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Ben Hogan's Five Lessons
Nikhil Nayak
Professional Champion
 
220 Views    11 Replies    1 Like   I like it!

After a long break from the game I have started reworking my swing based on Ben Hogan's "Five Lessons". I picked up the book after seeing a couple of others talk about it online. All I can say is that I have never been as excited about golf in a long time.

I wish I could paint a rosy picture but fact is that I have had some terrible rounds recently. The new swing has brought in a nasty hook with my driver but that's more probably from the long absence from the course. However, there have been some stunning results specially with my fairway woods.

Interestingly moving to a weak grip with the putter has made putting a lot easier. Have been a lot more confident with the short putts (no gimmes in our group). This is not something from Five Lessons but the concept of the club returning to the same position at impact led me to think about what helped me best to return the putter face square at impact.

I wish I had the scores to reflect the improvements. Let's hope that's not too far away from here on. Would be great to hear from others who have based their swings on Five Lessons!

Cheers!
HOGAN418
Professional Champion
 
# 1    9/5/2013 9:56:15 AM   
Great forum.. like my name.. I'm a Hogan freak. HIs book was revolutionary still today. You are dead on with the scores. It takes time. Doing the right thing over and over will eventually give you right results. A year ago, I revamped my swing, equipment- everything but the wife and kids.. at first it was tough but now... handicap dropping steadily..

We as amateurs get dooped into thinking a certain club will change our game. Or just keep hitting balls and things will work out.. Uh.. no... practice does make perfect.. PERFECT practice makes perfect.

Your scores will fall.. glad to hear your passion is back..


Nikhil Nayak
Professional Champion
 
# 2    9/5/2013 10:14:31 AM   

Great forum.. like my name.. I'm a Hogan freak. HIs book was revolutionary still today. You are dead on with the scores. It takes time. Doing the right thing over and over will eventually give you right results. A year ago, I revamped my swing, equipment- everything but the wife and kids.. at first it was tough but now... handicap dropping steadily..

We as amateurs get dooped into thinking a certain club will change our game. Or just keep hitting balls and things will work out.. Uh.. no... practice does make perfect.. PERFECT practice makes perfect.

Your scores will fall.. glad to hear your passion is back..



Thanks Hogan418. Its been a rough couple of rounds. Thankfully I pulled off some miraculous shots - shots that are keeping me encouraged on what possibly lies ahead. I would love to have a swing that would get better under pressure.

You are spot on when you say "revolutionary". Some of the stuff in the book has got me really pumped.


Mark Simmons
Legend
 
# 3    9/5/2013 2:34:29 PM   
There are many things to get excited about with "5 Lessons". To me I love the contribution it made to help me understand the golf swing.


RandallTex
Professional Champion
 
# 4    9/5/2013 3:00:16 PM   
I read parts of the book years ago, but I admit that I did not dive deep into it, and I was mainly skimming it to find "tips." I was not an avid golfer then, and only played a few rounds a year. Last year, I took up the game and have gone from mid/high 90s to mid 80s. I should definitely take a look at the book again, as fundamentals are always good to review. Maybe that's the key I need to keep going lower.

Welcome, Nikhil! Golf is a global sport, so it's good to see other parts of the world represented.


Nikhil Nayak
Professional Champion
 
# 5    9/5/2013 7:45:23 PM   

I read parts of the book years ago, but I admit that I did not dive deep into it, and I was mainly skimming it to find "tips." I was not an avid golfer then, and only played a few rounds a year. Last year, I took up the game and have gone from mid/high 90s to mid 80s. I should definitely take a look at the book again, as fundamentals are always good to review. Maybe that's the key I need to keep going lower.

Welcome, Nikhil! Golf is a global sport, so it's good to see other parts of the world represented.


Thanks RandallTex! I've been on here for about 2 years now but have not been on the forums recently. We've been playing golf in India from British Colonial times. I had posted a picture on here some time back from one of the courses on which I play. The course has been around since the 1860's!
Bolarum Golf Course Club House
History - Bolarum Golf Course


Nikhil Nayak
Professional Champion
 
# 6    9/5/2013 7:51:07 PM   

There are many things to get excited about with "5 Lessons". To me I love the contribution it made to help me understand the golf swing.


Very true Mark. The way Hogan breaks down the swing is a thing of beauty. Analyzing muscle groups that come into play is nothing short of genius. Its one the areas where I was wrong fundamentally and an area I am working on. Hard to break old habits though.


