BEN HOGAN ANALYSIS THROUGH THE YEARS DAN WHITTAKER

Dan Whittaker does an in depth analysis the swing of Ben Hogan from the pre secret and accident footage to his latest swings
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[@kevinprentice3113]

Dan, I appreciate the swing analysis on Ben Hogan. I expect you know Power Golf was dedicated to his friend Henry Picard. It was Picard that offered financial assistance to Hogan early in his career when he was dead broke and about to quit the tour. It was Picard who recommended he weaken his left hand grip. It was Picard that convinced the board at Hershey Country Club to hire Ben Hogan. Which they did not want to do because Hogan was little known at that time. Note: I'll going to later return the favor when he convinced. Chris Dunphy at Seminole Golf Club to hire Pic as their head golf professional. In the late '80s I was a student of Henry Picard. At the time he was living in Charleston, South Carolina and I was on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina working as an assistant golf professional at Port Royal Golf Club. I'm a former student of Gardner Dickinson. Both men were close to Hogan. I used to drive up from Hilton Head and meat Pic at a dilapidated driving range on Johns Island. The driving range look like it stepped right out of the movie Tin Cup... As you can imagine we talked at length about Hogan and how he swing the golf club. One afternoon He taught me how Hogan swung the club. That was almost 40 years ago.....and yet to this day the important 'Details' of Hogan's swing ----->>> have never been talked about. Have never been written about. Have never been described anywhere by anyone. Dan, I'm impressed. You know more about Hogan and how he did it than the countless golf professionals and non-golf professionals that I've heard over the years. Henry Picard said me one day the more you know about the golf swing, the fewer people you can talk to. A couple examples of Hogan details.... Hogan called his right foot his 'rudder'....and he used it different ways to play different shots. If you go to Hogan's five lessons book and I don't have the book in front of me at this moment he talks about and I believe it's in all caps... HITTING POSITION. Well you can write a full chapter on Hogan's hitting position, How he arrived there and what it enabled him to do.... Once he was ready to deliver the club on the downswing. I could go on and on. I met Gardner Dickinson for the first time in late 1983 at Frenchman's Creek Golf Club in FL. Fast forward to 1996 or '97 somewhere in that range at Loxahatchee CC In Florida. I took a golf lesson from Gardner Dickinson that day. After the lesson, Gardner had me jump in his golf cart and I played nine holes of golf while he sat in the cart. Well of course we talked about Hogan. Gardner confirmed what I learned from Pic. Dan, the bottom line is you're on the right track, but you just scratched the surface. If you'd be interested in hearing more..... Feel free to contact me

[@quantumpotential7639]

You left me on the edge of my cart seat. Darn!!! Great golf story by the way. There's a book in you for sharing this unique inside journey you've had, Mr Hogan playing a pivotal role in it. Great stuff. I'm a writer in Pinehurst and would love to have you come here and tell m le more. We can talk about Hogan, the swing, your journey, and go hit the Thistle Dhu putting green while we discuss what should go into the book. It would be an honor and a privilege to help you write it. Did you know Hogan's break through professionally speaking is when he won the North South on PH #2. Writing the book from Pinehurst seems so appropriate. Have you read Mark Frosts book The Match? What a great read. Love ❤️ It All

[@kevinprentice3113]

@@quantumpotential7639 Thank you for the kind words! I agree with what you're saying and yes, I'm interested. In fact, you may be just the person (Bagger Vance, lol) I'm supposed to meet To bring these stories and especially the people to life. I've been writing down my experiences and have been thinking about a collaborative effort to make this happen. In saying that, it's actually deja Vu from 1997. I wrote a six-page instructional article in Senior Golfer Magazine (September 1997 issue) collaborating with writer, Steve Hosid. That went very well and we had fun doing it. The article was about the teachings of Alex Morrison. Steve had the idea to have me become Alex Morrison for the article. How so? They dress me up in knickers and an argyle sweater....slicked my hair back and I looked like Alex Morrison in his 1932 book. A New Way to Better Golf. That article and the concept behind it, which was what can today's senior golfer learn from the teachings of the Old Masters.... Was pitched as a book to the publishing company. At the same time Tiger Woods had exploded on the scene by turning pro and his immediate success led to tiger mania. So our hopes of having a instructional book published was kicked to the curb as everyone scrambled to publish books about Tiger Woods. It's late. I got to go. I don't even know your name. Can you tell me your name? As I said.... I'm interested 👍 at least enough to get together and see where it takes us.

