Instruction
Learning from Ben Hogan’s pivot compression
As an instructor, I find every part of the golf swing interesting and certainly have my preferences when it comes to hand, arm and wrist action. However, there is one thing that stands out to me in the swings of many of the game’s greatest players – a pivot action that includes an initial lowering of the body towards the ground during the backswing and again in the first part of the downswing.
This action, which I call “pivot compression,” plays an important role in these players’ ability to deliver a superior strike on the ball. This very same action has often been misidentified by golf analysts and instructors on television as the dreaded “head drop” or “dip,” which they claim should be avoided. I have evidence of pivot compression to be present in over 100 swing analysis videos of tour players, past and present, many of which I have made freely available for anyone to view on my website.
My ideas around pivot compression started to form when I was in my late twenties. After an All-American collegiate career, I tried to play for a living, spending four years on the Space Coast mini-tour. My swing, which incorporated a driving of the legs and a bent-back “reverse c” finish began to take its toll on my lower spine. I advanced to the finals of Q-School in 1985, but wound up in the hospital in traction a week before the event. Needless to say, I didn’t make the cut, and my dream of playing the PGA Tour would never be realized as I could never practice as much as I needed to in order to get better. I did, however, begin to study the golf swing more closely, as I knew I needed to change the nature of my own body movement if I was going to be able to continue to play. My upright backswing and picturesque but highly stressful finish needed to become a more rounded motion that finished with my lower back less arched to reduce the strain put on my lower spine.
I knew that Hogan’s focus on the sidearm/underhand nature of the golf swing motion is was what I needed in my own swing. I studied this book, along with his other classic, Power Golf, in great detail. Soon, with this more rotational movement, I was able to start practicing and playing again, but it wasn’t until a friend showed me actual film of Hogan swinging that I had what I consider an epiphany regarding the way the hips and trunk moved in the swing. There was this great down the line view of Hogan hitting a long iron in the late 1940’s, and as I studied it I saw that a few interesting things were happening in his backswing relating to the lower body movement:
A) Hogan’s right hip went backward behind where it started. In other words, it got deeper, and it did so without his straightening the right knee.
B) His head went down at least 2-to-3 inches.
C) His spine increased angle as his head stayed out over the ball.
He now looked much more bent over, noticeably more than at address, as he compressed his body lower into the ground for power.
The lines drawn at the setup position are used to define starting points so that we can measure change and how things move in relation to the initial position.
Then, in the forward swing, more cool stuff happened.
D) Hogan’s hips stayed deep as they drove laterally to the left and opened. The lateral element was significant and obvious in all the video footage I had of Hogan from face-on.
E) His head stayed out over the ball.
F) He lowered another 2-to-3 inches from the start of the downswing to just before impact. As he passed by the point where his hips were once again square to the target (just after the left arm reached parallel to the ground in the downswing) they were well further back, or deeper, than they were at address.
G) When he hit the ball, his right arm had oodles of room to get in front of his right hip and he was way more bent over than when he initially addressed the ball.
This all leads to the impact position, where we can see that:
H) His head remains lowered and out over the ball.
I) His hips are still much deeper than at address.
J) The right elbow is in front of the right hip.
K) The club is returned perfectly to the shaft plane created at address.
And in the swing finish:
L) Hogan’s head has moved up and away from both impact position and address position (this will take stress away from the lower back).
M) The hips stayed “in the box” that was defined at address.
Hogan is considered by most to be the best striker of the golf ball in the history of the game. It is my opinion that he hit his peak in 1949, winning 12 out of 16 events, just before he and his wife got hit by a bus in Texas. Except for the injuries he sustained, which kept him from practicing the way he was accustomed and limited his playing schedule, I believe that Hogan would have won many more majors and would have amassed a record that no one could ever touch, not even the great Jack Nicklaus.
I should note from experience that mastering pivot compression will require more than just good information. Golf is a sport, and the swing is a physical activity that will be best achieved if you are in the best condition possible. And, of course, it is going to require practice. I had a spinal fusion 30 years ago, which makes it extra difficult for me to execute what I see almost all of the best players do with their legs, hips and upper trunk during the swing. To overcome my physical limitations, I have a disciplined workout regimen to help attain the strength and endurance necessary to last through the duration of a tournament.
