In the late 50’s I caddied in a PGA tournament in Detroit - the Western Open - for Gardner Dickinson, Jr., a peer of Hogan. Nobody remembers him but he won 7 times on the PGA TOUR in the 60’s. What a thrill to be inside the ropes. Souchak, Hebert, Ford, Finsterwald, Boros ( both), et.al. I’ve played golf for 70 years and this was one of a very few serious highlights.
53 years old here, 1965.. hadn't play much for the last 10 years. Having effective retired in 1954. Still hit every fairway and every green like it was nothing... He did this routinely while on the tour. A pure ball striking machine. Nobody has ever looked like Ben playing golf since then and nobody ever will again....
What I admire about Hogan's swing is the efficiency. Every ounce is delivered to the ball. No blocking, no arms fighting each other, no hips flying out,. Though Scheffler and Justin Thomas are wonderful players, their feet are all over the place. Compare to the efficiency of Hogan. Hogan said he felt like he was "running at the ball" into impact. What a sensation of delivering maximum effort with the legs!! Snead said that was the best he had seen Ben play. Well, Sam, that is a convenient assessment when he just be you head to head. Hogan played pretty good at Carnoustie and Oakmont, courses that didnt have the wide open nature of the Houston CC.
William Knutson's comment couldn't be more spot on. Argue the greatest overall player in the game. Not the greatest ball striker. From the tee to the dance floor William Ben Hogan is the bell cow and the GOAT. Not only that, there is no possibility of anyone ever surpassing him. Rather than pumping iron in the gym he " wore the dimples off the golf balls," in the words of Lee Trevino. Like his great contemporary Sam Snead, Hogan hit balls until his hands bled. According to Golf's funny man Chi Chi Rodriguez shaking hands with Hogan was like shaking hands with sandpaper. Even after his horrible accident, Hogan routinely hit more than a thousand balls a day! There is no player alive today that could withstand such a regimen. Not without a trip to intensive care. In the words of the great golf writer AL Barkow, Hogan didnt just play golf. "He was absolute golf. The ultimate corporeal manifestation of an idea." Nuff said. There will never be another.
This is pure poetry in motion the greatest golfer ever prompts to Jack and Tiger but this man had limited tournaments after the accident maybe 7, and still managed to either win or come in second combined
The best! Ben and Lee are both open (shoulders) at address...walk in with the right food ...waggle and start the left shoulder....it is exactly what Carl Lohren teaches!
2:59 Hogan is 51 in this video born in August of 1912… this was filmed in May of ‘64 but not shown in TV until February of ‘65…. While most would say Woods or Nicklaus, IMHO, Hogan is the GOAT… but most don’t look at the details of his career to debate it… they just look at Jack’s or Tiger’s major totals. We’re all entitled to our opinions!
10,000% agree!!!! If Hogan doesn't serve his country and also the car accident. Hogan wins over 100 tournaments!! To me, Mr. Hogan is the GOAT!!!!🌞🏌️⛳🏌️🌞
I never noticed until watching him swing 20 times or so that his back swing with his irons is very short. And here I am trying for 10 years to make mine longer, and wondering why I am often so inconsistent.
Exactly! As he got older that's what he did. As we are getting older that's what we should do too…. Nicklaus too btw, he is even shorter (also older) but still belts it at 80 years or more.
Just watch the practice swing @ 0:04 over and over. Free relaxed upper torso/arms, no huge shoulder turn required, body supporting the speed created by upper torso / arms . In balance. You will develop a good swing.
@@industrialpalletworx3548 The sweet spot is smaller than a dime on present day clubs as well it doesn’t get any bigger irrespective of face size the difference is that todays clubs are more forgiving on off centre strikes or strikes outside the “ dime size” sweet spot, its called physics or dynamic engineering.
How would you know it’s the perfect swing ? the important thing is it worked for Hogan as did Trevino’s work for him but never could be said was a perfect swing !!
@@johnaustin635 Trevino was never nearly as good as him. For one thing, when Hogan was in his ultimate prime (1941-49) before the massive injuries, he wasn't just precise he was also among the longest hitters which Trevino was never among.
Are you serious? Lol this is the same music that was playing in GOT right before Cersi blew up the red keep with dragon fire killing everyone inside. Incinerated hundreds with the flick of a candle.
