during the waggle, from high to low, in a circular motion. I always thought it went straight back away from the ball, then straight back to the ball.

It's kinda difficult to see from the DTL and FO views.


----------



## FrogsHair

I remember something I read, that Hogan said, that at the time did not make any sense. As I learned more about the golf swing, having a bunch of "opposites", it finally hit home what he meant. 

"Reverse every natural instinct, and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing."----Ben Hogan


----------



## Hogan Project

I just found the 8mm tape of my absolute first time ever playing golf, ever going to a course.

It's playing back real staticy on the 8mm camcorder I borrowed from my sister. I'll try to locate another camcorder to get it clearer, then get it converted and loaded onto youtube soon.


----------



## Hogan Project

Hogan Project said:


> Ben Hogan waggle analysis - Left rear view - YouTube
> 
> I had no idea that Hogan's club went in a loop during the waggle, from high to low, in a circular motion. I always thought it went straight back away from the ball, then straight back to the ball.
> 
> It's kinda difficult to see from the DTL and FO views.


I'm getting more curious on this waggle loop. Ever since I got into this project, I have been waggling by just moving the club away from the ball; my club has always stayed in a straight line going back and forth. I was only kind of bending my wrists away from the target to allow the club to do it's thing. That's what I thought I saw happening in Hogan's FO and DTL angles.
*
Now I see this same loop in all his waggle angles, but it's not as noticable from FO and DTL. As I pay closer attention to Hogan's looping action, it appears that his wrists make this happen. When I make my waggle "loop" as his does, I must manipulate my wrists. The curious part is........what the heck is the purpose of manipulating the wrists this way? For me, it's much easier/simplier to just waggle back and forth rather than rolling the wrists this way. Hmmmmmmmmm.....Strange.
*
And, yaaahhhh yahhh yahhhh, I know everybody's gonna tell me that this is nothing new and that it's all in the book lol. But ya gotta remember, I'm only doing this project using video. The book will be read someday. So sorry if I'm being redundant and bringing up things in Hogan's swing that are already known of.


----------



## Hogan Project

Ben Hogan waggle analysis - DTL view- Shell Hole #3 - YouTube

I got a lot of requests for the DTL view. So here ya go.

Same looping motion happening with the clubhead. Looks like the wrists are making things happen, but I am not sure.


----------



## Hogan Project

Ben Hogan DTL view - address vs entire swing - Shell Hole #3 - YouTube

Ben Hogan DTL view - address vs entire swing - Shell Hole #3

I put together a comparison of Hogan's address vs the rest of his swing. Want to understand how different body parts compare to the address position, such as hand and head movement.


----------



## Hogan Project

Ben Hogan Swing Project: My first time holding a golf club 5-21-2000 - YouTube

This video is from an 8mm tape of my first time ever setting foot on a golf course or holding a golf club. Sorry for the bad quality, but it's the best I can get it for now. It was a company outing that I only attended for the free food and prizes. I was into competitive softball in those days and figured that golf couldn't be that hard. One of the "expert golfers" you see in the vid (my coworkers) gave me a lesson on the first tee box; how to grip the club as well as how to align myself to the target. I'm the guy in the light blue shirt, beige cargo pants, white tennis shoes, and black Nike cap (borrowed the cap from one of the coworkers). I had fun out there but didn't get any further urge to play again until another company outing in 2007, where a guy bet me money that I couldn't hit the ball in the fairway, and that I could use any club I wanted to. I shrugged my shoulders and said "no prob, you're on!" Of course I picked the driver cause it was the biggest, baddest and most violent looking, and cause my ego wanted to hit it as far as possible.......I failed. Sliced every ball off the map. Then I was hooked!

Wow! I just noticed at 10:55, I hit some kind of draw or hook!! How the heck did I do that?? Been trying to hit a draw for the past 2 years now...with no success!


----------



## Hogan Project

Just playing around with the right hand(s). This is a vid I made on Dec 29, 2011. I'm posting it now because a discussion topic came up today regarding Hogan's club path. 

