Hogans secret is a long standing discussion. I don't know if there was any one secret, but it seems the more I read about them, the more I understand his component variations and swing but I don't claim to know his swing as well as others. It's difficult to analyze any swing. 3 or more books have already been written about his swing and after all of these years, no one swings like him yet.
I do think that Bending the left wrist at the Top of his Swing made a difference but at the expense of the Left Arm Wedge. At Release, it allows his left Arm to travel one plane while his Left Wrist Uncocked on the Elbow Plane. His Swivel Illustration in "Five Lessons" aptly demonstrates.
A Flat Left Wrist is necessary, from a TGM perspective, while on the Turned Shoulder Plane. To Uncock On the Swing Plane with a Flat Left Wrist, one needs the Left Arm Wedge On the Swing Plane Simultaneously. The #3 PP traces the Plane line. If the Left Arm is more Vertical to the Ground than the Swing Plane, as Hogan, then the Left Wrist needs to be bent to Uncock the Shaft On Plane.
In the picture below, Hogan appears to be Uncocking on a Vertical Plane. That would make any amount of Left Wrist Bend Unnecessary and render the above argument irrelevant. It looks like a Simultaneous Release. ??
In a nutshell, Hogan prevented the hook by trying to hook the heck out of it on the downswing - but having a setup and backswing that opened up everything as wide as possible.
Thanks for the post, good to finally see the entire article in its original form!
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In a nutshell, Hogan prevented the hook by trying to hook the heck out of it on the downswing - but having a setup and backswing that opened up everything as wide as possible.
Absolutely, physically Hogan took it to extremes. Do everything you can possibly do to hit the ball to the right and then try to hook it. No matter how hard you try to make the ball go left it can't.
Many of us try to walk a tight rope when we play. Hitting it straight is like keeping in balance so we won't fall off the rope. We constantly make little adjustments so we don't get hurt. Hogan figured out the more weight he could throw out to the right and counter that by throwing as much weight out to the left would result in being able to walk the tight rope without falling off.
But, Hogan's real secret was mental; between the ears.