@@johnaustin635 Snead was still playing competition and as Snead himself once said”only 3 things I’m afraid of on a golf course... Snakes lightning and Ben Hogan. Best of all time. Cheers sir
Want to swing like Hogan? Read his book Five Lessons, then apply what he teaches. You probably won't swing exactly like Hogan, but you will certainly improve.
Read Ted Hunt's two books, after Five Lessons too. Hogan's ability to repeat his swing perfectly every time far exceeded his ability to articulate what he was doing, he knew what he did, but his terminology was hard to translate. Ted Hunt does a fantastic job decoding and deciphering the magical device and how ubiquitous Hogan applied it to every club from the putter to the driver. What I'm taken with is how laid off or flat his back swing with every club, it was hard to garner that aspect from all the reading and rereading I've done of Five Lessons and both of Hunt's books. that, and his short backswing with his irons. Either way, my game has changed for the better, and I wish i'd studied Hogan's swing years ago!
That's correct. They say his 1-iron was either 51 or 53 degrees. No one is for sure but it's one or the other or close to that. He was only 5'8" after all.
I think this is a Shell Wonderful World of Golf thing, maybe from the mid-60's? They used to play down at a course in Sarasota. It also looks like that ws a 3 wood or something. Drivers were still big back then (but, not like today)
A person here said that Ben would hit a 1,000 balls a day. I remember someone saying once that Tiger hit about 300. Now, think about it. This guy hit a lot of balls. He obviously figured out "how" to hit the ball successfully. Now, he had his little secrets which I'm sure he kept to himself & for us to figure out! 🤔
Sets up at address with ball on toe of club… just like Knudson mentioned in his book. George said he used to watch Hogan… wonder if that’s where he discovered that.
it seems he figured out how to move the body to go with the swinging arms where i seem to be swaying, rocking and blocking but i'm getting better at more of a nice turn back and thru.
Just noticed on two shots, Ben drops the club very quickly on his follow through. I find myself doing that all the time because I can't hold my finish. Maybe I'm more like Ben Hogan than I thought? Nah!!!
Anyone else notice he's swinging over the top? He brings the club inside and slaps it down on the ball. He also lines the toe of his clubhead up with the ball. Interesting.
He’s actually more shallow on the downswing. He takes it back shallow and in transition and the downswing it’s even more shallow…at least that’s how it looks to me.
I would actually argue its a reverse 2 plane swing. he brings it back low and inside and then goes over the top through the ball. Much like other golfers of his era like Sam sneed.
One has to read " 5 Lessons " with a critical eye. A number of things written in that book are just plain wrong and not representitive of Hogan's swing. In his defense some images and statements in that book, may be accurate of his feeling within the swing.
true. I agree. however, the book is written for the beginning player. Hogan himself said that if he ever wrote a comprehensive book on his golf swing it would be as thick as a phone book. Also, I consider both his books necessary. I prefer the original copies, the first hardback printings, of "Power Golf" because of the actual pictures of Hogan addressing the ball, etc. I think the two books compliment each other but on some points contradict each other. I think it's best to use both books and to trial and error everything he discusses.
@@samking4179 If I wrote a comprehensive book on how I walk from my bed to the toilet every morning it would be thick as a phone book. You could break down any total body physical movement into infinite bits of minutiae if you really wanted to. The good teacher is one who knows how to make it simple, not one who bothers to make it endlessly complex.
@@Kaddywompous Hogan never said he was a good teacher. As a matter of fact whenever he mentions his time as a teaching pro he says that he was never really interested and as a result was not very good at it. Your opinion of a good teacher is, "one who knows how to make it simple, not one who bothers to make it endlessly complex." My opinion of a good teacher is one who knows how to make the student understand why things work the way that they do in order to get the result that I desire. You have your opinion and I have mine ... and the rest of the world has theirs. Some people prefer "simple teaching" while some are able to comprehend "complex" teaching. One size does not fit all. I would also bet that if you wrote your book on how to get to the toilet every morning only fools would read it. Whereas if Hogan had written his phone book on the golf swing the world would be better off for it.
He picks the club up very early enabling better use of the body on downswing. Doesn't overswing like so many these days. Bet he would like Cameron Smith swing
You have no idea what you're talking about. Old school courses were tight AF. This course shown here wasn't so much. But it was over 7k yards long. That's like 7.8k in modern tech terms.
look at todays pros sure they have huge power....but they are spraying the ball all over the place...left...right...I do not believe golf instruction has improved...how many today can do what Hogan did...hit it pretty straight round after round...