RIght now, I'm only working on the teeup - walkaway - walkin. NOT the full swing or any part of it.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 15 - 2 right hands experiment - 1-17-12 - YouTube


----------



## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 16 - Teeup/Stepaway/Stepin practice - 1-21-12 - YouTube

Today, 1-21-12, working on the teeup - step back - step in. Took a few weeks to convince my mind and body that teeing up the ball on my right foot was normal. Still a long way to go.

00:07 My old method from 2007 thru 2011
00:26 1-4-2012 teeup 
00:45 1-8-2012 teeup 
1:07 1-21-2012 teeup 
1:53 1-21-2012 Hogan teeup comparison
4:11 1-21-2012 DTL 2-right hands practice
4:27 1-21-2012 FO 2-right hands practice


----------



## Hogan Project

For all you Hogan fans out there; I'm sure you've already heard of 35MM GOLF .

Cool images there!


----------



## Hogan Project

*01-22-12 Tee-up, Step-Away, Step-in:*(a) My club is rising too early. While stepping back, Hogan's clubhead is always in contact with the ground. It slides on top of the grass. From initial tee-up, all the way to the stepaway, bottom of club is touching grass. Club does not rise until left hand adjusts left watch-pocket. Looks like left pants adjustment is in sync with right forearm/wrist raising the club to parallel. Club rises as final left foot is planted and weight begins to shift towards stepping back into ball.

(b) During stepaway, my chest is turned too open to the target; need to be a bit more facing the ball.

( c ) I am stepping back much too far. Need to take smaller steps.


*01-25-12 Tee-up, Step-Away, Step-in:*Getting better. I'm starting to understand the rythm of this part of the swing. 


*Up next:* Waggle Stage 1 (training should start within the next few weeks.)
As left heel makes contact with ground:
- Head look to target
- Right foot rise turn slightly CW (weight is on left foot)
- Wrists pull in to waist using bent elbows (during pull-in, weight settles on right foot and is now distributed evenly between R and L foot)
- Slight bump of clubhead towards target (need to investigate what is triggering this; wrists? elbows?)
- Look to ball
- Waggle (needs complete breakdown)


----------



## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 18 - Step-In/Waggle Phase1 - 1-26-12 - YouTube

Still working on the tee-up, step-away, step-in. I notice that I am stepping into the hitting box with right foot too open.

Wanted to dabble with Step-in/Waggle Stage 1. Whew......lots going on there, and LOTS that needs understanding/tweeking.

0:36 Totally confused. Brain doesn't know how to translate what I described in words into physical movement.
0:56 Doing in my mind what I think the waggle should be.
1:25 A little later in the practice session. I've taken a few looks at my waggle vs Hogan to understand the differences. 
1:55 My left, right, top, and bottom brain is fried.


----------



## Hogan Project

Last nite, I kind of dabbled with the settling of the left foot and waggle 1. Gonna take me a while to work all this out. The most impressive thing I've learned so far with the tee-up / step-away / step-in (grrrrrrrr. I'm getting tired of typing that whole name....gotta find a cool abbreviation....maybe TU-SA-SI or TUSASI lol) is that there is a distinct rythm to it. Almost like a dance. No, not almost like one....definitely one. You should have seen me when my wife and daughters were dancing to the Wii game. I stepped in and started doing the TUSASI as a dance. I have to find as many creative ways as possible to ingrain this into muscle memory. Also, when I drop something on the floor, or have to pick anything up from the floor, I ALWAYS do the TUSASI. I was in Kroger with my son and told him to drop something on the floor so I could pick it up lol. His comment "ugggggg, Dad....not HERE?! One of my friends may see me!" Of course he dropped it anyway, and I hit the TUSASI to the best of my ability, right there in the checkout line.

Another thing....I understand the generalities of the TU-SA-SI, but only from one angle; FO. I will need to analyze/compare to all the other angles I can find, because things may be different. So far, Shell Worldwide match Hole #5 is a good LR (left rear) angle. I will have to search for other angles of the TU-SA-SI. Same goes for Waggle Stage 1.