RandallTex
Professional Champion
 
# 7    9/6/2013 9:06:23 AM   

Thanks RandallTex! I've been on here for about 2 years now but have not been on the forums recently. We've been playing golf in India from British Colonial times. I had posted a picture on here some time back from one of the courses on which I play. The course has been around since the 1860's!


Very cool pics. I've not been to India, but I visited my father in Islamabad a couple of times and got to go up into the Gilgit region in the mountains. We stayed in one place along the way that had the old British Colonial feel exactly like your picture. Damn Brits leaving their footprints and golf courses everywhere they colonize.


dewsweeper
Legend
 
# 8    9/6/2013 9:40:35 AM   
The Five Lessons written by Ben Hogan ( many of the golf instruction book were not written by the name on the cover, but this one )' Has been the more read golf instruction book in the history of golf.

I had been reading this book over and over throughout the years, has multiple copies of it and when possible I would pick up an older edition adding to the collection.

One thing I had found, to copy Ben Hogan's lessons, one must go all out with his speed and similar equipment. This book was the inspiration for me to use an XS flex on the driver. When I was younger, all the instructors had been telling me to use a regular or maybe a Stiff flex in the driver. Extra stiff flex is for the Pro Only. From reading the Five Lessons and finding out Ben's personal spec on the golf clubs made me think if a 5'8" seemingly small guy could swing XS flex and heavy club and be one of the longer hitter on the Tour in his time then, why couldn't I try it.

That XS driver set up had improved my game exponentially; granted it took awhile to get used to the flex but not more hooks, mostly straight to slight fade.

Each and every time I read the Five Lessons I would discover new things. Over the time I had understand the layers of knowledge in the book is more than the words in the lines.

There is no expressed way to get the most out of this book, play and read and understand.

There are so many "Hogan Swing Experts" out there whom really just touching the surface of what Hogan had offered. A good lesson sometimes is just a key word or an idea.


Nikhil Nayak
Professional Champion
 
# 9    9/6/2013 11:34:04 AM   

The Five Lessons written by Ben Hogan ( many of the golf instruction book were not written by the name on the cover, but this one )' Has been the more read golf instruction book in the history of golf.

I had been reading this book over and over throughout the years, has multiple copies of it and when possible I would pick up an older edition adding to the collection.

One thing I had found, to copy Ben Hogan's lessons, one must go all out with his speed and similar equipment. This book was the inspiration for me to use an XS flex on the driver. When I was younger, all the instructors had been telling me to use a regular or maybe a Stiff flex in the driver. Extra stiff flex is for the Pro Only. From reading the Five Lessons and finding out Ben's personal spec on the golf clubs made me think if a 5'8" seemingly small guy could swing XS flex and heavy club and be one of the longer hitter on the Tour in his time then, why couldn't I try it.

That XS driver set up had improved my game exponentially; granted it took awhile to get used to the flex but not more hooks, mostly straight to slight fade.

Each and every time I read the Five Lessons I would discover new things. Over the time I had understand the layers of knowledge in the book is more than the words in the lines.

There is no expressed way to get the most out of this book, play and read and understand.

There are so many "Hogan Swing Experts" out there whom really just touching the surface of what Hogan had offered. A good lesson sometimes is just a key word or an idea.


Dewsweeper I agree with you 100%. There is so much in those pages its amazing.
Sometimes I am just amazed at Hogan insights - has really helped get the juices flowing.

Thanks for the tip on the driver flex. Must see if that will help. I used to have a steel shaft driver back in 97 (Big Bertha Steelhead). I used to feel like I could kill the ball with that thing. Miss the good old steel shafts.



mtags
LowIndex
 
# 10    9/6/2013 4:59:11 PM   
Good to see you back Nikhil. Good luck with the swing change. A few years back I dedicated a whole season to flatting my swing plane, always much to upright causing a slice 90% of the time. Takes a lot of work to change something you have been doing forever.


Nikhil Nayak
Professional Champion
 
# 11    9/6/2013 7:07:08 PM   

Good to see you back Nikhil. Good luck with the swing change. A few years back I dedicated a whole season to flatting my swing plane, always much to upright causing a slice 90% of the time. Takes a lot of work to change something you have been doing forever.


Thanks Mike! It is good to be back. So far it's only been my driver that's gone bad.
As hard as that is to cope with the rest of the bag is more or less under control.

Thanks again for the words of encouragement.