Best Ball Strikers -- why?

I am a little perplexed about all this talk about best ball strikers I hear from various folks as I go about my daily life.

What is it about Ben Hogan that made him a better ball striker than anyone else in the world? Are we talking primarily about consistency? Is it ball flight?

Next thing is when reading people's comments on other's swings. This may be attributed to inexperience, but what makes Sergio Garcia's swing so glamorous when compared to the rest of the tour pros?

In the last year I have been learning about similar things. My thoughts after reading Bobby Clampett's book, "The Impact Zone" is that good ball strikers have a swing bottom 4" in front of the ball where high handicappers hit before or at the ball. Read up on Homer Kelly's "The Golf Machine". Some of which is related to Ben Hogan's "secrets" as I understand it. Read Bobby Clampett's book. He has "Impact Zone" DVD's out now. The Sybervision (made the dvds) thread tells more. I just started watching them today myself. Amazing info and I suggest them to anyone. Eye opening info for anyone with a double digit handicap in my opinion. That is the effect it has had on me at any rate. Check out the training club, the tour striker, as it works on these principles. Mine is on the way. This club along with Bobby's principles go hand in hand. Namely, a forward leaning shaft at impact, with hands/handle well ahead of the clubhead at the moment of impact. Get the Pure Ball Striker which allows you to feel lag in the downswing. This was invented by Jeff Evans, master instructor in Georgia. I spent a day with Jeff at Augusta back in Jan. Started playing consistently in the 80's immediately afterwards. I have been shooting in the mid 90's for the last decade. He teaches Bobby's principles, based on Homer Kelly's TGM, based on Ben Hogan's "secrets". You see the connection? All this info is related quite directly. I have never been more excited about golf since discovering this. Winter time is a good time for this.



-Dan

For me, "Good Ball Striking" always represents consistency. It's not just hitting a bucket of balls solidly but it means consistency in all things involved when you hit a shot---- the intended ball flights, distances, spin, and so on....

As for Ben Hogan being the best ball-strikers, that's merely an opinion. Others might as well said Sam Snead or Tiger Woods is better than Ben Hogan. Not to mention the lack of advancement in equipments used in his days. Most pros today are decent ball-strikers themselves.

As for Sergio's swing, despite his size, he hits the ball as far (if not farther) with many long-hitters out there on tour. His swing is special because of the tremendous amount of lag he creates during the downswing. Not to mention that he is one of the straightest drivers on tour.

im pretty sure that people who really know their stuff wont say that tiger is one of the best ball strikers of all time.

Tiger is a tremendous ball striker. The very best part of his game is his long-range approaches -- which I would argue are as good a measure as any of pure ball striking.

Nah, it is a fact. Ask anyone. Kidding, however, I have heard it said so many times that I believe it to be fact. Many of TGM principles are based on Hogan's "secrets" if I am not mistaken. Much of Bobby Clampett's "Impact Zone" book and now DVD's are based on TGM. Most all of my success is based on Bobby's teachings. Ben Hogan gets my vote.

-Dan -Dan

of course he is, i didnt say he isnt a "tremendous ball striker" - i said hes not "one of the best ball strikers of all time".

consistancy. Period IMO. When you look at good and great players, that is the one thing they have. Tiger and Phil are exceptions b/c of amazing scrambling abilities but most on tour are fairway and greens machines. They are just green machines.

Hogan is considered one of the best ball strikers of all time because he could work the ball anyway he wanted. If the hole called for a high fade that is what he hit. He had all the shots and could hit them at will. Nicklaus was asked this question and his emphatically stated Ben Hogan.

Unfortunately we don't see the kind of shotmaking that gave Hogan his reputation on a regular basis with too many modern players. The best example is probably Corey Pavin who actively works the ball.

do they really need to nowadays?

They can just laser the ball at the pin and stop it dead.

That's a great point. I've often wondered how much better Hogan, Bobby Jones, Palmer or even Jack would have been if they were playing today with the high tech clubs and five layer balls. Has the game changed so much that it's not really fair compare the golfers from the past to the current?

yes.

They learned to hit the ball straight, not super long. Sure there were some long players but you could still compete if you didn't hit it a mile. Now you have 6' 4 monsters like Dustin Johnson and Alvaro Quiros who just crush the ball.

So much horsesh*t in this thread we could fertilize enough corn to feed the world for a week...


Good ball striking means controlling your golf ball well from tee-to-green. Period. Nothing more, nothing less. Hogan was a great ball striker, Sam Snead, Trevino, etc.

When I think of good ball striking, I think of solid contact with the ball with effortless force behind it. An analogy I can think of would be boxing. There's a lot of methods to land a jab to the face of your opponent, but a good "jabber-face-striker" hits an opponent and the opponent's face snaps back with a crispness that so-so boxers can't accomplish. Now this doesn't mean that a good "striker" is necessarily a better boxer, and it's probably difficult for your average spectator to notice a difference between a bad striker and a good stiker, but the guy getting hit in the face will definitely tell the difference.

There is also an inference of good mechanics and using your whole body effeciently. So a good face-striker uses his entire body effiently, so not only does he hit with more force, he can perform a lot more jabs before his arm gets tired, since he is using his arm less as a motivating force and more of a conduit of force between his legs/torso and his glove when it contacts the opponent's face.

Now some people will say a good ball-striker not only has the above, but also can consistently control the trajectory and shape of ball flight in general.

The next step up I think would be someone who can steer a ball under different lies and conditions, weather etc.

I suspect that different golfers draw the line at different places. I simply stick with full-body effertless power, regardless of how well a golfer can control the ball

Found this to be a good definition.

It is, like other posters have mentioned, being able to do what ever you want with the ball. Whatever the situation, you had the shot that was needed. The demise of the balata ball, which spun much more than current balls, accounts for much of the demise of ball-striking. I've read a lot of older pros saying current balls are much harder to spin, therefore work, than balls used to be. You can't put a smile on the ball anymore, though, which is one benefit of the new cover material.