I disagree we, the best in the world today is as good as Hogan. If you mention the average pros, yes. But the average pros in Hogan’s era definitely is not as good as average pros now. The game has expanded and there’re a lot of good players.
No, I’m 70. I played in the 70’s with persimmon woods. You couldn’t imagine how difficult it was. Modern technology saved the game, especially for old folks like me.
In the late 50’s I caddied in a PGA tournament in Detroit - the Western Open - for Gardner Dickinson, Jr., a peer of Hogan. Nobody remembers him but he won 7 times on the PGA TOUR in the 60’s. What a thrill to be inside the ropes. Souchak, Hebert, Ford, Finsterwald, Boros ( both), et.al. I’ve played golf for 70 years and this was one of a very few serious highlights.
Awesome!
53 years old here, 1965.. hadn't play much for the last 10 years. Having effective retired in 1954. Still hit every fairway and every green like it was nothing... He did this routinely while on the tour. A pure ball striking machine. Nobody has ever looked like Ben playing golf since then and nobody ever will again....
One day some bright kid will emulate the Goat 🏌️♂️👍
Beautiful swing. Draws and fades so gracefully.
What I admire about Hogan's swing is the efficiency. Every ounce is delivered to the ball. No blocking, no arms fighting each other, no hips flying out,.
Though Scheffler and Justin Thomas are wonderful players, their feet are all over the place. Compare to the efficiency of Hogan.
Hogan said he felt like he was "running at the ball" into impact. What a sensation of delivering maximum effort with the legs!!
Snead said that was the best he had seen Ben play.
Well, Sam, that is a convenient assessment when he just be you head to head.
Hogan played pretty good at Carnoustie and Oakmont, courses that didnt have the wide open nature of the Houston CC.
The best to ever do it. A true athlete
William Knutson's comment couldn't be more spot on. Argue the greatest overall player in the game. Not the greatest ball striker. From the tee to the dance floor William Ben Hogan is the bell cow and the GOAT. Not only that, there is no possibility of anyone ever surpassing him. Rather than pumping iron in the gym he " wore the dimples off the golf balls," in the words of Lee Trevino. Like his great contemporary Sam Snead, Hogan hit balls until his hands bled. According to Golf's funny man Chi Chi Rodriguez shaking hands with Hogan was like shaking hands with sandpaper. Even after his horrible accident, Hogan routinely hit more than a thousand balls a day! There is no player alive today that could withstand such a regimen. Not without a trip to intensive care. In the words of the great golf writer AL Barkow, Hogan didnt just play golf. "He was absolute golf. The ultimate corporeal manifestation of an idea." Nuff said. There will never be another.
This is pure poetry in motion the greatest golfer ever prompts to Jack and Tiger but this man had limited tournaments after the accident maybe 7, and still managed to either win or come in second combined
The best! Ben and Lee are both open (shoulders) at address...walk in with the right food ...waggle and start the left shoulder....it is exactly what Carl Lohren teaches!
That ball striking is just legendary
2:59 Hogan is 51 in this video born in August of 1912… this was filmed in May of ‘64 but not shown in TV until February of ‘65…. While most would say Woods or Nicklaus, IMHO, Hogan is the GOAT… but most don’t look at the details of his career to debate it… they just look at Jack’s or Tiger’s major totals. We’re all entitled to our opinions!
10,000% agree!!!! If Hogan doesn't serve his country and also the car accident. Hogan wins over 100 tournaments!! To me, Mr. Hogan is the GOAT!!!!🌞🏌️⛳🏌️🌞
love the music choice as well.
I never noticed until watching him swing 20 times or so that his back swing with his irons is very short. And here I am trying for 10 years to make mine longer, and wondering why I am often so inconsistent.
Exactly! As he got older that's what he did. As we are getting older that's what we should do too…. Nicklaus too btw, he is even shorter (also older) but still belts it at 80 years or more.
Just watch the practice swing @ 0:04 over and over. Free relaxed upper torso/arms, no huge shoulder turn required, body supporting the speed created by upper torso / arms . In balance. You will develop a good swing.
Best swing ever. Look at those divots and think of the golf equipment back then lol.
They was top of the line
SORRY , BUT IS A FADE o DRAW ?
thanks
Sweet spot smaller than a dime on those irons.
@@industrialpalletworx3548 The sweet spot is smaller than a dime on present day clubs as well it doesn’t get any bigger irrespective of face size the difference is that todays clubs are more forgiving on off centre strikes or strikes outside the “ dime size” sweet spot, its called physics or dynamic engineering.