[@chaddy-me-boy8299]

Thanks for putting this together, I havnt seen the before accident analysis before. Especially close up at 1:50

[@timothycarry]

absolutely some of the best break down I have seen, thanks

[@hughj.5762]

After watching this video with Dan’s commentary, I applied some of Mr. Hogans moves at the range and picked up an average of 10mph swing speed on my irons. I hit them longer and straighter than ever with compressing, sweet spot contact! Thanks for the expert analysis Dan. It really made a difference in my contact, confidence and understanding of the golf swing. 👍🏻

[@robertmcdonald1329]

a friend of mine spent 2 hours over a cup of tea in 1987. he asked ben Hogan "which was your best swing, the swing in 'POWER GOLF' or the swing later in '5 FUNDAMENTALS'.? His answer was "Peter, I GOT HIT BY A BUS"He said 1946 up until the accident in 1949 was the best ball striking of his career.

[@robertbelyea5767]

That damn bus. Can only imagine the Legendary golf he would have played...

[@dseveno8254]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Timeless.

[@afrohawk]

The tucking of the right elbow down and keeping it in front of the hip on the backswing is one half of the secret and he always knew that part, although it is difficult to master. Most importantly this allows for the proper cocking of the right wrist at the top and you will certainly feel the club lay off at the top once done properly. The second part, in my opinion, was the right foot action. If you look at the earliest footage you were showing, you can clearly see that he gets up on his right toe very quickly on the downswing which shoots the right hip forward, changing the swing path line to the left. This is what caused his hooks i think, as it undoubtedly would especially with a closed club face at the top. All of your post secret footage shows that he kept his weight evenly distributed through his feet as the downswing came. This caused his hips and the rest of his body to rotate down the swing path, on line. Thanks for the video, I could watch Hogan swing all day. So much power and finesse in one motion.

[@SonusProj]

Nice, thorough analysis. It doesn't seem that it should be so hard to replicate. But, reality is so much different.

[@60degreelobwedge82]

And another thought. People back in the day were obsessed with Hogan's swing based entirely off of how it looked at full speed (not slow motion), how it sounded and the ball flight it produced. This video focuses only on the little details and misses the big picture items like the preshot, setup, tempo, finish and ball flight - the things that made Hogan's swing legendary.

[@jm_hood]

Great job, Dan. Excellent analysis. I love this golf swing so much.

[@Romdryl]

Woah. Mind, blown. Great video and well explained. Love all the application of ideal physics and bio mechanics and still basing it off a golf genius, Hogan!

[@alongornanavatchakul5686]

Great analysis Dan.

[@jonasparsson6721]

Can you link some videos that are in that 1%?

[@robertmcdonald1329]

My friend asked Ben, "what about your SECRET?" His reply "Peter DO YOU OWN A BAG OF PRACTICE BALLS?" My friend answered "yes". "WELL GET OUT AND USE THEM, THATS THE SECRET".

[@user-jw9jr2ko7e]

Anyone who wants to understand the swing philosophy of Ben Hogan must track back the power transmission from the lower body, just as he said his power came from the lower body, more precisely the legs. Of course, we also need to know what happened at the arms, but just knew it, especially the way how the arms drive the club when close to impact zone. Just can't try to move the arms by himself,no even have a little bit of thought in the mind. Otherwise, the instructions are killing the viewer than making help.

[@lets_go_brandon_lee_6198]

The videos he made with Father Keller in Palm Springs @ Tamarisk CC was my favorite BH swing!

[@Charles-xm1ml]

Great video 👏 Thanks Coach

[@soliari]

Tremendous video and presentation of what Hogan did. Thank you for taking the time to do this with an explanation that is very easy to understand.

[@PeterAlbertsson]

Missing the point on what is happening at the release. Its the allocation of another levering of power. Where the wrists roll together to share the face. This lever acton is set up and released as the waggle. Then because of it being baked into the grip it can happen in an almost automatic fashion. But to learn it you have to first understand it, then consciously do it, then eventually it can be more of a circuit breaker type of effect. Since the release is baked from the start the focus can be on the balanced stretch going back, and the lower body leading the connected loaded position going forward. When it functioning properly the effort is to move the loaded position almost over and past impact. But like magic the preset release will fire. You missed that by taking a pure observation analysis.

