The Search for Hogan’s Secret When talking about Ben Hogan, arguably one of the best golfers that have lived, people wonder what his secret to his success really was. Hogan himself argued that the secret was starting the downswing with his lower half or that break in the wrist he made in his backswing. However golf coaches and people alike have argued otherwise. One thing that is common with all the world’s best golfers, Tiger, Nicklaus, Hogan, Palmer, Watson, etc, is that every single one of them keep their right elbow connected closely to their right hip through impact. This allows you to hit from the inside and allows you to release the club less and turn the body more. His right arm always stayed below his left arm, not only through impact, but also on the way down to impact. You can see this in the 3rd, 4th and 5th image of his swing sequence. Click here to view. Having your arms connected to the lower body through the impact area not only allows you to strike the ball more directly from the inside, but allows you to square the club through body rotation, therefore not having to use your hands to release the club. When the hips are too far in front of the upper body, the lower body often begins to move up and out of the hitting area before the club is in position to strike the ball. And as you get farther and farther from the ball and/or the club gets stuck open due to the arms and hands getting left behind, it forces you to cast or flip the club at the ball through impact in order to square it. This move sacrifices both power and consistency. Another key factor is making sure the arms and body turn back together in the backswing. A lot of golfers who suffer with flexibility will turn to a certain point and then lift the club to the top of the back swing with their arms. This causes complete disconnecting during the downswing, resulting in inconsistency. Therefore if you struggle with flexibility, it may be time to try and improve it, your swing can stay more connected during your downswing and being able to achieve keeping the elbows close to the body. Give it a try! |