@John Austin sorry but I highly disagree with that assessment of modern equipment. The forgiveness you mention is engineering for larger sweet spot.
No pretension in that swing..great music.
The perfect swing.
How would you know it’s the perfect swing ? the important thing is it worked for Hogan as did Trevino’s work for him but never could be said was a perfect swing !!
@@johnaustin635 Trevino was never nearly as good as him. For one thing, when Hogan was in his ultimate prime (1941-49) before the massive injuries, he wasn't just precise he was also among the longest hitters which Trevino was never among.
great music, has a relaxing calming effect!
Are you serious? Lol this is the same music that was playing in GOT right before Cersi blew up the red keep with dragon fire killing everyone inside. Incinerated hundreds with the flick of a candle.
@@JGunit Yeah id say Hogans competitors were as frightened of his swing as were cercis foes of her
This match vs Snead was long after Hogan's prime, yet he hit all the fairways and 18 greens in regulation for 68!!
Let’s be fair it was long after Snead’s prime as well, also remember Hogan Never beat Snead in a play off !!
@@johnaustin635 Snead was still playing competition and as Snead himself once said”only 3 things I’m afraid of on a golf course...
Snakes lightning and Ben Hogan. Best of all time. Cheers sir
Want to swing like Hogan? Read his book Five Lessons, then apply what he teaches. You probably won't swing exactly like Hogan, but you will certainly improve.
Might take a wee while “ Stradovarius” unlike a $1000 driver you can’t buy it of t he shelf !!
Read Ted Hunt's two books, after Five Lessons too. Hogan's ability to repeat his swing perfectly every time far exceeded his ability to articulate what he was doing, he knew what he did, but his terminology was hard to translate. Ted Hunt does a fantastic job decoding and deciphering the magical device and how ubiquitous Hogan applied it to every club from the putter to the driver.
What I'm taken with is how laid off or flat his back swing with every club, it was hard to garner that aspect from all the reading and rereading I've done of Five Lessons and both of Hunt's books. that, and his short backswing with his irons.
Either way, my game has changed for the better, and I wish i'd studied Hogan's swing years ago!
Makes the game look easy. Anyone watching this should be saying, "I could do that." Poetry in motion.
No he didn’t despite being a Hogan fan Snead made it look easier than Hogan and took less time to do it .
Good swing
In this video it appears that his words and irons look to be a lot flatter than normal as far as the Lie angle
That's correct. They say his 1-iron was either 51 or 53 degrees. No one is for sure but it's one or the other or close to that. He was only 5'8" after all.
Dude's arm is already in the slot at takeaway...no need to "drop it in the slot". Very simple looking swing.
This is the tournament when Ben blows up the sept of baelor right?
from shell's wonderful world of golf, match play against Snead. or is that a joke?
I think this is a Shell Wonderful World of Golf thing, maybe from the mid-60's? They used to play down at a course in Sarasota. It also looks like that ws a 3 wood or something. Drivers were still big back then (but, not like today)
Shells Wonderful World of golf at Houston Country Club 1965.
He’s joking - the music is the same track that plays in the GOT scene where the sept of Baelor is blown up.
@@mclaughlinja1995 blows up the what?
Knocks the snot of it. The golf ball takes a devistating blow . The hand is quicker than the eye. Ouch✍️⛳
it's all done by slight of hand
A person here said that Ben would hit a 1,000 balls a day. I remember someone saying once that Tiger hit about 300. Now, think about it. This guy hit a lot of balls. He obviously figured out "how" to hit the ball successfully. Now, he had his little secrets which I'm sure he kept to himself & for us to figure out! 🤔
Sets up at address with ball on toe of club… just like Knudson mentioned in his book. George said he used to watch Hogan… wonder if that’s where he discovered that.
Look at the 5;40
the arms look a bit extended at address with the woods also.
the driver head size was smaller than my utility... omg
it seems he figured out how to move the body to go with the swinging arms where i seem to be swaying, rocking and blocking but i'm getting better at more of a nice turn back and thru.
Just noticed on two shots, Ben drops the club very quickly on his follow through. I find myself doing that all the time because I can't hold my finish. Maybe I'm more like Ben Hogan than I thought? Nah!!!
I noticed that as well. Held the club in his left hand and his right arm down to his side.
I think there is a little more involved than dropping the club !!
That right elbow!!!!
I see he stands well away from the ball. May be that enables him to swing so gently (?)