While I have never been able to practice as much as I would like, the combination of applying pivot compression and physical conditioning to my golf has allowed me to return to competitive play as a PGA Professional, including qualifying and playing in nine major championships along with a victory in the 2001 PGA Professional National Championship. Today, I am teaching students of all levels to use Pivot Compression to become better ball strikers.
Next up: Six Steps to Pivot Compression
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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moco
Aug 22, 2016 at 9:51 am
very good- weight on balls of feet & knees over balls of feet (at address), right hip turns deeper than in the address position. Weight compresses into inside right heel. downswing- crunch into that right inside heel (preserves the lag) while turning the core up and around. I’d just be careful about lowering the head, it’s got to move up and around in downswing (don’t hang back).
peter
Jan 3, 2016 at 12:42 am
Wayne with all the lowering these great players do is the reason they do not hit the ball heavy due to shaft lean and the clearing of the lower body?
thx peter
Joseph quaranto
Oct 11, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Would like to hear from you how you move the club up and down. In all my studies the best info is from Greg Mchatton who learned it from Homer Kelly. Kelly and Hogan started at opposite ends of the learning spectrum (mechanics from feel or feel from mchanics) but both arrived at same ball striking perfection. What do you think?
Jones
Mar 27, 2014 at 10:40 pm
Loved the article – good articulation of proper use of lower body, and great analysis of Hogan’s swing in context of that analytic framework. We are eagerly awaiting the next article “Six Steps to Pivot Compression” – when can we expect that?
RAT
Jan 26, 2014 at 9:59 pm
This is good stuff, keep it up!
Carter bonsey
Jan 22, 2014 at 9:17 pm
Excellent analysis. Incidentally, I have been drilling on this for the last three months. I setup with my butt three inches from a half wall but try to touch it with my butt at the top of the bs and maintain contact through to just after impact. This really forces one to stay deep and lower vertical swing plane.
Peter
Dec 15, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Wayne I appreciate your analysis and your humor (…the travel guide “a shrine to Miller in his basement”, best yet!).
I was wondering, do you have a tip for someone who has trouble getting their hips open along with straightening up at impact.
thx
Phil
Dec 14, 2013 at 3:53 am
Point ‘C’ describes the change in angle of Hogan’spine; however the line drawn in the photo is not where his spine is at that point in time (more a line from hip to shoulder)
Jack Gallagher
Aug 23, 2016 at 3:53 pm
True, but if you drew a line from Hogan’s belt buckle at that moment up through the middle of his chest toward his neck/chin, that line would be his spine angle at that time and would be pretty much parallel to line that starts from ‘A’ and goes up to ‘C’. So that Line up to ‘C’ still makes the point, and is simply showing/emphasizing that his spine angle does not “stay the same as it was at address” – which has been a constant in most golf instruction. Instead, his spine angle does something unexpected, becoming more tipped than at address.
HB
Dec 11, 2013 at 10:18 pm
I was watching one of the Australian tour events, and noticed a right-handed Aussie who’s pre-shot routine involved setting up with the blade of his club just to the left of (and behind) the ball and then, just before he began his backswing, it looked like he bent forward to move the blade of his club fully behind the ball. Liking his quick action, I tested this routine on the range and began ripping it dead straight.
Best I can figure out, I got my head my over the ball without my weight going out on to my toes — in short, I am very balanced and getting through the ball better.
I haven’t been able to study this article close enought to see if what I am doing is consistent with what has been outlined. But, I am intrigued — something popped.
FYI, I have always played with a grip close to Hogan’s — I fought a hook when I was young and read just the portion of Hogan’s fundamentals concerning the grip. (I wasn’t much into swing analysis at the time.)
James E. Duh
Dec 11, 2013 at 8:59 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwL4Dus2Vb0
Dear Mr. Defrancesco: Youtube video “Golf – Ernie Els – How to build a classic swing” I was so impressed how still Mr. Els head stays throughout his golf swing as this video shows. I have view many of your and others analysis of swings and as you state, majority of players lower the head in backswing and then lower it further in downswing. the video’s show this clearly. I remember that Jack Nicklaus first teacher, Mr. Grout, use to hold Jack’s hair to keep him from moving is head. Do you think this still head helped Mr. Nicklaus and Mr. Els be so consistent over their careers? Thanks again for all your great video’s Jim
Kujan
Dec 11, 2013 at 6:16 pm
It does make sense that the golfers’ head will be lower given that he’s pushing his hips forward.
jeff rhyne
Dec 7, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Hi Wayne, I enjoy your various pieces.