[@thisisreallife5086]

+Peter Albertsson, I think you are correct. You've described the feeling very well. For the past 6 months I have been rebuilding my swing, bound and determined to duplicate the best swing in history. I've been studying Hogan's swing and going to the range, taking slo-mo video of myself, analyzing every move. I have finally started to "get it" after a long and frustrating period. It all has to work together, including the pre-set grip and pre-set release. If the loaded position doesn't shift left, and if the quick hip turn doesn't follow immediately, the grip will shoot the ball right. When you finally "get it" you start to imitate the "feeling" instead of the minutia of where your hip is, or if you're dragging the right foot or pushing off of it. None of that matters because it's a result of a correct feeling. I finally got it when I figured out how I was supposed to get my hip moving an inch or two left, before I started the downswing. I felt balanced, and I couldn't get my hip to move left. But that's the KEY! Look at him, just before his downswing. He has created an OFF-BALANCE condition. It's harder to see than it is to feel it. Here's the best way to experience it: stand straight up with your feet shoulder length apart. Now, simply lift your left foot 6 inches off the ground. You will feel your body falling downhill to the left. This is EXACTLY the feeling just prior to the downswing. He loads, falls, stops his weight on his left heal (which has moved his hips and inch or two left), and pivots his hips quickly. There is a lot of power stored in that little fall and pivot. He's ADDING the gravity of this fall to his loaded stretch to put a lot of extra power into the swing....no arms needed, right arm bent at contact with huge lag. And the best part--it's easy on the body and very very reproducible. It's all large muscles!

[@garrymajor7528]

This is Real Life ,love to see a video of what you are saying .if you lift your left foot 6inches your weight has to go to the right foot now if you let yourself fall to the left before you have finished like a floating left hip and then turn as quick as you can left leg.hip.shoulder no hand use just allow hands to follow body and left upper arm to get firmer to left chest as you go through is this what you are explaining.

[@rokourlich5204]

@@thisisreallife5086 22:40 22:40

[@robo265]

Brilliant really enjoyed it thank you

[@MrKingdonuts]

Excellent video well done 👏🏽

[@60degreelobwedge82]

This video is great but you didn't discuss the "fernando cano ben hogan 1953" practice footage. There are some unique things in there I haven't seen in other clips like the float loady tempo with all his clubs from driver to pitch shots, the setting of his feet during the waggle, the long cigarette in his mouth he is swinging around, etc

[@cranny1321]

Hogan said he was much better in 1948 although arguable because of his 1953 record. I agree his swing looked better in 1948 but he got better at playing golf post accident which as we all know there are the infinite variables to deal with.

[@brucemcdonald6426]

I believe that his secret is how he swings his lower left wrist bone into the proper impact position.

[@knightwatchman]

Well done!

[@sheedy9]

Maybe redo this? It's amazing content!

[@harryel-kara7712]

Hi secret was in his leg actions. Stayed the same most of his career. Gave him power, control, accuracy, solid hits Everytime.

[@cuernavagolf]

Me gusta este swing

[@ernesthendrickson7379]

Ben Hogan succeeded in spite of his chronic depression! incredible. A truly great man. Also. he was a genius.

[@samking4179]

where did you read that about his "chronic depression?" or did you make that up?

[@A-FrameWedge]

When Hogan said he found the secret, he meant he found his secret to his golf swing and would not necessarily be the secret for other golfers.

[@user-jw9jr2ko7e]

Mr. Ben Hogan was a great anatomist. If we want to understand his swing, at least three critical feature must be understood. First, his right upper arm is kept parallel to the right scapula. If want to understand why, please refer to the subject on the rotator cuff. Second, there are two components of body moving,one is side bend, the other is rotation at a imaginary axis, like globe 🌍, there is no any real axis, the moving of New York is just made by moving Tokyo at the other way. Third, the side bend of body lift up and down the club and help to make a full rotation. Fourth, the arm do can roll around the choulder joint,but that's for daily light load works by some tiny muscles. In sport mode, the arm itself only do two things:stright the elbows by the triceps and straight the palm by the inner head of the biceps. Other things are made by the big muscles at the body trunk and the arms just like to ride on the rollercoaster. I like to refer it to the hammer throwing, they hold the arms tied to the body and synchronized with the rotation body trunk & the leg, Sorry, the fifth, the shoulders (precisely the trapezius just beside the neck)are actually rolled backward if we refer it to the ankles. It can only be achieved by side bend , It's impossible to do it by ourself! Try it if don't believe in.

