Why does his foot slide forward?
Any guesses as to why?
heck I’ll give it a bash… entering a new dimension here… need a range rat trail of cheese code to work it out…
I think its linked to the fact that ground pressures must exist all throughout the swing. Not just from transition. Since Hogan coiled from the ground up through his feet the depth of his hip turn must play a roll here. But I also think something special is going on with that left leg. He set-up with a flared out foot, so the slip could be a result of the foot trying to straighten back out as he coils so deep. Perhaps he was also churning that left leg clockwise too and loading it, a sort of mini version of his pivot. This would make sense as it’d load the left knee to spring back at transition?
The flatter one swings… the more the ground forces work rotationally across the ground… in a more circular manner. The faster the backswing, the earlier you can initiate the change in direction. The foot moves slightly clockwise or toward the ball the same way it would if you were twisting something in that direction. Weight has also transferred to the right foot, and moved away from the left. This is why you don’t see the right foot move backward at transition in the same way the left moved forward. Again, tempo has a lot to do with these forces.
The quicker the backswing, the more advantageous it is to keep the left foot more flat on the ground to assist in creating good traction to set up the change in direction. More upright swings… or slower backswings won’t see the circular forces at work in the feet as much as the flatter quicker swings. There was very logical, sensible reasoning for Hogan’s extra spike in his right shoe.
The downswing has it’s own set of protocols and complexities.
And one more piece of evidence…Hogan’s moniker in the sports press was “The Hawk”. And if you compare the spirit animals associated with our other golfing legends (Woods: Tiger, Nicklaus: Bear) It’s clear that while tigers and bears have gripping claws, they don’t compare to the hawk’s deeply sunk talons. (see attached)
From the look of his foot, it moves out and then he finishes with more weight on the outside of his right foot. That would explain the circular motion. Thanks for the explanation.
Don’t forget the ground was extremely wet as he and Snead had to play between torrential downpours.
Yes I agree I think this was a rare chance to see the underlying intentions thanks to the conditions
Pay close attention to his left foot here. I can see lots of instances of a left foot slide regardless of turf condition.
Before my windsurfing accident in september 2011 I had this move. After I wrecked all my ligaments in
my left knee it was gone… grrrrrr. I lost 10% speed.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHYMMW7dSJA[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1tW7XXGliU[/youtube]
I called it the skiing move - I thougt I had it because I started skiing when I was 5 years old.
Chris
I checked again, and yes my left foot slide is gone:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voOwZQPUOn8[/youtube]
Interesting, compared to this great player:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx5OhDcFobw[/youtube]
Quite fascinating how the swingpath influences the footwork…
Chris
Understanding how those foot pressures manifest into a proper golf swing is a big step in the right direction. They tell a lot about how the opposing forces created by pivot affect the shaft, the clubhead and ultimately the golf ball.
What would the top video look like with a red line on the hips as done in the lower video? Wasn’t a distinguishing thing about Hogan, Trevino, and others, that they kept their hips back up to, or even deeper than that line? Are there any good examples of great “strikers” that let the hips migrate a lot away from that line, towards the target line?
Lest we forget, Hogan’s quest was for control, highly precise ball control. With the width of the fairways and the height the of the rough (as golf was played in his day) it would have been impossible to rank low in hitting fairways and high in greens in regulation - as is often done today.
It’s important to understand how his mechanics tie back to his goal. I’ve read some of Lag’s thoughts on Hogan, but perhaps he might offer something specific to ground forces and ball control (Accuracy, trajectory, etc.)
The golf swing is a dynamic action. Swing pace or tempo changes the interaction with the ground in a significant way. The quicker the tempo and the flatter the swing, the greater the ground pressures will be through transition both laterally and rotationally. This is why the great strikers wore steel spikes. Twisting, pushing, pressing downward… all happening very quickly.
With respect to the question initially posed, I just know it isn’t me - I’ve been tugging on that mythical 1-iron for 40 years and it’s still stuck in the stone, and all I’ve got to show for it is a bad back!
That said, and per the photo, I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment - I keep chasing the dragon, hoping just to hit one really pure 1-iron before I die…
Wow! and i thought i had a lot of sets for my collection so far…this blows mine out of the water!
Mmmmm persimmons!
Do you mind me asking you, what are you going to do with all that gold??
I don’t lack for clubs, but they’re all longing to be hit by Ben Hogan … instead of the chump they live with.
Simply an Astounding Collection!! 
I have only accumulated enough stock so far to fill 2 levels of one of your ‘towers’…
nice to know we are not all alone in our quest,(an un-informed outsider might call this hoarding ha ha!!)
cheers!
Dale
A veritable “Fort Knocks”! (as in knocking the little dimpled sphere around)