The more bowed the lead wrist is at the top, the higher the chance of hitting it to the left unless you adjust your stance leftwards to counteract the closed club-face like Trevino and in today’s era, Rahm.
But that also means you’re aiming further away from the target so if you hit it straight where you’re aiming, that’s a pull by definition which Rahm and even Trevino would do from time to time.
This idea of having the face closed to match spine angle in transition is a little over done imho. I get the idea an all. But if you lose body tilt at impact. Or don’t get the hands ahead enough at impact with body rotation. Then you are gonna be left all day long. Just can’t wonder why people are so against an open or square face in transition. Versus the new wave idea of being closed. If you shallow on the 430 line. Wouldn’t a more open face match up with the in to in pattern?
They claim it makes one stall at impact to square it. And hinders rotation. Would say that would be a case by case scenario
Most people are looking at things from a swinger’s protocol.
Another recent insight - Since your lead shoulder (left for RH players) carries a lot of load and supports extensive rotational forearm torque throughout the downswing and hit, I am curious if others (including Hogan) have given much thought to bracing your left bicep against your chest/pectoral muscle through the hitting zone? Hogan talks about the top of his arms being glued to his torso/chest, but you “have to lengthen the swing somewhere”… I’m possibly now seeing where this extra support and connectedness would be highly useful both to reduce load (less contraction of the left shoulder muscle needed) and anchoring so to speak vs. a shoulder that is flailing and less connected to rotational momentum and sequence. Thoughts?
ABS teaches cohesive body tension. As for the arms through the hitting area, we want both arms tight to the sides of the body and not just the left arm. From P3 to P4 (rotation through the hitting area) the arms are packed in tight to the body, also with the abdominal core tensed, the feet and legs squeezing into the ground (and trying to squeeze together) and the hands gripping the club firmly.
While this is not related to the golf swing of Ben Hogan, it’s relevant to Ben Hogan the man and to his family.
Specifically, through another ABS member ( Eagle - thank you! ) in conversing via email, I realized that Ben Hogan’s older brother Royal Hogan is also significant story in itself, both as a golfer but also as a major Ft. Worth, Texas businessman and significantly good amateur golfer (4-time Colonial Country Club club champion) who, according to the book below, was “more athletically gifted than Ben”.
Dallas News article dating from 2013 May about Royal Hogan, his daughter Jacque:
The Brothers Hogan
A Fort Worth History
By Jacqueline Hogan Towery, Robert Lindley Towery, Peter Barbour
Amazon: Amazon.com
Amazon listing has the first 2 chapters, including Royal’s account of what really happened
the night that Ben Hogan’s father committed suicide
The biography tells the story of Ben’s and Royal’s remarkable careers, says that it sets the record straight on the shocking suicide of the boys’ father, on Ben’s strained relationship with his wife Valerie, on the car crash that nearly ended Ben’s career, and on scores of details that have been misconstrued in earlier accounts.
I have not read the book myself, but the very existence of the above article and the book are of interest. To know the Ben Hogan family history helps us better know the man - deeper insights into what motivated and created his golf swing, the Ben Hogan golf club company, and the legacy that Ben Hogan left to all of us.
Thanks for posting John!
Lagpressure, Thank You for being here for all of us.
I can certainly say to anyone that cares to listen, that ABS is clearly working for me. ABS is IMHO a remarkable distillation of “what and how is really going on inside the full golf swing” and “what are the great players really doing beneath and inside their fundamentals of the golf swing”. I know ABS will work for anyone that cares to listen, understand and apply. Thank you for gifting your insights to all of us. Thank you for giving us mortals, a chance to experience “what was Ben Hogan really doing”.
Now, back to the purpose of this thread, which is “Thoughts on Ben Hogan”. 