Alright, so someone asked me about my journey with Ben Hogan’s “The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.” Man, that book. It’s like the golfer’s bible, right? I figured, my game was a mess, so why not go back to the source, to what one of the greats laid out.
Getting Started with Hogan’s Ideas
First thing, I actually bought the book. Not just skimmed it online, but got the physical copy. Felt more serious that way. I sat down and read through it, a couple of times actually, before even thinking about hitting a ball. Hogan’s words, they’re precise, almost like an engineer talking about a machine. Some of it made sense right away, other parts, I had to really picture it.
Then, the real work began. I decided to tackle it piece by piece, just like he lays it out.
The Grip – Oh, The Grip!
Hogan starts with the grip. And let me tell you, this was the first mountain to climb. He’s so specific about where your hands go, the V’s pointing to your right shoulder, the pressure points. I spent what felt like hours just holding a club in my living room, trying to make my hands do what his pictures showed.
- I’d get it, look down, and it felt so alien.
- My old grip, the one I’d used for years, felt natural, even if it was probably terrible.
- Then I’d go to the range, and the first few shots with this “Hogan grip” were awful. Slices, hooks, shanks – you name it, I hit it. My hands ached. I wanted to quit this part so many times.
But I stuck with it. I’d take the book to the range, compare my grip to his illustrations after every few shots. Slowly, very slowly, it started to feel a tiny bit less weird. The ball flight wasn’t magic yet, but the feeling of connection started to change.
Stance and Posture – Feeling Athletic
Next up was stance and posture. Hogan talks about feeling athletic, balanced. I’d stand in front of a mirror, trying to get the knee flex right, the spine angle. It felt a bit like I was learning to stand all over again. I focused on:
- Getting my weight distributed like he said.
- Making sure my alignment was square. This was a big one for me; I was always aimed way right.
This part wasn’t as painful as the grip, but it required a lot of conscious effort. I’d hit a few balls, then step back, reset, and really think about how I was standing over the ball. It was less about brute force and more about setting up to let the swing happen.
The Swing Itself – Breaking It Down
Then came the swing, which Hogan breaks into parts. The takeaway, the backswing, the downswing. This is where things got really intense.
The Takeaway: He talks about the “one-piece takeaway,” moving the club, hands, arms, and shoulders together. I spent entire range sessions just doing this first part. Just taking the club back a few feet, feeling that connection. It’s harder than it sounds! My old habit was to snatch the club away with my hands.
The Backswing and The Plane: This was probably the most mentally challenging. Keeping the club “on plane.” I’d use alignment sticks, try to feel what he described. My garage saw a lot of slow-motion swings. I’d feel like I was doing it right, then look at a video of myself and realize I was way off. Frustrating, to say the least. But I kept grinding, focusing on the feeling he described, trying to keep my left arm straight without being stiff.
The Downswing: Hogan’s magic move, right? Starting down with the lower body. This felt powerful when I occasionally got it right. But most of the time, my old habits of hitting at the ball with my arms and shoulders would take over. I had to drill this. Short swings, focusing on the sequence. Hit balls at 50% power, just trying to get the feel.
The Practice and The (Slow) Progress
This whole process wasn’t a quick fix. Not even close. It was a grind. Lots of range balls. Lots of bad shots. There were days I felt like I was going backwards. But I’d reread sections of the book, try to simplify, and go back to basics.
Slowly, things started to click, just tiny bits at a time. A well-struck iron shot would feel different – more compressed, a better sound. The ball flight started to be more consistent, not perfect, but better than the wild slices I used to hit. My biggest takeaway was the feeling of hitting the ball with my body, not just my arms.
I’m still working on it. I don’t think you ever really “master” Hogan’s fundamentals. It’s a constant process of refinement. But going through his book, and really trying to implement what he taught, definitely changed how I approach the golf swing. It gave me a blueprint, a solid foundation to work from, even if building the house is a lifelong project. It’s tough, but if you’re serious about getting better, I think it’s worth the effort to at least try and understand what he was teaching.