Something that went unsaid in your article, and I know that space constraints sometimes limit what can be written, but would you like to comment on shaft lean at impact?
I’ve read on many occasions that Hogan, by de-lofting the club, would turn a 7 iron into a 6 iron, for instance. Knowing a little about geometry, wouldn’t it be really difficult to de-loft a club (having the handle of the club in front of the clubhead at impact) without lowering your body? Tiger has a similar move in that he really gets down to the ball.
Just an observation,
thanks for the great articles,
Jeff
wayne defrancesco
Dec 8, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Jeff: Not every great player has lowered, but every great player has forward shaft lean when hitting the ball off the ground. I will say, however, that the vast majority of great players lower at some point in their swing, which by itself can be viewed as proof that lowering is desirable. If you watch Jason Day you will see him maintain his height fairly exactly throughout the swing all the way to impact. He is a rarity, though. Lowering properly by adding posture from the midsection and keeping your head out over the ball creates space for the right arm and elbow to drive in front of the right hip which in turn helps the hands to reach a point even with the ball when the shaft is still angled 90 degrees to the ground. From this point forward shaft lean is guaranteed. If you look at data from 3D analysis and launch monitors you will find that the average amount of shaft lean for tour players with a 7 iron is somewhere around 6-8 degrees. I read recently that Trackman studies of Tour players pitching from around the green off fairway height grass showed an average forward shaft lean of 15 degrees, which would indicate that the ability to lean the shaft has more to do with feel of the club dragging against the hands and being led by the body (meaning that the player has good sequence with the lower body leading the upper in the downswing. I would also say that lowering in the backswing is an indication that the player is loading into the ground, and that further lowering in transition is an indication that the player is using the ground to drive the weight from under the right foot over to the left. That said, I think the article I posted demonstrates why lowering is a good thing to incorporate into your swing and certainly helps in the ability to forward lean the shaft at impact.
Bill Simons
Dec 6, 2013 at 8:47 pm
Wayne,
You mention”… disciplined workout regimen to help attain the strength and endurance…”. What body area(s) do you target in your workouts that allow you to continue this “down move” in your own swing?
Thank you.
wayne defrancesco
Dec 8, 2013 at 5:53 pm
I consider overall strength and fitness to be the goal of any athlete, and so I work out all parts of my body. I happen to have had a spinal fusion (2 levels, lower back) back in 1986, so it is extremely difficult for me to accomplish what I talk about in the article and what I see in the swings that I like the most. Apart from adding strength to my entire body I feel like the legs and midsection are crucial to achieving high level pivot action. I like to take a weighted club (I use the Momentus 3 lb. short club and the 9 lb. extra heavy club) and watch myself in a mirror make slow motion segmented movements that exaggerate what I am trying to do, after which I take a junior club (short and light) and make full motion, full speed swings trying to incorporate the same feelings.
Andrew Cooper
Dec 6, 2013 at 6:54 am
Thanks Wayne, good article. No doubt Hogan (and Woods,, Trevino e.t.c.) lowered through the swing. But could you explain why they did this? What are they gaining by compressing into the ground?
Hogan started from an upright posture, before lowering, and lowering again to impact. Could he simply of started from a less upright posture and achieved a similar impact position? I’d be interested to here your thoughts.
wayne defrancesco
Dec 8, 2013 at 6:04 pm
Good point. I used to tell students that your choice is to stand more upright and then lower, or bend over more and try to maintain that position throughout the swing. Experience has shown me, however, that normal players who bend a lot in the set up almost always tend to raise up during the swing, which is a destructive fault to say the least. Most great players who bend over a lot at address still lower during the swing (Tiger is the best example) but we are talking about athleticism that is well beyond what your average player possesses. I encourage players to have a moderate amount of bend at address and then to load into the ground in the backswing, and then add to that loading in order to drive off the inside of the right foot to start the forward swing, which induces more lowering. If you watch baseball pitchers and infielders you see that lowering in a throwing motion (Hogan was clear about his feeling that the overall motion of the golf swing was comparable to a combination of sidearm and underhand throwing) is an athletic move that is as “natural” as just about anything you do in a golf swing, another reason why labeling it a fault is so ridiculous.
