The Fundamentals of Hogan. David Leadbetter

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      Hogan believed a splayed-out right foot can lead to swing problems.

      No less esteemed an observer of the swing than two-time U.S. Open champion and Masters winner, Cary Middlecoff, believed that Hogan’s advice to turn the left foot outward had long been standard procedure. “That goes at least back to (Harry) Vardon,” Middlecoff wrote, “and it has always been generally agreed that this positioning of the left foot facilitates the downswing movement of the hips and makes it easier for the player to move freely through the ball.”

      In thinking about the arms at address, Hogan agreed with the long-held principle that the player should strive to achieve a maximum arc. Horace Hutchinson, the 1886 and 1887 British Amateur champion, and a respected author, wrote in 1895 that, “In leaving the ball, the clubhead should swing back as far as possible,” and that the arms should be allowed “to go to their full length as the clubhead swings away from the ball, or as nearly to their full length as is possible without further stretching.” Nearly half a century later, Bobby Jones wrote that the arc of the swing should be “made very broad so that space and time for adding speed to the clubhead coming down will be as great as possible.” Hogan was certainly following accepted theory in advocating a maximum arc. Hogan worked on the premise that at least one arm needs to be straight or fully extended throughout the swing—a key to achieving a maximum arc, power and consistency.

      Inner elbows pointing to the sky: Hogan’s image of a rope binding the arms.

      At address, Hogan wrote that the upper parts of the arms pressed against the chest and the elbows were close together and pointing toward their corresponding hipbone. He pointed out that the pocket of each elbow—the small depression on the inside of the joint—should face the sky and not its opposite. His image at address was of a rope binding the elbows and arms together. He wanted the golfer to maintain that elbows/arms relationship throughout the swing. And while he spoke about the left arm hanging straight at address, he advised that the right arm should have a slight bend at the elbow. This allows the right elbow to fold close to the body as the club is swung back and to point to the ground (the ideal position in his opinion) at the top of the backswing.

      Elbows should not face each other.

      Hogan’s final point regarding the address position concerned posture—the way a golfer positions his trunk and knees. His mental image was of a golfer starting with an erect position at address, and then sitting down a couple of inches as if sitting on a seat stick (see page 33). This semi-sitting position would give the player a sense of heaviness in the buttocks and promote liveliness in the lower legs, and, in Hogan’s view, put the weight back towards the heels. There must be no slouching of the shoulders, stiffness in the legs, or collapsing of the knees, as seen in many golfers. Tommy Armour, the superb teacher and player who won the 1927 U.S. Open, the 1930 PGA Championship and the 1931 British Open, recommended a similar position. As he wrote, “You will stand as upright as you can to the ball; not stiff, but comfortably upright with the knees flexed a little bit.” Hogan also advocated a flexed knee position and in addition liked the knees to be pinched slightly inward (the right knee a fraction more than the left). By placing himself in this very athletic position, Hogan felt he was completely stabilized and balanced at address, ready to make the proper swing.

      Left arm hanging straight.

      Left arm hangs straight, right arm kinked in.

      Hogan exaggerating excessive knee flex.

      Hogan mimicking poor posture.

       My View

      Still pictures cannot possibly capture the athleticism of Hogan’s setup. His setup was powerful, alive, ready for action, and very purposeful. His tall posture with very little forward upper-body bend or knee flex was determined by his build—just under 5 feet 9 inches tall with long arms and strong gluteus maximus muscles; his rear end, to put it delicately, was sizable and strong. This encouraged him to stand erect and—in his case—facilitated his shoulders turning on a flat horizontal plane, which produced the flattish, characteristically Hoganesque swing plane. Hogan said he liked to feel his weight back on his heels. But I sense that his balance was more forward, toward the arches and the balls of his feet, as is the case with most athletes—for example, in basketball, where the shooter sets himself for a free throw. Photographs of Hogan suggest that even though he stood tall, his weight was not back on his heels as much as he thought.