Low Point

[Daryl]

This was a fun project. Using the Computer I enlarged Ben Hogan to Full Scale. About 10 Frames from release through Impact were used to plot the Clubhead, Hands and Left Shoulder Path. The following information is a graphical representation of my findings.



Club: 6 Iron
Low Point Location: as Illustrated
Distance of Ball to Low Point: 6"
Divot depth: 1/4" at Low Point
Clubhead/Ground Contact: 5" behind Low Point
Stance Width (Distance between Ankle Bones): 19.25"

Interesting to note that in order to have a clean Pick-Off, the Ball had to be played 6" behind Low-Point. Clubshaft Angled about 10 degrees.

[KOC]

A club PRO quoted Mr. Hogan regarding the ball position..."The back of the ball shall be even with 3 inches forward of the lowest point in your arc..."

[Daryl]

A club PRO quoted Mr. Hogan regarding the ball position..."The back of the ball shall be even with 3 inches forward of the lowest point in your arc..."

Hmm? That's something I haven't considered. So how did he really select Ball Location?

ahh, Technical detail. Lets do the Math.

19.25"/2= 9-5/8
9-5/8 + 3" = 12-5/8
Move the ball forward 1/2 Ball = 3/4"

Total, 13-3/8" in front of his right ankle.
19-1/4" - 13-3/8 = 5-7/8" behind the Left Ankle.

Therefore, My diagram proves that he was 1/8" behind in this swing sequence where he normally plays the ball.

Perhaps he meant 2-7/8" forward of the lowest point in your arc... Maybe he rounded-up to keep things simple.




It's interesting how well Hogan knew of shaft lean variations for each club. His 1 iron had 1 degree of bounce, 9 iron had 9 degrees of bounce and 6 iron had 6 degrees of bounce. So, at Ball Separation, the 1 iron would be ideal when the Shaft was basically Vertical to the Ground (ok, 1 degree forward for the "precision nuts" out there)

As he moved his right foot progressively backwards for each longer club, his ball position effectively became closer to low point. He would have hit the ground before he hit the Ball with his 1 iron unless he compensated. And, if he kept the Ball 6" behind Low-Point for each of his clubs, then the Trailing Edge of the Golfclub would have hit the ground before Ball Separation.

So, he most likely compensated by lifting Low-Point out of the ground; i.e. he became more upright. OR,

If KOC is correct, and the Club Pro heard Hogan correctly, and Hogan really meant what he said, then with a 1 iron and 24" wide Stance, the Ball would be 9" behind Low-Point.

Hmm? given the Shallower Angle of Attack of a 1 Iron, that's about where the Ball would need to be played for a clean Pick-off.

So, with Low-Point being approximately at the Left Shoulder, Hogan Played the Ball for all Clubs, just outside the Left Ear. So, If we had Impact Pictures of Hogan with different Length Clubs, then we should see that His shoulder Turn at Impact would be less turn for shorter clubs and more turn for longer clubs. Hmm?

[Daryl]

I couldn't resist the wait. I found a video with Hogan and Driver and have his precise shoulder turn, that day, that swing.

The Lines indicate that Hogan had more Turn with his Driver than with his 6 iron.

[O.B.Left]

Nice work there D!

[Daryl]

Nice work there D!

Thank you O.B.

[KOC]

Here is the source from Mike Wright:

[O.B.Left]

Nice find KOC. So Hogan did not place the ball vis a vis the left foot per say, but low point. Interesting. Perhaps an insight he acquired after the publishing of the Five Lessons. He kept thinking about things, refining, right until the end I bet.

Three inches back from the low point in the arc for every shot would not take into account ball position adjustments for various Angles of Attack. Im thinking that while this is an interesting quote given the context of this fellows story about Hogan's precision, this statement is not, can not be, true as a general rule for Hogan. Sure as shootin, Hogan moved the ball around in his stance given the requirements of the shot at hand. Low pinch, high floater etc. Low point vs ball position. Machine adjustments.

I saw an interesting thing at this weeks Memorial Tourney. On Saturday Matt Bettencourt had hit his ball perilously close to the creek on 14. At the time was the leader and going along very, very nicely. The ball was on grass but just shy of the creek some 75 yards or so from the green. Problem was he couldnt get his left foot in front of the ball. Or should I say he couldnt get his left shoulder, low point in front of the ball without risking falling in. After some head scratching and fiddling around he tried to time an intentional downwards head bob to alter his low point. An interesting solution, but it didnt quite work this time around. The resulting skull left him in a greenside bunker and lead to the loss of a stroke.

[Daryl]

Nice find KOC. So Hogan did not place the ball vis a vis the left foot per say, but low point. Interesting. Perhaps an insight he acquired after the publishing of the Five Lessons. He kept thinking about things, refining, right until the end I bet.

Three inches back from the low point in the arc for every shot would not take into account ball position adjustments for various Angles of Attack. Im thinking that while this is an interesting quote given the context of this fellows story about Hogan's precision, this statement is not, can not be, true as a general rule for Hogan. Sure as shootin, Hogan moved the ball around in his stance given the requirements of the shot at hand. Low pinch, high floater etc. Low point vs ball position. Machine adjustments.

I saw an interesting thing at this weeks Memorial Tourney. On Saturday Matt Bettencourt had hit his ball perilously close to the creek on 14. At the time was the leader and going along very, very nicely. The ball was on grass but just shy of the creek some 75 yards or so from the green. Problem was he couldnt get his left foot in front of the ball. Or should I say he couldnt get his left shoulder, low point in front of the ball without risking falling in. After some head scratching and fiddling around he tried to time an intentional downwards head bob to alter his low point. An interesting solution, but it didnt quite work this time around. The resulting skull left him in a greenside bunker and lead to the loss of a stroke.

He said:

"The back of the ball shall be even with 3 inches forward of the lowest point in your arc..."

Meaning, with Both arms straight = 3" ahead of Center of your Head to the back of the ball. At about the Left Ear for every shot but change your stance width.

The above procedure is not the same distance back of low point for every club. The Exact distance from low point will change per club. Longer Clubs farther back, shorter clubs closer. It makes a lot of sense.

[golfbulldog]

Daryl, don't take this the wrong way....but have you lost your job recently??? You got alot of time on your hands!!!

Really like what you been doing recently - hope that you still find time for work!! Big thanks for your effort!!

Re. Hogan's reported ball position comments...I have heard others use that statement to support the fact that Hogan was describing a forward ball position for driver...ie. hitting up on it... seems unlikely to be correct to say 3 inches forward of low point for driver??