Andrew Cooper
Dec 14, 2013 at 7:46 am
Many thanks for your reply.
Brian
Dec 5, 2013 at 12:30 pm
The best thing I ever did was read 5 lessons. The next best thing I did was ignore most advice given to me unless I found some value in it (I do what this article talks about pretty severely and was told it was a swing fault).
Secret is in the dirt. Only one person can dig in the dirt, and that is the guy with the blade…
Raymond Rapcavage
Dec 5, 2013 at 10:09 am
Absolutely an AWESOME piece by you Wayne…thanks ! You nailed all of the right stuff. Zach Johnson does a lot of what you are speaking and he calls his own swing a “pivot draw”. Yes Hogan went away from the draw but the motion is very similar.
Cheers
Raymond Rapcavage
President
The Golf Swing Shirt Company
reqq
Dec 4, 2013 at 9:21 am
He actually won more majors after his 1949 accident then before it.
wayne defrancesco
Dec 6, 2013 at 2:17 am
The accident just caused him to win way less majors in his career than he would have. I think Hogan had it figured out by 1949 (he was in the process of dominating the Tour)and I know he stated in an interview that he played better after the accident but he never hit it as good as before it. I figure that without the bus he wins 25 majors and is unrivaled as the greatest of all time.
Patrick
Dec 4, 2013 at 8:45 am
Mr. Hogan had it figured out and there isn’t a better swing to emulate… ask Dufner. Well done article.
Spengler
Dec 4, 2013 at 8:19 am
This is great.. Well done
naflack
Dec 4, 2013 at 3:18 am
it is amazing to watch hogan especially having for lack of a better term…”wasted” time trying to emulate him.
my natural swing which resembles that of annika couldnt be more polar opposite, at least in my opinion.
i remember thinking as i tried in vein to do it like hogan…”how in the world do people swing like this”? (lol)
to this day im glad a friend had the sense to tell me to be myself, those were dark days in my golfing journey.
wayne defrancesco
Dec 6, 2013 at 2:04 am
The key phrase in your comment is “do it like Hogan”. What you mean is that you want to “hit it like Hogan”. Or at least, that is what you should have been telling yourself. There is no reward for looking good in golf, even if it means looking like Ben Hogan or a more contemporary player, Adam Scott. I remember watching a guy on the mini-tour back in the 80’s who dressed up like Greg Norman and made his swing look eerily similar. It was like watching an impersonator. Of course, the guy sucked. When you asked “how in the world do people swing like this?”, the answer is that nobody does. Nobody swings like Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, or any other player. People only swing like themselves. You can study the movement and the positions and try to
copy what another player is doing, but when you try to incorporate that into your swing it will just look like you. The greatest example of this is Larry Nelson. He studied the book and taught himself to be a great player in a relatively short period of time, exactly what Hogan wanted to accomplish by writing the book. Nelson’s swing, although he probably felt like it was exactly what Hogan is talking about, never looked anything remotely like Hogan.
naflack
Dec 6, 2013 at 3:47 pm
Truth be told…
If I had it to do over, I’d have never read the book to begin with.
Branden
Dec 3, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Awesome article! I have seen video of my swing and I dip down like Mr. Hogan does in his backswing and follow through, which is something that I had been told by many people was poor fundamentals was to let the head and spine move towards the ball. So naturally, I had worked a bit to try and correct it, only to end up with very poor results. Thank you for this article and reaffirmation that I’m not going anything wrong by moving my body more into the ball.
wayne defrancesco
Dec 6, 2013 at 2:13 am
Unfortunately conventional wisdom says that lowering during the swing is bad and that the idea is to “maintain your posture” and to avoid “dipping”. This idea will eventually fall by the wayside as people begin to understand that the greatest players have nearly all lowered somewhere in their golf swings, some just going back and some just going forward, but many lower in both directions just like Hogan. Of course, it doesn’t help much to have TV announcers, who should know better, continue to sound off (especially about Tiger) about lowering in the swing, blaming it for every type of bad shot. It’s pretty ridiculous with the resource of having video of almost every great player since 1920 that people who should be doing their homework before they start spouting off about what is good and not good in a swing haven’t figured this out. I’m no genius, I just observe what’s in front of me and if I see a huge percentage of the best of all time doing the same thing it’s not a stretch to consider that a good thing to do.
R
Dec 3, 2013 at 2:58 pm
great article, well done