Ben Hogan -- The George Coleman Palm Beach Estate Footage
 

It's Friday night at Joe Duffer's house. He's tired, but the wife's restless. Let's listen in...


She: Honey, it's Friday night, and I'm thinking about a movie.

He: Naah, Sweetheart. It's been a long week, and I'm beat.

She: I understand, but I've found one I think you'd really like to see. It stars Ben Hogan.

He: Really?! Is it Follow The Sun, the one with Glenn Ford where Hogan plays himself in a cameo? I've seen that one a dozen times.

She: No, we're not talking Hollywood here...or any other professional job. This is a private tape. It was shot with home movie equipment at the Palm Beach estate of a friend of his, George Coleman. He was a rich oil man and former president of Seminole Golf Club where Ben used to tune up for The Masters each year. Ben was older here -- a Lion in Winter thing. And it's a copy of a copy of a copy -- if you get my drift -- but it's still great stuff.

He: Wow! Where did you get it?

She: I could tell you, Darling, but then I'd have to kill you.

He: Never mind.

She: Thought you'd understand. Anyway, the video basically has three parts. The first part, they're doing the set-up and stuff, and Ben does a few swings for the camera. At first you don't see the ocean -- that's the sound you hear throughout the tape and it's where the balls are landing! -- but then there's a down-the-line view, and you get the picture real quick.

He: Cool!

She: And then comes the second part...this is where Ben does a slow motion of his own full swing. I don't mean a normal swing in slow motion...I mean he physically demonstrates his swing at a super-reduced speed. He hits the ball about ten feet.

He: Whoa! Front view or down-the-line?

She: Both.

He: That sounds really exciting!

She: I'll say. We call this the "O-h-h Ben!" part of the tape. It was hard to maintain the PG-13 rating.

He: I can hardly wait! And the third part?

She: Well...that's the part I swear the guy who wrote that yellow book you're always reading must have seen. What do you call it? The Golfing Machine?

He: Yeah, that's it. Homer Kelley's book. But why would you say he must have seen the movie?

She: Because Ben demonstrates his grip and pressure points. Especially that right forefinger thing you're always talking about.

He: The #3 Pressure Point? GeemaneeChristmas! That's not even in Five Lessons!

She: Well, brace yourself, Big Guy, it's in this movie.

He: Honeybun, tonight is Movie Night at The Duffers. Let's get it on!

She: I thought you'd see it that way...you have fun. Just click on www.lynnblakegolf.com/Video/HoganHomeVideo.wmv . Me? I'm outa here for a night out with the girls!

See-Throughs
 

Even after a couple of "clear liquids" Hogan is still smoooooooth. :D

Just wonderful.

How 'bout that grip?

And the ELBOW PLANE.

and The PITCH BASIC stroke.

and the position of the elbow prior to release point that 99.999999999% of all instructors say is wrong?

This is really, truly special. Thanks, Yoda!

Yoda,

Thanks...big time.....it's great seeing the master at work, especially the slow motion swing...

DG

Hogan
 

Amazing. I'm still a rookie at analyzing swings, but his grip appears pretty neutral compared to most of the strong grips I see on TV. He also seemed to play from a closed stance--did he do this for all clubs or just the driver?? It was pretty cool to see him hit into the ocean and follow his shot until there is a small splash in the distance. Loved the comment near the end---"That's all there is to it." Not sure where you got this , but thanks for putting it up. I'm sure this will be played a million times.

I agree...that video is awesome. Thanks Lynn.

I hope all of you notice how in Hogan's book he talks about how the lower body swings the golf club, but when he does the slow motion demos in the video, he initiates his downswing with the lower body and pivot, but then takes his HANDS into the ball with a quiet body.

Hogan Video
 

Yoda

Thanks for sharing the home movie.

This site is a golf junkie's dream.

Wow !

And what a great set up! What a stroke on that Machine.

This forum is quite the Time Machine.