[@cuernavagolf]

Saludos dé cdmx de leo Martínez golf academy

[@kostasviastikopoulos217]

Question for you. You call his post accident swing blocky . But it looks like it's a more consistant swing. He would have a hard time ever missing left with that swing . He also would have great ball compression by sitting into his left glute deeper and longer theough impact I would think. In both cases his move seems similar jist the amount he stays with the shot is longer post accident which to me is a positive. Much longer flat spot. My take on it. Either way i would be happy with either swing haha. Thanks for the video

[@donaldschmidt2990]

THE INDISPUTABLE FACT REGARDING BEN HOGAN'S SWING IS IT WAS ACTALLY BETTER JUST BEFORE AND AFTER THE ACCIDENT!! Beyond any doubt. Hogan's movement pattern was so dynamic it made even the most athletic players of today seem as if they were in a body cast. Yet, it didn't have that gear meshing precision of the late Forties and after. If you want to gaze on sheer perfection in a golf swing, watch the Shell' match in 1964 with his great rival Sam Snead. Hogan was phenomenal even for Hogan!! The Houston Country Club was over 7,000 yards long. Incredibly long given the Persimmon Woods and Balata Golf Balls they were using. In addition, Hogan and Snead were both in their early Fifties. Gene Sarazen called it the finest round of golf he'd ever seen. For obvious reasons. Hogan hit every Fairway and every Green. Striking Fairway Woods closer than the pros of today hit their wedges!! It was a shorter more compact move. And even more precise. Of course it wasn't as fast. He still didn't miss hit a shot. The only betrayers in his game were his inability to walk a golf course. That and horrendous putting!! Given even decent putting, Hogan would have still been destroying the tour. Just as he did in his so called "Prime" or "Heyday." Watching the Shell Match and his triumph at Carnoustie, would make a Swiss Watch appear shattered and broken on a floor. Even the Twenty year old Phenom Jack Nicklaus, caught a first hand glimpse of Hogans Majesterial glory at the 1960 United States Open. The 48 year old Hogan hit 34 Consecutive Greens in regulation!! Nicklaus confessed that had Hogan putted, he would have won in a rout. All these performances were after his alleged peak. Ben Hogan was the greatest Shotmaker that ever lived. Before and after that Horrible Accident.

[@donaldschmidt2990]

To comment further about which was Hogan's best golf, look at his swing in his triumph at Carnoustie. The cars body may have been damaged, but the engine purred like a kitten drinking warm milk!! Everyone dwells on the "Tiger Slam," which was a brilliant run by Tiger Woods. In 1953, five years after his so-called "best golf," Hogan had the greatest year in PGA history. Winning five of the six tournaments he entered. Including the Masters, U.S Open and British Open titles!! The overlapping of the Open and PGA championships precluded Hogans chance to win all four majors in one year. Which was the peak? Hogan won six of his nine majors after the accident!! Proving that the results were as brilliant, or more so, after his near demise on that highway near Van Horn, Texas. Somehow he reconstructed that shattered she'll into an even more precise machine than he had been before.

[@rayfrosti7849]

Hi Dan, you talk about Mr. Hogan's "quiet feet". Does it not seem that in the footage starting at 22:40 that his right foot drags forward from the power of the weight transfer? It appears to drag forward several inches.

[@cuernavagolf]

Muy bien

[@TheSeer101]

Hello Dan fan here. Are you sure these are pre secret? A lot of people assume non hat Hogan is pre secret which isn't always the case. There is only one confirmed photo of Hogan's swing that is pre secret from what I understand. Can you give dates on these pre secret clips? Thank you sir

[@TheSeer101]

This is the Power Golf swing! Hogan himself said this was the best he ever hit the ball and pre accident!

[@rayfrosti7849]

I really enjoy this video and your expert analysis. What do you think was Mr. Hogan's secret? The move or concept that he woke up with that fateful morning? I'm very interested in your opinion. Thank you.

[@lawr66]

IMHO, Mr Dan Whittaker, you understand the Hogan swing, and its evolution, better than most people have done.

[@A-FrameWedge]

Hogan did say he played his best golf like Robert Macdonald said from 46-49, and swung his driver well past parallel in those years. In the Power golf swing you say the club goes to wide open when club is parallel to ground P5, sorry but you cannot possibly see the club face. On the swings where you say his left shoulder was stuck to his head, you have the worst angle in which to be able to see, and when you say he has that blocky look you don’t know what kind of shot he is playing he very well could playing a fade and the others he could be playing a draw. And you talk about his lateral motion at 11:19 when the camera is almost in front of him head on, and cannot tell if his lateral motion is an inch or a foot, so many assumptions, based on bad camera angles. @12:27 there is now way that the club face could be that closed at the top when Hogan has a slight cup in his right wrist at the top, his left hand grip would have to be stronger than John Daly, I say it is a distorted view from old cameras, because you some swings from the same era of what you say was a closed club face, but those show his club face aligned with his left arm, so you show a video that is an anomaly an outlier and present it as a fact, shoddy work.

