Does Anyone Know What Ben Hogan’s “Secret” Was?

[mcctee]

Well, the point is, his was the best secret.

[mcctee]

He also had special way to grill a steak that Butch Harmon told us about in the Ben Hogan Collection dvd set when we interviewed him.

[Mulligan Jeff]

Hogan said his secret was in the dirt - meaning at the practice range. That's where he sweated and figured it out - that leaves us to do the same.

[onephenom]

That gary player video was quite interesting. I'll have to see how that feels.

[dennbb]

I think his secret is laying off the club, bowing the left wrist at the start of the swing. I have been doing that for years but I learned it from Calvin Peate, in an instruction article, I never met him., It really makes the swing repeatable, and for me, I only need two swing keys. Pull with the legs and curl the left wrist. From there everything falls into place. If I hit a bad shot I know it's usually because I started down with my hands. I think Hogan is probably the best ball striker the game has ever seen.

[dchoye]

I think his secret is laying off the club, bowing the left wrist at the start of the swing. I have been doing that for years but I learned it from Calvin Peate, in an instruction article, I never met him., It really makes the swing repeatable, and for me, I only need two swing keys. Pull with the legs and curl the left wrist. From there everything falls into place. If I hit a bad shot I know it's usually because I started down with my hands. I think Hogan is probably the best ball striker the game has ever seen.

I think its was actually the cupping of the left wrist not bowing, that was his so called secret that was published in Life magazine.

Im not a big fan of Hogan swing, it's an antihook method, and Im not a big hooker of the ball.

Thinking about cup/bow left wrist just complicates my swing.

The only time I think about cup/bow is when I setting up to make a high or low pitch shot and when I consciously set my left wrist cup at address I tend to pitch the ball high, when I consciously bow my left wrist , I feel i can 'chase' the club thru the ball.

[iacas]

I figured it out the other day. Then I called @mvmac to brag about it.

@david_wedzik knows. He'll vouch for me.

[EverythingGolf]

I figured it out the other day. Then I called @mvmac to brag about it.

@david_wedzik knows. He'll vouch for me.

What is it Erik!

[dennbb]

I was a terrible hooker starting out. Maybe because I am left handed and swing the club right handed. So the swing worked for me. I do fade the ball usually but if I get more aggressive with the turning of the wrist on the way down I can hit a draw. If I need to hook the ball I can only do it with a strong grip and stiff wrist. People with a slice think they have a problem but a bad hook IMO is way worse

[dark_horse_holy_basils]

I will save you all the trouble and tell you there is really a secret. Think about it, how can a human being be so consistent like Mr.Hogan was even after he suffered a near fatal injury. He used to hook the ball under pressure then one day just.. "poof" and it was gone.

And yes he never really told anyone the "whole secret" but bits and pieces of its components to different people. But to be totally honest it wasn't even really bits and pieces of the real component of the secret but just merely more of a "hint" of those components.

Look at the way he takes his grips and all of his pre-shot routines. Study it closely and you will see something very unorthodox about it. It is all the first "part" of the secret. Then look at the way he stands over the ball at address. There is something very different about how his spine angle, shoulders, hands and arms looks at address. And look very closely at the relationship between his upper and lower body on his takeaway. Then look at how he levitates the club from takeaway to half way back, it is done in a very unique manner.. cause the secret ends there for him. The downswing he does nothing conscience other than "feel" the shot he wants whether it be fade draw high or low shots.

You guys don't have to believe me. But keep an open mind and go back to studying every little things he does the minute he grips the club till the top of his backswing. If lucky you will catch a glimpse of his "real" secret in action.

ps. hint.. the secret turns a hand eye co-ordination release into a body controlled pivot release while letting the hands "go crazy" (hence the "i wish I have three right hands comment) without conscience effort in the downswing.

Edited November 6, 2017 by dark_horse_holy_basils

[Patch]

I for one do not think there was, or now is any secrets to the golf swing. Even back in Hogan's day. There is so much info out there on the golf swing, it would be hard to hide a secret. Just about everything that can be said, has been said. Also, with today's technology, anyone with the right video equipment could tell everything there was/is to know about Hogan's swing. 

As for Hogan's so called secret, I have read a few stories about it. One was that as a caddy, he and his caddy barn buddies would have long drive games, winner take all. Hogan learned that by hooking the ball, with an overly strong grip, he would win most of these games. His secret was to learn how to control that hook, once he went pro. Most likely with a grip change. I suspect it's the same grip shown in some of his books. 

Another was that there was no secret, that he made up this secret, to get into his competition heads during tournaments. They would spend so much time thinking about trying to figure out his secret, that they would neglect their own games. 

Still another story goes that he made up this secret for a magazine article, that paid him $25K (?). I have never read that article, so the secret might be there. If it is, my guess is it goes back to controlling his caddy days hook, with a change of grip.

Still another is that his secret was not really his own secret, but info passed on to him by his brother (Royal?), who himself was a pretty good golfer. He just didn't care much about golf, with his sporting interests being else where. Again, the story goes that it was a grip change of some sort. 