Many thanks, Lynn


6b

Ahh... so thats the key to being one of the best ball strikers ever?

That is really really cool :)

This place has the most awesome video - that was really great Yoda :)....

I think you just contradicted yourself Dave :)

Forget that, you just edited and added.

No worries Dave, when you said "No, I don't think Hogan's slow motion swing is a true representation of his full speed swing...I don't think the full speed swing is off-plane." i took it as meaning the slow mo swing could not really be compared to the full speed swing in regards to plane, which would mean the fading comment would be redundant.

Mr Hogan
 

That was GREAT!

I thought it was interesting to see that when they asked Mr. Hogan to do his swing in slow motion that he included the approach in the slow motion. He was saying that even the approach is part of the swing.

Heres a thing for interest.... - if there are any errors im sorry I was speed typing.....

Harvey Penick's Downstroke Waggle Drill
 

This is the Downstroke Waggle of 3-F-5. In my opinion, it is far and away the best (if not the only) cure for that genetic deformity of the Golf Stroke --the Flat Downstroke Shoulder Turn (and its resulting 'Outside-In' Path of the Hands) [10-13-B #3].

Wasn't Bertholy also really into doing really slow motion repetitions also?

Thanks - it made some my 3-F-5 fog clear... :)

Mathew,
Yes, he was. And if I'm correct, Hogan visited Bertholy when he was rebuilding his swing to get rid of his hook.

Hogan And Bertholy?
 

Matt,

This is the first I've heard of this. I trained personally under Paul Bertholy in 1982 and can tell you he was not one to keep his lamp under the bushel basket. In fact, his penchant for self-promotion was the stuff of legend. He told me that he had worked with the junior Jack Nicklaus and was later disappointed that he was not credited with at least some of Jack's success. And, I have in my files literally hundreds of Paul's letters of recommendation from satisfied students. But as far as Ben Hogan goes...not a peep from Paul.

Do you know of an authoritative source for this information?

Everyone of those drives hit by Hogan landed in the water within a few feet of each other. I attended a 3-day, 12 hours per day, golf symposium in January with Mac O'Grady (who relies heavily on TGM) and we watched this video at the end of the last day. Mac is a HUGE Hogan fan (as well as Snead).

Bruce

Lynn,
I'm not sure where I heard this. I don't know if it is true or not...probably not. If it was in '82 that you worked with him, it would have definantly been before that if Hogan saw him when he rebuilt his swing. Since Bertholy didn't mention it, it probably didn't happen.

EDIT:
Lynn,
Would it have, by any chance, been Moe Norman that worked with Bertholy some? Maybe this is who I'm thinking of?

Since you worked with Paul, what was your take on him and what he taught? Did he know Homer or have any TGM experience?

Actaully I have heard others on other forums make this claim, but no one has been able to offer any proof. It was always heard from someone who heard it from someone.

Actually I don't believe it.

Thank you again for another great video!
 

The Hogan video rocks!!!!!
Thank you. =D>

Welcome, Bruce!
 

Welcome aboard, Bruce. And thanks for this first post. Keep'em coming!

More On Paul Bertholy
 

Moe liked Bertholy's book and used some of its terminolgy. For example, he referred to his Right Hand as the Claw. He also liked to talk in terms of "how well I hit my positions." I do not know if he ever met Paul, but even if he did, I would be surprised if they worked on his swing together.

Regarding TGM, Paul never met Homer Kelley nor did he have any TGM exposure.

As far as my 'personal take,' I wrote several posts on Brian Manzella's site (www.brianmanzella.com where I post as holenone) and perhaps on Chuck's (www.chuckevansgolf.com). I'm sure a search on my archives would produce them rather quickly.

Hogan's stance
 

I noticed Hogan had a closed stance. What I couldn't tell was how he aligned his shoulders to the target line.

I hit some balls on the range with a similar stance and actually played a round of golf that way today. I kept my shoulders square, but pulled the right foot back similar to what he does in this video.

