Ben Hogan had it right and wrong.
What I'm about to say always gets me into a lot of trouble, so let me first say that Ben Hogan is my number one golf hero. He figured out the swing plane concept, mastered it, and became one of the two or three best ball strikers who ever lived. He has been my model for the golf swing, as well as work ethic, for my entire golf career. His swing was fantastic, but he didn't do as he said.
Recall our discussion on swing plane: Because the plane runs roughly through our navel, while our arms are attached much higher at the shoulders, We naturally leave the original plane as we take a full backswing. Hogan's backswing was perfect. His right elbow was right on plane and his left arm was perpendicular to his spine, as the plane board requires. What happens next is where Hogan, and the countless golf instructors who idolized him and still teach according to his methods, led us down the wrong path.
To start the downswing, Hogan told us that the hips must rotate toward the target, and that this rotation would make the hands, arms and club drop downward (toward the plane) naturally. Sounds great, but it's simply not possible. Think just for a second. Looking at the Top of the backswing, if you turned your hips toward the target to initiate the downswing, what would happen to your hands and the club? There is no way possible that turning your hips in what amounts to a horizontal motion can ever force your arms and hands to move in a downward motion. They're attached, for goodness' sake! Quite frankly, that point should be obvious.
In fact, what Hogan actually did was drop his arms, hands and club back down toward the plane and then rotate. The sequence of actions is critical. Actually, to be totally accurate, he leaned his upper body forward toward the target as he started this dropping motion. This leaning-in motion was not an important part of his swing, nor was it anything that should be done consciously as that motion causes the center of the swing to move, making the swing much more difficult to execute.
How to fix a hook. Do you really need to fix a hook?
As a tournament golfer, Hogan suffered greatly early in his career due to a duck hook to the left that ruined his ability to consistently drive the ball in play under intense pressure (interestingly, nearly all good players, at one time or another, fought a hook). To make it on tour, he desperately needed to straighten the hook, and his writing reflects his search for the key to do exactly that. In all fairness to us, he should have titled his book How to fix a hook by Ben Hogan, rather than The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. He became famous for the accuracy he attained by hitting a very gentle fade to the right off the tee. Unfortunately the average golfer (the would be readers of instruction books) couldn't hook the ball to save his or her life. Somewhere around 90% of all golfers slice the ball far off to the right--which is a result of exactly the opposite swing as a hook swing. If you slice the ball, the last thing you need is to fix a hook. And now you know why the average golf score hasn't improved in thirty years.
What is important about a golf swing?
Think about it, Hogan, Byron Nelson, Lee Trevino, Sam Snead, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els (the list goes on and on) all looked) incredibly different as they swung the club. They stood differently at address, had vastly different backswings, their hips were in different positions on the downswing. I could go on, but that's not the point. If and when you looked at what the club was doing during their downswings, you might have learned all you ever needed to know. Remember: The club is the only thing that hits the ball. It makes sense to focus your attention on what the club must do to create the shot you want.
The only thing these legends had in common was their amazingly similar swing planes (see photo #5 under Swing Plane). Which made them all tremendous ball strikers. We have long been shown the differences in great players' swings. Isn't it about time we looked at the similarities? If there is anything you should copy from great players, let it be what the club does. That's what counts!
   
   
Ok then. What's so similar about these two swings. Let it be know that I am not comparing myself to Ben Hogan as a player. That would be silly. There is no comparison. I'm much cuter! I just want to point out why he was such a great ball striker and just how well and completely he had the golf swing figured out.
At the top of the backswing, the left arm is directly across the shoulder line and the right elbow points straight down. If I could figure out how to draw a line, you could see that in both cases, the right elbow is on plane.
At the start down you will see that Hogan has much more "club head lag" than have I. I find that if I lag the club head as opposed to push it I simply don't create any acceleration, and worse, my hands arrive at impact before the club head, requiring that I flip the club head into impact. The result is a big hook when I do get the club face closed, and shots pushed low and far to the right when I don't. The similarity is that in both cases, the hands are in front of the right biceps muscle, just as the plane board suggests. From here, the hands will return to the plane and then move into impact. The club shaft will actually be slightly flatter than the plane which is perfect.
In the third photos, the timing is not exactly the same. My hands are a little lower than his. If Hogan's photo was taken a fraction of a second later, you'd see it exactly the same as mine--club shaft in line with the right forearm--I have it on video. The arms--which deliver the club to the ball--are in identical positions. Hogan's right heel is off the ground, telling me that these photos were taken before his accident. Mine are on the ground, bracing against the force of my swing rather than pushing off, much like Hogan's after the accident.
In the fourth photos, the arms and the club are in almost identical positions as the club approaches the ball from the inside, out. Once again, Hogan's feet and hips are different from mine, but the club--the only thing that matters--is identical and that's what makes for great ball striking.
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