[iacas]

11 hours ago, dark_horse_holy_basils said:

Think about it, how can a human being be so consistent like Mr.Hogan was even after he suffered a near fatal injury. He used to hook the ball under pressure then one day just.. "poof" and it was gone.

I'm not a Hogan historian, but I don't think it was "poof" and it was gone.

I also think Tiger in 2000 was probably a better player than Hogan, by far. Hogan could only beat the guys he played against, and even then, he didn't beat them like Tiger.

So, I object on two things:

1. Hogan didn't instantly solve anything. He didn't find some magic secret.
2. Hogan is over-revered. He has a mystical aura about him. He was great, but better than anyone ever… no.

11 hours ago, dark_horse_holy_basils said:

And yes he never really told anyone the "whole secret" but bits and pieces of its components to different people. But to be totally honest it wasn't even really bits and pieces of the real component of the secret but just merely more of a "hint" of those components.

If he had a "secret" we'd have seen it and it would be known by now. There's too much video, too many smart people who understand biomechanics, physics, etc. It would not still be a secret. (I guess that could be my third objection.)

But hey, full credit to you for playing into the "mysticism" aspect of it all.

11 hours ago, dark_horse_holy_basils said:

Look at the way he takes his grips and all of his pre-shot routines. Study it closely and you will see something very unorthodox about it. It is all the first "part" of the secret. Then look at the way he stands over the ball at address. There is something very different about how his spine angle, shoulders, hands and arms looks at address. And look very closely at the relationship between his upper and lower body on his takeaway. Then look at how he levitates the club from takeaway to half way back, it is done in a very unique manner.. cause the secret ends there for him. The downswing he does nothing conscience other than "feel" the shot he wants whether it be fade draw high or low shots.

Hocus pocus.

11 hours ago, dark_horse_holy_basils said:

You guys don't have to believe me. But keep an open mind and go back to studying every little things he does the minute he grips the club till the top of his backswing. If lucky you will catch a glimpse of his "real" secret in action.

ps. hint.. the secret turns a hand eye co-ordination release into a body controlled pivot release while letting the hands "go crazy" (hence the "i wish I have three right hands comment) without conscience effort in the downswing.

There is no secret.

55 minutes ago, Patch said:

I for one do not think there was, or now is any secrets to the golf swing. Even back in Hogan's day. There is so much info out there on the golf swing, it would be hard to hide a secret. Just about everything that can be said, has been said. Also, with today's technology, anyone with the right video equipment could tell everything there was/is to know about Hogan's swing.

Bingo.

[Groucho Valentine]

Being as flexible as a unbaked pretzel helps too... Most of us couldn't make the moves hogan makes without 2 years of yoga classes under our belts. 

[Patch]

A little irony here. I grew up in a little town in Oregon. As a youngster I worked at the Seaside Golf Course. Nothing special about it. Most of us kids were football, basketball, and baseball players. Golf was not on our radar. I took copius amounts of trash talk from my school buddies for working at a golf course. Fact was, it was one of better paying jobs in town. I think I made $10 a day, plus a few tips. 

I did everything there. Dumped trash, cleaned golf clubs, cut grass, bussed tables, painted buildings, picked up balls on the range.  What ever the boss wanted. I even caddied. The only thing I didn't do was play golf. I hit a few balls now and then, but I was a baseball player first and foremost. Our baseball coach made it quite clear he never wanted to see a golf club in my hands. 

One of the perks working there was on my off days, I had access to a mile or so, of prime river fishing. 

I remember a few times of a couple of guys would show up and play. An older guy, and younger guy who seemed to be the older guy's student. Other adults at the course were very impressed with these two, and their importance in the area. Myself, I thought they were just a couple of local businessmen, who showed up a few times each year.Turned out these guys were Ben Hogan, and John Schlee. Schlee had grown up in Seaside. Schlee was also a touring golf pro, and Hogan was some sort of mentor to him. 

To this day, I still think what might have been, if I had just paid more attention to one of the best golf swings on the planet at that time. 

[Ernest Jones]

I'm going to guess that Hogan's secret was that he practiced more than anyone else and that he practiced with a purpose in an era when many pros just hit balls and drank beer. 

[Lihu]

38 minutes ago, Ernest Jones said:

I'm going to guess that Hogan's secret was that he practiced more than anyone else and that he practiced with a purpose in an era when many pros just hit balls and drank beer. 

That's what I read. 

[Kalnoky]

1 hour ago, Patch said:

To this day, I still think what might have been, if I had just paid more attention to one of the best golf swings on the planet at that time. 

@Patch Fantastic story, love it.

The course record at my home club is owned by a PGA Pro who showed up one day completely by surprise. I never heard of the guy and don't remember his name, and I'm not even sure what decade this happened. But even the blowhards speak about in reverent tones. 

[Patch]

2 hours ago, Ernest Jones said:

I'm going to guess that Hogan's secret was that he practiced more than anyone else and that he practiced with a purpose in an era when many pros just hit balls and drank beer. 

My guess is that your guess is correct