What the BGM music?
Anyone else notice he's swinging over the top? He brings the club inside and slaps it down on the ball. He also lines the toe of his clubhead up with the ball. Interesting.
Ott from the inside
He’s actually more shallow on the downswing. He takes it back shallow and in transition and the downswing it’s even more shallow…at least that’s how it looks to me.
@@troylink2887 okay 👍
@@troylink2887 That was why his clubs were set up with such a flat lie angle
why this song from GOT?
Great the best.!!!!!!!!!@
HD is kind of a stretch.
This music was also used in game of thrones? Lol
Yes. I was cracking up at one comment that said it was calming. I'm like not for everyone in the red keep lol
@@JGunit LOL
How did everyone miss the fact that he has a single plane swing. He called it the “plane of glass”. That’s where Moe got it. From Hogan.
- Hogan
I would actually argue its a reverse 2 plane swing. he brings it back low and inside and then goes over the top through the ball. Much like other golfers of his era like Sam sneed.
Shell Wonderful World of Golf?
Hogan and Snead at Houston CC, 1965. Well worth a watch.
One has to read " 5 Lessons " with a critical eye. A number of things written in that book are just plain wrong and not representitive of Hogan's swing. In his defense some images and statements in that book, may be accurate of his feeling within the swing.
true. I agree. however, the book is written for the beginning player. Hogan himself said that if he ever wrote a comprehensive book on his golf swing it would be as thick as a phone book. Also, I consider both his books necessary. I prefer the original copies, the first hardback printings, of "Power Golf" because of the actual pictures of Hogan addressing the ball, etc. I think the two books compliment each other but on some points contradict each other. I think it's best to use both books and to trial and error everything he discusses.
@@samking4179 If I wrote a comprehensive book on how I walk from my bed to the toilet every morning it would be thick as a phone book. You could break down any total body physical movement into infinite bits of minutiae if you really wanted to. The good teacher is one who knows how to make it simple, not one who bothers to make it endlessly complex.
@@Kaddywompous Hogan never said he was a good teacher. As a matter of fact whenever he mentions his time as a teaching pro he says that he was never really interested and as a result was not very good at it. Your opinion of a good teacher is, "one who knows how to make it simple, not one who bothers to make it endlessly complex." My opinion of a good teacher is one who knows how to make the student understand why things work the way that they do in order to get the result that I desire. You have your opinion and I have mine ... and the rest of the world has theirs. Some people prefer "simple teaching" while some are able to comprehend "complex" teaching. One size does not fit all.
I would also bet that if you wrote your book on how to get to the toilet every morning only fools would read it. Whereas if Hogan had written his phone book on the golf swing the world would be better off for it.
It's the best book on the golf swing ever written.
Saying anything in it is "just plain wrong" is a bit presumptuous
@@justinpeterson2105 Hogan never actually wrote 5 lessons himself.
lemme guess. the song title is "The Tragedy of Golf"
He pretty far from the ball at address. Never noticed that which makes sense why is swing plane is so flat.
he's fairly short too, which makes it flatter
Long arms as well
I’ve read that his clubs were 4 degrees flat compared to standard at the time
He picks the club up very early enabling better use of the body on downswing. Doesn't overswing like so many these days. Bet he would like Cameron Smith swing
No disrespect to the great man but with fairways as wide as this even Stevie Wonder could keep it on the fairway.
You have no idea what you're talking about. Old school courses were tight AF. This course shown here wasn't so much. But it was over 7k yards long. That's like 7.8k in modern tech terms.
Isn’t this music from Hunchback of Norte Dame? Awful.
No. GOT red keep cersi slaughter
inpaindaily
Aren’t we all.
Great beautiful swing but terrible music for golf. Play that music for a scary movie.
Its the music from GOT. RED KEEP
Go play in traffic
look at todays pros sure they have huge power....but they are spraying the ball all over the place...left...right...I do not believe golf instruction has improved...how many today can do what Hogan did...hit it pretty straight round after round...
I disagree we, the best in the world today is as good as Hogan. If you mention the average pros, yes. But the average pros in Hogan’s era definitely is not as good as average pros now. The game has expanded and there’re a lot of good players.
Back before technology ruined the game…
No, I’m 70. I played in the 70’s with persimmon woods. You couldn’t imagine how difficult it was. Modern technology saved the game, especially for old folks like me.
i stop actioned ben hogan at the finish and his body is way open to the left of target.