In today's world, where you have countless golf tutorials on YouTube and books, it can be hard to distinguish good techniques from bad ones. Luckily, you have the golf legend Ben Hogan who has poured his lifetime worth of actionable strategies that you can use to improve your swing.
One of the things that make his lessons stand out from the rest is how he simply breaks down the significant concepts of golf and brings them up in a way that will not only understand and adapt them but motivate you to keep improving as well.
If that's what you are looking for, here are the top 10 best techniques on how to swing a golf club that has been tried and vouched by Ben Hogan himself not to help you reach your goals this year.
1. Have longer shots
Ben Hogan is known as one of the few people who break the records in hitting the ball further than anyone on the field. The secret behind this is to be as relaxed with your swing as possible. Many amateurs tend to go for a solid and hard shot; the ball will barely move a few feet. Hogan emphasized accelerating the downswing all while being more thorough with specific movements. This includes using a sequence of events like starting from your hips, the arms, and hand to build up more energy.
You can execute the remainder of the downswing by slowly increasing the tempo. However, bear in mind that you can't simply jump off to hit the ball farther when you are comfortable with the starting motion in the beginning. Besides that, to get the right swing, make sure your elbows and torso are intact as your arms move further behind you to extend the follow-through.
2. Hit the ball first
Understanding the concept of shifting your weight before making your move is one of the most crucial things to consider. According to Hogan, many people make a common mistake because they hit the ground before hitting the ball. This will divert the energy from the right place and use the build-up energy in creating unnecessary momentum.
To hit down the ball properly, he recommends you shift your weight to the front side of the downswing. This will help you prevent the feeling of the ball back while you Ben Hogan golf swing. Thus, this is a highly needed movement that you must do to stay flexible and take turf after contacting the golf ball.
3. Position your leading wrist
Considering the years of experience and trial and error, Hogan has always been particular with his tips and the methods he suggests. He suggests that golfers need to go through the fundamentals of golfing again to grab its initial concepts.
One thing that stands out is what differentiates a good ball striker from a bad one is the position of your leading wrist, which is the left wrist for right-handed players and vice versa.
Hogan states that your wrist should be bowed out toward the target at impact to make the most out of each shot. If you find it difficult to understand, you can always count on the experience-tested Ben Hogan's Five Lessons book that demonstrates each movement and technique with clear illustrations that help you grab the concept better.
Regardless of your golfing level, the book contains clear-cut explanations that you may need to amp up your golf game instantly. Another thing that plays a vital role here is making small swings with your elbows, as it will help give a head start to your golf swing.
4. Focus on swing planes than arcs
In an interview with Ben Hogan, a lesson that he constantly revisits is that every swing has two planes. One for the downswing and the other for the backswing.
For an excellent backswing, ensure you remain parallel with the pane to the top of the backswing, which you should do by visualizing the backswing plane as a large pane of glass resting on your shoulders that you need to concentrate while you are making a move. Here, you also need to go back to the third point and practice having the correct wrist position and making up for your weaker position.
5. The Grip
A common question many golfers have is regarding the proper grip for the ideal shot. Here, hogan suggests you overlap your hand where the pinky of the dominant hand rests between your forefingers and the middle finger of the weaker hand.
Although this is known as the standard way of having the perfect grip, it is still overlooked among many other techniques that you see even where now.
Secondly, he also describes the effect it has on your swing when you have a poor or highly tight grip. This can also be helpful to find out the things you have been doing wrong and find solutions accordingly. Hogan emphasizes a relaxed grip with which you have gentle pressure all across the stick.
6. Stance & Posture
Having a proper and consistent stance and posture is needed if you want to achieve multiple right swings. One of the things that Hogan focuses on is that the golfer must perfect their address of the golf ball. If we keep his lessons apart and examine the stance, Ben Hogan's signature stance is that his slightly open front foot with a more straight back foot helps him stay planted in that position.
In fact, Hogan thinks having a front foot open can aid to promote an accurate shot, all while staying consistent with them. Other than this, an open front foot can also be used to improve flexibility in hip rotation throughout the 2nd part of the swing.
Another thing worth paying attention to is to place the ball on the inside of the front foot and move the trail of the foot further as you get into the longer clubs. Unlike many other techniques that you can find out there, this isn't just something that Hogan vouches in his book; it is actually something we have personally witnessed in all these iconic shots where the width of his stance does not change throughout the complete set of clubs, and the ball is mainly placed in the middle of the stance.
Nowadays, you also get to see more experienced golfers other than Hogan, who is also going on this approach to improve their performance instantly.
7. The Backswing
Although we have mentioned this concept before, it needed more emphasis to help you grab the idea properly.
Hogan explains that a pre-swing waggle does not mean you release the tension. Instead will also instantly improve their performance; it is a mini backswing that will mentally prepare you for the shot. By being aware of your shoulders, hips, arms, and hands, you generate a sense of confidence that can be highly helpful to store energy and consistently give your best shots.
In the long term, you also learn to use this awareness to stick to your techniques and find out what works best for you.
8. The Downswing
If you ask for one thing that Hogan cares about the most, it is undoubtedly the initial unwinding of the hips. This is where you prepare your body to take the pressure and gain the ever-needed flexibility to get the right shots. Once you get this right, the upper body, hands, and arms follow the same order without much effort.
He also stresses one essential aspect called the lag that delays the release of the hands and wrist to hit the ball. (spoiler alert: we will be talking about it in a few seconds)
9. Play pitch shots to gain control of your shots
Hogan preferred to play low chip with a spin as they help to gain control over your shots. However, this may only work if you know the proper techniques that are used by Hogan himself to prove its credibility.
How to do that?
When possible, he instructed you to keep your hands in front of the ball and low through the impact instead of keeping your hand movement to a minimum. This is needed to avoid scooping the ball which is a mistake many golfers have been known to make in the past.
10. Use the lag to ensure you never miss a fairway.
As mentioned earlier, Hogan's famous lag involves delaying the wrist during the downwing. This is one of the reasons why Hogan was able to rarely miss any short and is known as the longest hitter of his era.
Conclusion
Ben Hogan has emerged his name to be one of the best golfers known in history today. Although some of his techniques may be counterintuitive, the concept of that still remains the same. This is because his approach revolves around breaking through the surface-level information and going in-depth with the fundamentals to help you set up your basic right.
Ben Hogan’s teaching has always been extremely valuable and practical.
You can count on the top 10 techniques of how to swing a golf club, so that you can achieve your desired result / improve your golf swing.