&B

Careful- I'll called a technical foul on you. That's my pseudo referee shirt.

:eyes:

Let's listen to what Mr.Hogan has to say about this in his own words:

(Page 27) - "A further word about the thumb area of the right hand. To promote a right hand grip that is strong where it should be strong (and which will then more than offset the dangerous tendency to let the tips of thumb and forefinger work like a pincer), I recommend the golfer-reader to cultivate the following habit: School yourself when you are taking your grip so that the thumb and the adjoining part of the hand across the V - the part that is the upper extension of the forefinger - press up against each other tightly, as inseparable as Siamese twins. Keep them pressed together as you begin to affix your grip, and maintain this airtight pressure between them when you fold the right hand over the left thumb. In this connection, I like to feel that the knuckle on the back of my right hand above the forefinger is pressing to the left, toward my target. It rides almost on top of the shaft. I know then that the club has to be in my fingers. Furthermore, when you fold the right hand over the left thumb - and there is a lot left to fold over - the left thumb will fit perfectly in the "cup" formed in the palm of your folded right hand. They fit together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. This union of left thumb and right thumb pad strengthens the welding together of the two hands and it serves to add real reinforcement to your grip, particularly at the top of the backswing where poor grips are most likely to deteriorate. When you check your right-hand grip, the V formed by the thumb and forefinger should be pointing right at the button of your chin.

"And a final word about those potential swing-wreckers, the right forefinger and thumb. While the tips of the forefinger and thumb do serve the advanced golfer as his finesse fingers, learning to use them only for touch in striking the ball requires some training. You will develop this talent as you go along. However, at this stage of the game when breaking down bad habits and acquiring correct new habits is our paramount consideration, there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the average golfer should forget about this finesse business completely. It can do him so much more harm than good in learning how to use the right hand. In this connection, an extremely beneficial exercise to practice (perhaps five minutes daily for a week) is to grip the club and swing it with the right forefinger and thumb entirely off the shaft. This gives a golfer a wonderful sense of having just one corporate hand on the club. This, of course, is the ideal. When you complete your grip, try to feel that the tips of the forefinger and thumb are hardly on the club and strive instead to build up that opposite feeling (which we described earlier) that the knuckle above the forefinger is pressing toward the thumb and toward the target."


It really sounds like he knew what he was talking about (slight understatement?)

Hogan's Spoken Words
 

Ben Hogan's written words are a treasure chest of information, but his spoken words are even better.

If you haven't already -- and maybe even if you have -- be sure to watch the Hogan home video in our Gallery. In the last part of the video, the man himself tells us what to do and then demonstrates how to do it. Click on the link and then the Hogan Home Video icon.

http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/gallery....php?photo=249

Priceless stuff.

Especially important is his description of the #3 Pressure Point (right forefinger) directly behind the shaft, an explanation totally missing from his book, Five Lessons.

I agree 100%... it is not only a charming piece of footage...there is nothing of the "wee ice mon" here... it is all smiles and warmth... a side of Ben Hogan he had every right to preserve for his loving frineds and family...BUT it is absolute dynamite instruction...the keys to the kingdom of golf... truly inspiring!

EVERYBODY should do that drill Hogan does with the super slow motion Total Motion swing and ACTUALLY HIT THE BALL WITHOUT FLIPPING . . . that is hard to do. If you focus your attention on the clubhead . . . you'll flip it. But if you're Monitoring the hands . . . you can still compress it at that low speed because you still have Mass and Radius going to Full Lever Extension.

And another observation . . . Mr. Hogan had to look better than anybody to walk the face of earth in a pair of pants. He was a dang fashion plate.