This whole project will go in cycles. The first 6 months was all about experimenting with different things to understand my physical capabilities/limitations and to get an overall feel for the new movement. Now, I'm working my way through the entire swing. When I work all the way through it, I will be kind of a white belt. I will then start all over again like I've never seen it before. Then I'll be a yellow belt.......and so on. And right now I'm proud to say I am a bright-eyed bushy tailed no-belt lol.


----------



## Hogan Project

Sorry....this isn't golf-related, but I had to post it.......... 

I just got a youtube PM from a guy (or gal) that said I'm a loser and need to get a life and find a better hobby. 

Soooooooo, I took their advice and did a quick google search for "what's the best hobby for me?" Well after searching for a while, I ended up stumbling across "The 10 most unusual hobbies in the world." 10 of the most Unusual Hobbies in the World | Smashing Tops

I'm still laughing at it LOLOLOL!!

I think I'll stick with golf for now....I don't think Kim would be able to deal with me laying on the living room floor like a corpse! 

Tonite I'm gonna put on my most serious face and tell Kim that her wish has come true....I'm giving up the Hogan Project, and I'm gonna pick from one of those on the top 10 list.


----------



## Hogan Project

I'm taking a family trip to Mardi Gras this weekend. Bruce said he's bringing his clubs. I'm bringing mine too wooohooooo!!! I've had enough of this stinkin basement.

Although I shouldn't get too excited......I'm probably gonna be the only guy on the first tee that tees the ball up like Hogan, steps away from it like Hogan, steps back into it like Hogan, waggles 3 times like Hogan, then picks the ball up and says "OK guys, that's all I know right now. Who's up next to hit?"


----------



## Hogan Project

Yesterday, I was sitting back relaxing on the phone talking with my Dad about our upcoming golfing season.We plan to crank up the tournaments on March 3, 2012. He is in his late 60's and retired. He's going on and on about how we have no chance against him this year because he now has the time to focus on his complete game. Says he will be counting the number of days per month that he DOES NOT practice. He says this number will be counted on one hand. He knows what I've been doing since last summer and says I will not improve my game at all hanging out in my basement. So he rambles some more about his advantage over us and that he will be offering us strokes so we don't get depressed and quit the game. (trash talking is the fun part; helps build the hype up until game time!) He mentions that he is on ebay trying to buy some irons, but can't get past the credit card section. I tell him to add his bank account as a backup funding source and everything goes smoothly. I ask what he's getting. He says "a couple of Cleveland wedges and a Hogan hybrid." I kind of joked that there is no such thing as a Hogan hybrid, cause Hogan wouldn't be caught using one. It would make the game too easy lol...he liked tough things!! I tell him that he just needs to get a complete set of irons instead of buying one here-n-there and having a mismatched set. He says that he will eventually. Then he said "yahhhh, I had a set of Hogan irons a couple of years ago....I gave them to OP (his brother). WHAT!!!! I NEVER KNEW HE HAD A SET OF HOGAN CLUBS!!!! Dad had been playing with them since we got into the game in 2007 and I had no idea. I didn't know who Hogan was until last summer. And in those days, my Dads clubs didn't spark any of my interest because they didn't have a name like TaylorMade or Ping or Nike. When I watched PGA golf on weekends I never saw any Hogan commercials. So my next question was "SO DOES OP STILL HAVE THEM???????" Dad said, "yep..I think so." Lol....all this time he knew what my project was all about and he didn't realize that maybe I would want a set of clubs made by the guy I'm studying????

Now I'm standing up pacing in the living room lol. 

OP plays once a year. So I ask if I can possibly get his bag and conviently swap all the Hogan irons. I would put my set of Sports Authority specials in his. Dad went to OP's house and got the bag. I went by Dads house and picked them up. Grips are kind of ugly (some type of Lamkin royal blue with white barbells all over it. I like old-style leather wrap grips. Clubs are 3i thru E. What the heck is an E club??????? Extra????? or Evil??? or Equalizer?? or Elevator??? or Easy???? 

