"Power Golf" by Ben Hogan

[iacas 3,703]

Discuss "Power Golf" by Ben Hogan here.

[newtogolf 957]

I read the paperback, but saw from online reviews that the hardcover was better, especially the illustrations. I am new to golf, but noticed that some of the content was outdated, especially in reference to equipment. The swing mechanics he suggests differ from other books I've read and what I've been taught by my instructor but I'm not close to being expert enough to know if that's a flaw in his teaching or just another swing philosophy. When it comes to instructional books I tend to look for books from good authors with publication dates that are fairly current so I could be biased since this book is 20 years old.

[BigMikey 2]

My only comment would be that the author of that book had the following statistics / honors to back up his writings: Which is hard to say for modern day books written by golf pros and instructors...

In 292 career PGA Tour events, Ben Hogan finished in the Top 3 in 47.6-percent of them . He finished in the Top 10 in 241 (82.5 percent) of those 292 events.
Tour Victories:
64
Major Championships:
9
• Masters: 1951, 1953
• U.S. Open: 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953
• British Open: 1953
• PGA Championship: 1946, 1948
Awards and Honors:
• Member, World Golf Hall of Fame
• PGA Tour money leader 5 times
• PGA Tour Vardon Trophy winner 1940, 1941, 1948
• PGA Tour Player of the Year 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953
• Member of 2 U.S. Ryder Cup teams
• Captain, U.S. Ryder Cup team, 1947, 1949, 1967

Jack Nicklaus 'Golf My Way' and Tiger Woods 'How I play the game' which are more recent are the only two that hold a candle to golf instruction when considering they came from the pros themselves with similar career statistics.

What I liked about the book was it showed more depth than his later book 'Five Lessons' His approach to chipping, pitching, putting and even how he played the fade or draw was all covered in that.

[The Tin Man 15]

I'm surprised that there are so few reviews considering how really well written this book is.

The drawings match what he's describing better then then photos would have.  I can't think of another golfer that describes their swing so well.  This oldie puts many more modern books to shame.

Hogan's swing doesn't need me to tell you how effective it is. At this point all I can think of is a long list of books that I wish were as clearly written as this one and are not.

Update Aug 2011

I found a 1969 hard cover edition printed in the UK with photos instead of drawings. The photos are clear and the drawing were made from the photos.

[mvmac 1,663]

Wanted to thank Robert Hatfield for sharing these pics with me from a 2nd edition "Power Golf"

[boogielicious 1,088]

Wow Mike!  Thanks!  Looks like the poster boy for the 5 Simply Keys.

His upper body was so flexible.  His pitch elbow incredible.  I can't even come close to his finish position and I constantly stretch to improve my flexibility.

I have read that he played a fade.  Was it a push fade?

He also played the ball back off his heel with the driver.

[mvmac 1,663]

Originally Posted by boogielicious

Wow Mike!  Thanks!  Looks like the poster boy for the 5 Simply Keys.

His upper body was so flexible.  His pitch elbow incredible.  I can't even come close to his finish position and I constantly stretch to improve my flexibility.

I have read that he played a fade.  Was it a push fade?

He also played the ball back off his heel with the driver.

I'm not sure if he played a fade during this time.  This was before his 5 Lessons book and I think he still struggled with a duck hook at this time.  Another reason he probably tended to align the driver on the heel, gear effect.  Can see from this driver swing, how far the left shoulder has gone back, left foot has rolled back.

Compared to his "5 Lessons" swing.  More centered, left foot stays planted.  The swing above would tend to rotate the baseline too far to the right.  Then when he transfers forward, get under at A6, left shoulder gets too high, hit toe hooks.  This is just an assumption on my part from looking at the pics and knowing his miss was a hook.

Few more "before" and "afters".  Again you can see how the upper center starts tipping back.  Compare the left shoulders and the right heels.

[jefkve 10]

Call me new fashioned, but I prefer gifs

[boil3rmak3r 22]

I love those close up pictures of Hogan's grip. I used to really struggle with a hook and had to figure out how to correct it. I found something called the pistol drill where you hit full shots with your thumb and index finger of your right hand off the club the entire swing. That drill basically forces your right hand to be more passive. The drill worked wonders for me, but didn't transfer to the course. In Hogan's 5 Lessons, he describes his right hand grip. He says, basically, to have your thumb press against and be inseparable from the index finger. To me, that is the pistol drill in action! Once I figured that out, I started using his grip recommendations and my hook went away...

[Beachcomber 204]

Nice photos!! Thank you for sharing. I love Hogan's right elbow action. And his finish from A8+++. Money.

[JonMA1 318]

I'm thinking of buying Ben Hogan's Five Lessons . Would anyone have any recommendations whether I should buy Power Golf instead? Maybe both?

Also, how much does Hogan's instruction differ from the 5 Simple Keys method?

[BostonBrew 16]

Originally Posted by JonMA1

I'm thinking of buying Ben Hogan's Five Lessons. Would anyone have any recommendations whether I should buy Power Golf instead? Maybe both?

Also, how much does Hogan's instruction differ from the 5 Simple Keys method?

I haven't read Power Golf, but I absolutely love Five Lessons. Such a great description of the golf swing. I occasionally go back and flip through it to read certain sections.

[BENtSwing 28]

Just finished reading this book. It's a great book to read after 5 Lesson (IMO) . . . and also for someone just starting to (try and) develop a solid golf swing. Particularly the thoughts in the very last section were encouraging. Basically he says to not worry about scoring while you are developing your swing. Once your swing is solid, the scores will come. He also mentions how golfers who never bother to learn the correct swing fundamentals can still score, but it wont hold up for them. I had never really heard these thoughts before. Awesome words of wisdom for a new golfer.

[tooc 2]

MVMAC thank u so much, have never seen these before have power golf but not with these photos in it

[Harmonious 168]

Power Golf was written in 1948, nine years before 5 Lessons. As Mvmac said, this was when Hogan fought the hook, and before he found his new swing in the dirt. He definitely revised some his thinking by the time he got to 5 Lessons.

[mvmac 1,663]

MVMAC thank u so much, have never seen these before have power golf but not with these photos in it

Yeah pretty cool stuff. I love the old black and white pics of the "classic" players.

[c peterich 4]

This book is uber good..,uber,,uber,,,,uber,,,uber,,, yea baby,,,yes [URL=http://s1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii547/cpeterich/?action=view¤t;=1lMJa.gif][IMG]http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii547/cpeterich/th_1lMJa.gif[/IMG][/URL]

[BENtSwing 28]

Power Golf was written in 1948, nine years before 5 Lessons. As Mvmac said, this was when Hogan fought the hook, and before he found his new swing in the dirt. He definitely revised some his thinking by the time he got to 5 Lessons.

Oh interesting . . . didn't realize that. 5 lessons is definitely more technical.