Having the right foot back seemed to make it really easy to take the club back on an inside and flat plane....which seems to feel most natural to me. To my surprise, I did not hit a bunch of hooks, in fact I think I only hit one hook and it was purely from flipping my hands at the bottom.

I'm just curious about the geometric reasons for why this set-up produced a ton of good shots for me today. I don't think I was making any compensations....just taking it back insided and flat and trying to come down on the same plane.

Re: Hogan's stance
 

Stance Line does not effect Plane or Target Line. (2-J-2)

The Closed Stance And The Right Hip / Right Elbow Conflict
 

Simply put, the Closed Stance with its automatic Short Pivot (10-12-B) produces a free Backstroke Turn (albeit with a restricted Follow-Through). This makes it easier to Clear the Right Hip in the Backstroke.

Failure to Clear the Right Hip during Start Up produces a Right Elbow-Right Hip conflict and is a problem epidemic in the Golf World. The Hands resolve this conflict without fanfare simply by going around the Hip. Unfortunately, that means you are now above Plane and must re-route the Club at some point to return correctly to the Ball. Most offenders never make it.

Hence, Homer included 'Clear Right Hip' as an important checkpoint in his Mechanical Checklist For All Strokes (12-3 #13).

According to Paul (and his wife), Moe spent time with Paul. I spent 3 days with him about 2 or 3 years before he died. He did say that Moe would stop by his house to discuss golf and work on things. And like Yoda said he wasn't shy about self-promotion. He was a nice guy. He was pretty sick when I was there. He actually did some instruction with me in his PJ's. He said that Leadbetter and McLean had been to see him and gave him no credit.

Could be wrong about this, but I think I recall him saying he never met Hogan. Can't remember though. His sales pitch for his golf school was that he could make you swing like Hogan. The big thing was getting into static positions and holding them.

Top notch guy and his wife made a helluva chicken salad sandwich too.

Thank you
 

Lynn,

Thank you very much for posting this video. It is awesome. It is very kind of you to share it with all of us and it is much appreciated.

Chris

Hogan Video
 

Lynn,

Once again amazed. What an awesome video. Thanks Lynn.

Hunter

according to the folks on the SA. Moe met with Bertholy several times a year for some twenty years near Pinehurst. Whether Moe was a student or a friend is what the debate is about.

Here is a picture of moe reading Bertholy's book.

http://www.geocities.com/sixbeeonede...oly_method.gif

If you are already the Worl's Greatest ball striking- who is learning from who?

Great video. Question: It looks to me as though Hogan's shoulders were a little bit open but his hips were closed at address. Am I correct?

I am pretty sure you will find his shoulders are square to his intended plane line. The hips dont really look closed to me, only right foot being dropped back that gives that impression.

Thanks a ton Lynn.That was great.
As far as Paul B.,it is my understanding that Moe would visit him a couple of times a year.

Great Videos!!!!!! Thanks YODA.........
"This is the Downstroke Waggle of 3-F-5. In my opinion, it is far and away the best (if not the only) cure for that genetic deformity of the Golf Stroke --the Flat Downstroke Shoulder Turn (and its resulting 'Outside-In' Path of the Hands) [10-13-B #3]." - Don't I know this problem, that is why Homer says to practice the moves with out a club and indoors.....
You go to the range and after some shots, you mind is on how far you can hit it instead of tracing the plane line.....................fyi

Re: Hogan's stance
 

I tried it without a ball. IMO, it enables you to start the downswing from the back foot toe instead of the heel. That is a good position for a hard hip rotation. In addition to hip tilt and weight shift. When the back foot is parallell to line of flight, It's harder to rotate the hip.

Just my 2 cents.

BerntR

Thanks!

=D>

What a honor it is to see that footage!

And the close up of Hogan's grip - wonderful!

great video thanks for sharing.

looked to me like his left heel pad was on the side of the grip, not on top. Do I need glasses?