The faces are a bit worn in a spot. Looks like someone was hitting it in the same place every stinkin time! When I picked one of them up and did a practice swing, my stinkin wrist almost snapped. WHAT THE HECK IS THIS CLUB MADE OF???????? FEELS LIKE I'M SWINGING AN IRON PIPE!!! Or maybe the clubs I've always used are just extra lite or something. Whew...gonna take some time to get used to. 

Club description:
Shaft label is red with Hogan Apex and a #3.
Clubhead : Hogan with red underline. Forged. Edge. Club number.

Anybody got weight specs on these? Anybody use them now?


----------



## Big Hobbit

Hogan Edge, Apex and CFT irons have been around in one form or another for quite awhile. If you Google images you should be able to find a match for the model, which should give you an idea of when they were manufactured. If they feel heavy, especially when you swing them, they're probably stiff shaft.

If they're older than say 7-8 years the shafts may be tired and you won't transfer as much energy from the club to the ball.

Friend of mine plays them, and he's had them for about 18 years. He had them re-shafted round about 2005. He's currently off 5 h'cap and seems to get on great with them.


----------



## FrogsHair

I won a set of Hogan Apex forged clubs a few years ago. These critters were so nice looking, I just built a case for them, They now just sit there and look pretty. I have never hit a ball with them. I did purchase a 5i of the same model to see how they would work out for me. I did alright with it, but not well enough to get new set dirty.:laugh:


----------



## Hogan Project

Full set of Ben Hogan Producer irons found at the Mobile, Alabama flea market. 2i thru 9i. And Spalding leather bag with working zippers and 1, 3, 4 head covers.

We were on the way to Mardi Gras in Mobile and Anita recommended that we stop by the flea market to browse. Of course I complained because the wives can lose their minds in there for hours. Then Kim reminded me that "you know, somebody might have golf stuff laying around....." She said the magic words!!

My daughter pointed out a golf bag at a nearby vendor. As I approached, I could start to see the "Ben Hogan" name imprinted. I tried by best to control my emotions, but I sorta yelled out and jumped in the air as I saw they were a complete set (Kim is still shaking her head on that one....says I acted like a kid on Christmas day! "Really????? Do you have to make a scene....you got people staring at us like we have no home training!") Well what does she expect lol??? She was absolutely right. Santa had come by the flea market and left me a gift!!!! You should have seen me trying to "act" unconcerned about the clubs. Lol, the lady at the booth had already seen me jumping like I won the lottery lol! I started talking loud to my kids saying "yea, these clubs are old and crusty. They are not worth anything. They look very used and no one would play with them cause they are so old and outdated. Even the bag is ancient. I can't think of anybody that would be caught being seen with it." I was saying all this really loud so the lady wouldn't jack the price up cause I squealed like a pig with I initially saw them. I walked over and said in my most neutral, monotone, non-emotional voice "I see you got these old beat up clubs here that are so outdated, my golf buddies would laugh at me if I brought them on the golf course." She said, "the price is on the bag." There was a small neon orange ticket that said "$30." I said, "Yeaaa, I don't know if they're worth even $10, just cause they are so old." She said "they were my dads....I'm not sure what he paid for them back in the 70's, but probably more than $30." I said "ok...I'll do $30 even though I'll probably get them home and toss them in a corner of my basement and let em rot." 

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

Ben Hogan Producer irons...........2i thru 9i, with bag. - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 20 - Impact Closeups - 2-20-12 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 21 - Takeaway Focus - 2-20-12 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 24 - Takeaway Practice FrontOn R. View - 3-7-12 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 25 - Right Foot Focus - 3-7-12 - YouTube

Pushing extra hard off the right foot....but probably need to push harder. I notice that my lower body and feet are always late in coming through, so I figured that one way to speed it up and get more in sync is to push with the right. I have no idea if I should be intentionally doing this or if it should just happen. Will investigate that more after I learn more about the takeaway.