[@samking4179]

the "conclusions" that these guys on youtube come to from the worst camera angles and the fact that they have no idea what type of shot was being played is quite ridiculous. nice comment!

[@samking4179]

11:02 ... lateral motion left from this angle would be impossible to see so don't worry about the fact that you can't see it.

[@user-jw9jr2ko7e]

I would pay more attention on the way his leading leg working. First press the hip down (Rory have a obvious squat down accompanied with more shallow down), make the left knee return to upright, open the right leg (roll inside outward), let the left groin line and the left upper body follow the move to downward and frontward. It's not a hip rotation at all!

[@SpinandThrowDiscGolf]

He said he never swung any better than he did in 48. That's what he said. He was never better than he was before the accident. So the swing that you keep saying is so screwed up is the best swing he ever had. He just happened to have a car accident that made him change it.

[@steveking2144]

Please describe what you mean by "level left"

[@user-jw9jr2ko7e]

As for the Ben Hogan swing secret, I think it is he made skeleton movement first, by the inner layer muscles of body trunk, to extend the width of his swing motion. This could not be easily found by just watching at the videos or pictures.

[@davidmcnamara3243]

Hogan's secret was holding shaft flex into impact and releasing it out of the divot. Its a feeling of effortless power when the shaft acts as a leaf spring. Automatically catapulting the ball forward. How do I know this? Not telling : I'll take it to the grave.

[@JayZoop]

Notice his right elbow is tucked in and almost in front of his hip bone.

[@deebee7607]

I find it amusing when a golfer who cannot swing like Mr. Hogan explains swing mechanics of Mr. Hogans swing. Why not teach your own swing if and only if you shoot in 60ies and often flirt with 60 with ball control. Or else, play and enjoy this wonderful game of golf.

[@freddy8345]

" it was NOT because of Moes talent he hit it so straight, it was infact the mechanics." I keep hearing that from people who've shown no evidence whatsoever that they mastered those mechanics or provided evidence that they successfully taught it to their "students". Until I do I consider that assertion pure speculation. With clubs of Moe's era which had tiny sweet spots the irons had to be controlled vertically within +-1/8 of an inch to flush the ball time after time like he did. If your athletic ability lacks that kind of awareness of vertical position of the club head as it's whirling around you, nobody's "mechanics" are going to give that to you. I also hear that same claim from people trying to sell Moe's "secrets" in for-profit online content, and other people desperate to be considered an "expert" in something trying to attract a following. None of them have ever posted a video of themselves swinging and hitting like Moe. Kinda strange given that they tell us he was so repeatable because his mechanics are simpler than the traditional golf swing. When confronted by the fact that no subsequent Pro has ever swung like Moe they then invent this "mysterious complexity" i.e. a "secret" to this simple swing that nobody has figured out. Self contradictory waffling nonsense and hucksterism.

[@VG32123]

All this analysis without knowing what kind of shot he was hitting....pointless really, but nice footage.

[@sheedy9]

Still think that you should 🤣

[@maxxsee]

MOE NORMANs golf swing was the greatest ever, but nice video!

[@maxxsee]

***** Alrighty then. So Hogan was more accurate? Even at the age 70+ Moe was still one of the best if not the best ballstrikers alive. His move was WAY simpler. Both players were still amazing though =)

[@norrispg]

***** don't show your ignorance...I shagged for Mr. Hogan for 5 months when he was 67 and watched Moe twice when he was in his early '50's...he was not fit to carry Mr. Hogan's jock strap...he was straight -- I'll give him that -- but his distance control on both occasions was suspect, at best...Hogan's distance control was seemingly beyond human

[@maxxsee]

norris pg Hogan was not more accurate than Moe norman lol. Neither in distance nor direction. I can guarantee you this. Hogan himself said it too lol. Do your research lol. lol. lol. lol.

[@norrispg]

***** evidenced, I guess, by all of those majors Norman won...I love this fantasy some have about Hogan saying Norman was the best...I doubt Mr. Hogan even new who Norman was...too much unsubstantiated about what Mr. Hogan said by snake oil salesmen...btw, unless you spent time watching Mr. Hogan you have no clue, and obviously you didn't

[@maxxsee]

norris pg wrong hogan was in awe of moes control of ball that is a fact, check it up all best players and teachers were for what reason? best mechanics in the game by far, only real natural move. guess u have no idea what that even means...