The Hogan Project

by: B. J. Hathaway

 

Time after time after time the opinion that I read or hear is an answer to this question, who was the greatest ball striker in the history of golf? Not who had the best record or who won the most majors, but who was the ultimate golfer that could hit the ball with distance, accuracy and repeatability and that opinion by a vast majority is Mr. Ben Hogan. He was Mr. Consistency and there are countless stories of him hitting 14 fairways and 18 greens in a round of golf. How was he able to be so consistent?

After much study of his golf swing, reading books about his life and stories from his friends like Jimmy DeMaret and Jackie Burke along with other sources, we know Mr. Hogan loved to practice, and he was very good at it. Mr. Hogan had the ability to focus and concentrate his attention to build an incredibly accurate and powerful golf swing that is still the envy of golfers around the world. Unfortunately we don’t have the details of exactly how he practiced every day, we only know he practiced every day and was known for eight hour sessions.

So after studying all of the great golf swings: Nicklaus, Snead, Trevino, Nelson, DeMaret, Jones, Norman, Watson, Woods and many modern day players, my preference would be to build Mr. Hogan’s swing as my own. Since I have some free time every day, as we all do if we make time, this Hogan Project will be my effort to replicate his golf swing through study and deep practice. I will also attempt to over-ride swing faults by using specific motor skill training exercises  that I’ve designed myself. This is my grand golf research project. Can an adult with years of practice and many hours of “muscle memory” remodel his golf swing without hitting 1200 balls a day as Mr. Hogan did?

I plan on keeping details records and periodic video checks to chart my progress. Maybe you would like to get involved and train along side or start your own swing project? If so let me know, otherwise I look forward to seeing you on the practice tee.