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 26 - Front-on - HCD Takeaway to the top - 4-20-12 - YouTube

Focus is on takeaway to the top. But I did a few full swings just to see where the mechanics are right now. From takeaway to the top, things are progressing ok. Major thing that need work is my lower body; specifically the left side. It appears to get set too early. I think its outracing the upper body when going to the top. Also, you can't see from this angle, but I'm getting too upright at the top (will do a DTL analysis too). Now I haven't gotten into the transition and after, but wanted to compare what I see anyway. For that portion of the swing, I'm just doing in my mind what I think is happening, although I'll get into the details of it in next few months...........or years.

Things I notice right now:
- I don't fall towards the target during transition. (I'm intentionally just doing the HCD to the top and holding it for a second or two, then I swing around, so there is no type of falling forward momentum).
- My left arm bends from transition and thru rest of dwnswing. (No idea right now).
- My head (eyes) follows the ball. (Because I'm still want to immediately watch where the ball goes)
- My right leg/knee seems to collapse towards the target on the downswing. (No idea right now)


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## Hogan Project

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 27 - Front-on - HCD Takeaway to the top - 4-20-12 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Over the past couple of weeks, I've made a few changes to my equipment and I've been working on a few homemade drills. I've officially tossed the metal clubs. Not in the trash, but in the corner. Now working with only wooden clubs. Bought a couple of stiff steel shafted 3 and 5 woods. The 3W has an old jumbo rubber wrap grip on it. I reeeeeealy like the feeling of the jumbo grip. Never thought I would like it. Thought it would be too big.

Played a round last week at Alfred Tup Holmes with Dad, Terrell, and Bruce. They all play with all new-school modern stuff. They ragged me alllllll day about my clubs lol. They all got up to the tee and made the "cling" sound, while I made the "knock" sound. Plus most times I was always shorter than everybody else. The most fun part about the day was on hole #17 which is an over-the-cliff shot. it's about a 260 yard hole. I "luckily" drove the green (actually the right side fringe) and Bruce was all pissed cause I used a 1969 club with screws vs his nice shiny TaylorMade Burner driver. I must have hit it on the screw or something with that 3Wood cause it went much farther than usual. So of course the friendly argument started with him saying I got lucky with my wooden sh!t. So, I graciously handed my heavy a$$ed club over to him and said, "You can try it out........This old sh!t is a little harder to hit man...doesn't have the same kind of sweet spot as your 460cc driver. I'm just lettin you know!!" Bruce's ego said "a club is a damn club....." There was a group waiting behind us so he couldn't back down in front of an audience. My Dad is telling us to move on cause we're holding people up. He doesn't like making scenes in public. Bruce teed it up and did his usual chicken swing. Swung as hard as he possibly could and hit it super fat with lots of dust and dirt everywhere. The ball rolled down the hill and everybodys laughing real good. Perfect moment for a video camera!!!!!!!!!! Next time one of those challenges goes down, he camera will be rolling. He tossed the club to me and laughed along with all of us and said "Man that club is stupid. That's why they stopped makin them!" And to top it all off, I won by 1 stroke with a 99. I don't even think Bruce gave me a handshake lolol! I'm thinking I could have shot in the low 90's or high 80's if I used irons. I don't plan to pick those up till I'm satisfied with the woods. I do use a PW from 40 yds and in.

In the Take 34 vid, I'm doing 3/4 swings, experimenting with some left side stuff. The major issues I see are....errr....ummm.... everything. My wrists are c0cking waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay early during the upswing, I still haven't worked on the transition, head/upper body doesn't stay back, and my hips are still moving too fast towards the target, or either my arms aren't moving fast enough to catch up with the hips. Plus there's probably some OTT and I can't seem to remember to bring the left cup down. Most of these swings carried about 180-200yds either straight, fade, or pushed right. My major misses were topped shots that turned into real low line drives. Majority of the topped ones were without a tee. Still don't know where to put the ball in the stance. Top priority in these range sessions is the mechanical aesthetic stuff.

I'm also doing some new stuff regarding my chipping and pitching. Feels like a body swing instead of arms and hands. Will get some video of it this weekend. I'm curious as to how it looks. Lol, probably doesn't look anything like it feels. Will also get a video up of Bruce's "unorthodox" swing. He hits it veeeery long even with a reverse pivot. His impact is what I am after. Right elbow bent and everything, but the visual intrepretation he provides isn't for the weak stomached folks lol!

