“The arms work absolutely subjectively to the shoulders, that is why they are controlled. The triangle formed by our arms and a line between the shoulders never loses its shape . . . it should be possible to push a wooden snooker triangle in between the arms and to leave it there without impeding the swing back or through.” Percy Boomer.
“Most people think they lift their arms to get them to the top of the backswing. With a modern controlled swing they do not lift them . . . the arms work absolutely subjective to the shoulders, that is why they are controlled.” Percy Boomer.
“It is by the management of the arms that championships are won or lost.” Percy Boomer.
“Keep your left arm connected against your chest, the same as a baseball batter or forehand down the line in tennis or anything else—the lead arm always stays on the body. It all came from baseball and Babe Ruth, teaching Sam Byrd how to bat. A drill—a handkerchief under the lead arm and keeping it under throughout the swing. Ruth taught it in baseball, and Sam Byrd brought it into golf, explained it to Hogan and some of the other guys. Sam Byrd found that in golf all the great players did it. Whether they knew did it or not, they did it, just like the great hitters all do it.” Jimmy Ballard.
While living in San Diego, this author took a golf lesson from John Schlee, the third round leader and eventual runner up to Johnny Miller when he posted his final round 63 in the 1973 US Open. Imagine how that impacted Schlee’s life. Schlee, who was one of the chosen few to spend time on the lesson tee with Hogan in Fort Worth. His message to me . . . “imagine holding an orange between your elbows.”
“A word of emphasis about the elbows. You want to press them as closely together as you can. When you do this (and the elbows point directly to the hip bones) you will notice that the pocket of each elbow—the small depression on the inside of the joint—will lie in the center of the arm, at the midway point. The pockets will be facing toward the sky, as they should, not toward each other. In this position of address, though the left arm hangs relatively straight, the right arm should be broken a little at the elbow as the elbow points in. The right elbow, as it folds close to the body, should always be pointing toward the ground. If the upper part of the right arm adheres as closely as possible to the side of the chest.” Ben Hogan.
“As your arms become schooled, you will get the feeling that the arms and the club form one firm unit—sort of as if the two arms were equal sides of a triangle, with the club emerging like the spire of a steeple at the peak point where the arms join.” Ben Hogan.
Lower Body: Stance, Posture, Ball Position
“The value of perfect posture and body rhythm.” Walter Hagen.
“Never reach for the ball. Your weight as you address the ball should be distributed evenly between the ball and the heel of each foot, with special emphasis on the left foot. This gives you the best possible foundation for your swing. If you start reaching perceptibly for the ball, the arc of your swing will become to flat. The predominant fault is standing too far from the ball, rather than too close to it. It is next to impossible to stand too close to the ball.” Byron Nelson.
“Many a golfer make the sizable error of thinking of the stance as that preparatory part of the swing in which the player merely lines himself up on the target he or she is shooting at. While one of the purposes of the stance certainly is to set up the direction of the shot, it also has quite a number of other functions that are much more important. Power and control must be combined in a good golf swing, and the stance is that step in which a golfer sets himself up so that (1) his body will be in balance throughout the swing, (2) his/her muscles are ready to perform fluidly, and (3) as a logical result, all the energy he pours into his swing will be channeled to produce maximum control and power. When you see a fine player making little individual movements of his feet or his knees or his shoulders as he settles into his stance, do not mistake these for empty gestures of nervousness. And they’re not movements, either, that precede his arriving at a static, fixed position. What he’s actually trying to do is to feel that everything he will be calling on in his swing is in balance and poised for action.” Ben Hogan.
“The feet should be set apart the width of the shoulders when you are playing the standard five iron shot. They are somewhat closer together when you play the more lofted clubs, somewhat wider than the width of the shoulders when you play the long irons and the woods.” Ben Hogan
“You should bend your knees from the thighs down. As your knees bend, the upper part of the trunk remains erect, just as it does when you sit down in a chair. In golf, the sit down motion is more like lowering yourself onto a spectator-sports-stick. Think of the seat of the seat as being about two inches or so below your buttocks. In this semi-sitting position, your body should feel in balance both laterally and back to front. You should feel a sense of heaviness in your buttocks. There should be more tension in your legs from the knees down—the lower part of your legs should feel very springy and strong, loaded with elastic energy. Your weight should be a bit more on the heels than on the balls of your feet, so that, if you wanted to, you would be able to lift your toes inside of your shoes. The back remains as naturally erect as it is when you’re walking down a fairway. Do not crouch the shoulders over the ball. You bend your head down only by bending your neck, not your back or shoulders.” Ben Hogan.
“You know why I’m so goddam good? I never move my right knee.” Ben Hogan to his caddy
Ball Position
“The basic objective in positioning the ball is to where the path of the descending clubhead momentarily coincides with the target line. Although down through the years many good players have used one ball position for all basic shots—I believe Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan both did—others have preferred to move the ball about in relations to the feet depending on the club being used. However, the trend among modern tournaments players is to position the ball identically for every standard shot. I play every standard shot with the ball in the same position relative to my feet. The position should be opposite my left heel.” Jack Nicklaus
Alignment
If you watch any footage of Jack Nicklaus hitting a golf shot, he always picked out an intermediary target as he began his setup. “I would find a leaf or some sort of mark on the grass on the target line a few feet ahead of the ball and in my mind’s eye ‘see’ a line connecting the ball and my mark line up the clubface while looking from behind the ball through my mark to the target; then, holding the clubface in position, walk around it and align myself in an address position square to the face.” Jack Nicklaus.
Shoulder Alignment Governs Path of Clubhead
“Whatever alignment you seek at address—open, square, or closed—don’t make the mistake thinking that by aligning your feet one way your body will automatically follow. The critical alignment factor is the shoulders. Remember that, unless you make a deliberate effort not to, you instinctively swing the club through the ball parallel to your shoulders, no matter where your feet may be aligned.” Jack Nicklaus.
All golfers have a dominant eye. Generally speaking, it’s the right eye. If you elect not to pick out an intermediary target in the initial phase of the setup, you run the risk of opening your shoulders—ever so slightly—every time you look at your target. This is one aspect of the setup that all students of the game should incorporate into their routines. Picking out an intermediary target and aligning your shoulders (not your feet) parallel to that target. If you hit a slice, there is a high probability that you have your shoulders open in the alignment phase of the