First published in 1957, could this be the best golf instruction book ever written? Hogan believed that everyone could build a solid swing and play good golf. This book covers everything the amateur golfer needs to know about the golf swing in simple, easy-to-understand steps. Hogan believed everything followed a chain action from grip to setup to backswing to downswing. He doesn't claim that you will hit every shot perfectly, just that you'll give yourself the best chance if you have a solid grasp of these fundamentals. Now, that may be a total over-simplification, but I think this a book that all aspiring golfers should read.
These works originally appeared as a set of articles in Sports Illustrated and then later published as this book. Ben Hogan was the Tiger Woods of his day. Still the only golfer to win the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship in the same year, and he did it in 1953! He was a real workman of a golfer who was always looking to learn more about the golf swing. Remember he did this when there was no technology to help him. No slow-motion video capture, force plates, 3-D motion capture, Trackman, Foresight, GPS devices, Lasers etc etc. It all came down to trial and error and observation. It reminds me of a conversation with my decorator friend Andy when I asked him the secret of applying gloss paint. "20 years of experience" he replied.
This book was written towards the end of Hogan's career and brings you all of his experience. It is beautifully illustrated with hand-drawn pictures that really help bring the text to life. I bought this book second-hand, over 15 years ago, read it, put it back on my bookshelf and promptly forgot about it as I replaced it with more "modern" texts (that just must have been more relevant!). It was only during my lessons with Mike it clicked that some of the things he was asking me to try were familiar.
Sandy helped me improve my grip. Mike was working first on the backswing, using a "tour striker" ball to get my arms working the way Hogan advocates. Then with the downswing he had me imagine that I was skimming a stone which is also similar to the Hogan recommendation of throwing a pitch or passing a basketball. The swing plane concept was first introduced to me many years ago by my friend Henry Wong when having lessons with him at Wellsgreen.
When I think about the lessons I've had over the years, almost everything they taught me about the full swing is covered in this book. While it doesn't go into detail about bunker shots, short game, putting, or course management etc, it does give an excellent introduction to building a strong, repeatable swing. Hogan argues that every other shot follows from that. If it were that simple then there wouldn't be a library full of golf instruction books! But if you've got a solid and repeatable swing then you are a long way down the road to good golf.
Other books go into much more detail and I would also recommend reading Jon Sherman, Adam Young, Bob Rotella, Tim Gallwey and others. But I'm really glad I looked this book out again and reread it. There are things I've let slip that will now be incorporated into future practice routines - regular appraisal of the basics, taking a notebook to jot down what I've been doing etc. I rank this book very highly in terms of the best golf books I've read and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking to better understand the fundamentals of the golf swing.
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