Getting ready to order some of those jumbo grips!! (Or maybe it is a mid sized with lots of tape or something??? May have to take it to a golf shop to find out.)

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 34 - Left Side Experiments w/ 3/4 swings- 8-17-12 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Thanksgiving day practice. Going through the motions.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 44 - Drill practice - 11-22-12 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Take 46 - Swinging harder and laying my head on the pillow - 12-19-12 

I found a cool new driving range outside of Atlanta called Paragon. The balls pop up out of the ground automatically. No bending over and teeing anything up. Still amazed about that. Only downside to me is the fat rubber tee the balls sit on. I couldn't get the height adjusted so I kept whacking the heck out of the rubber tee. They have good lighting, heat for the winter, and fans for the summer. I couldn't feel me fingers when I finished. Stinkin cold out there. Cost is $8 for 30mins, and $15 for 1hour. And they close at 10pm on weekdays, so I can make it there after work if needed.

These were my last two 5wood swings of a 30min session. (regular speed and slomotion) I also did some 9i and SW pitching a little earlier to get warmed up. I'm starting to swing harder now. Getting more comfy. Starting to get over the fear of shanking or blading or mucking it up. My body focus was with my head. I notice it always moves forward with my torso. I want it to lay back after impact, so I'm having a swing thought of keeping my head "laying on a pillow." The thing that's very confusing is the length of these swings. While I'm swinging, it definitely FEELS like I'm getting the shaft all the way to the top and making a very full swing, but looking at the vid, appears to be same ole 3/4 swings. What the hey?!? Maybe this is as full a swing as my ex-bodybuilding body will allow.

(Sorry for all the dead space in this vid...didn't have time to edit it)

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 46 - Swinging harder and laying my head on the pillow - 12-19-12 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Take 47 - Introducing irons...SW and 2iron - 12-31-12

00:00 to 3:04 is reg speed.
4:33 to end is slow mo.

This iron stuff is veeeeeeewy stwaaaaaaaange compared to a 5-wood. The SW weight is way different. I'm real close and bent over the ball. The 2iron head feels too light. I must have shanked 30 balls into that black bag sitting in front of the monitor. Couldn't figure out why it was happening, then I remembered that I have to address the irons with the toe on the ball and not the face, cause my club moves in toward the ball. Don't know if that's a bad thing or not. I learned some lessons from Byron Nelson and Hogan video this weekend......appears they were pushers of the club through impact. On the Coleman vid where Hogan says "very little pressure of the index finger of the right hand and the thumb. You get the pressure of your right hand with this butt pad of your index finger, going thru. There isn't any pressure going down or around....It just follows." What the heck does 'it just follows' mean????? All while he demonstrates a pushing motion. Not sure he was actually referring to a pushing with the arm, or hand, or something else. Will put together a Pushing Compilation vid. I really see this push-impact in Nelson, Trevino, Furyk, Calvin Peete . I sorta see it in Hogan too.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 47 - Introducing irons...SW and 2iron - 12-31-12 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Take 48 - Custom Swing Drill - 1-5-13

00:00 to 00:30 is reg speed.
00:34 to 4:20 is slow mo.

Working with the SW on one of my new custom swing drills. My favorite drill so far. Can't give any details about it yet cause I haven't finalized the whole thing. Still tweaking it.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 48 - Custom Swing Drill - 1-5-13 - YouTube


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## Hogan Project

Take 49 - Advanced Experiments - 1-7-13 

I shouldn't even be thinking about any of this advanced stuff, but the BCS game got boring so i had to find something to help pass the time away. Figured i'd do a few early experiments. Oh well, advanced experiment was fun.......back to the elementary drills tomorrow.

The Ben Hogan Swing Project: Take 49 - Advanced Experiments - 1-7-13 - YouTube


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## broken tee

I read your piece with wood clubs, has this project helped your game at all?


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## Hogan Project

broken tee said:


> I read your piece with wood clubs, has this project helped your game at all?


I haven't played yet, so not sure.


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