Ben hogans five lessons

G1z1

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I picked this book up recently and only read the first two lessons but so far if this book is still accurate, ive been holding the clubs wrong the whole time and my stance has also been off. So just wanted to ask is this book still technically sound or is it outdated ? Reason i ask i was in at my new pro today asking about new grips then asked how i should be gripping the clubs. I asked if the way i was holding it ( ben hogan way ) and he said no it should be more in the fingers. The more i play golf the more confusing it gets.
 

Orikoru

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I haven't read the book, but my feeling would be, if it works for you then it's valid, if it doesn't then forget about it. Lots and lots of ways to skin a cat when it comes to golf. Just keep what works and toss what doesn't.
 

HeftyHacker

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I think that things like stance and grip can be quite subjective and a good pro should recognise that and, within reason, work with what you have.

I use a baseball grip as interlocked has always felt unnatural and uncomfortable for me (broken fingers have resulted in calcified lumps on my knuckle). I went to a coach and mentioned this to him and he said he didn't see it as an issue at all. Yet in some circles its seen as a big no no.
 

RichA

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I read it when I got back into golf and it made me properly understand the mechanics and sequence of a proper swing.
Half the YouTube golf videos I watch feel like a rehash of what was written in this book several decades ago.
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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I picked this book up recently and only read the first two lessons but so far if this book is still accurate, ive been holding the clubs wrong the whole time and my stance has also been off. So just wanted to ask is this book still technically sound or is it outdated ? Reason i ask i was in at my new pro today asking about new grips then asked how i should be gripping the clubs. I asked if the way i was holding it ( ben hogan way ) and he said no it should be more in the fingers. The more i play golf the more confusing it gets.
Just got my copy down and opened at p26. The drawings show the correct and incorrect position of the club in the fingers of the right hand. The correct position Hogan suggests is identical to that which my pro checked for me very recently and I simply can’t imagine what your pro is suggesting - unless of course you were not gripping it the ‘Hogan’ way when you showed him.

Is the book still technically sound? I don’t know. 50yrs ago I got given the book and I started to learn the game out of it, taking what I got from it to the municipal course. But without lessons I took what Hogan wrote and implemented it incorrectly - though successfully in part (obviously). But eventually 35yrs after I got my first handicap my game fell apart. What I am learning now is very, very different technically from what Hogan writes - though I still love the book- and I suspect much of what he wrote is still taught - including the grip.
 

G1z1

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Its the left hand im confused with. Pro says it should be more running along where the fingers meet the palm where hogan says it should basically run across the palm at an angle and just be going across the index finger.
I really want to improve my golf over the next year and just trying to figure all these bits out.
 

Bdill93

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Its the left hand im confused with. Pro says it should be more running along where the fingers meet the palm where hogan says it should basically run across the palm at an angle and just be going across the index finger.
I really want to improve my golf over the next year and just trying to figure all these bits out.

Listen to the pro who has seen your grip then!
 

Crow

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It still has a lot of good information and is well worth reading, much of today's teaching is along similar lines.

The main thing to be wary of though is that Hogan was always fighting against a hook and the grip he promotes follows that thinking.
Today a slightly stronger grip is generally recommended with more of the knuckles of the left hand showing and the V created by the right thumb and forefinger pointing more towards the right shoulder than the chin as Hogan recommends.
 

Bdill93

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That makes sense to be fair. Not much point paying out for lessons if you're just going to ignore the pro and use a grip you saw in a book. :LOL:

Exactly! Its your own assumption youve got the instructions from the book correct - or a qualified PGA pro in person telling you what to do and how to do it. Who will continue to monitor your progress and ensure that you continue to do this correctly.

No contest

Now the book "Golf is not a game of perfect" is well worth a read. Far more about the mental side of the game than the physical. Still relevant today.
 

Foxholer

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I picked this book up recently and only read the first two lessons but so far if this book is still accurate, ive been holding the clubs wrong the whole time and my stance has also been off. So just wanted to ask is this book still technically sound or is it outdated ? Reason i ask i was in at my new pro today asking about new grips then asked how i should be gripping the clubs. I asked if the way i was holding it ( ben hogan way ) and he said no it should be more in the fingers. The more i play golf the more confusing it gets.
Been a long time since i read Five Lessons..., but my distinct recollection is that the leading hand (left for rightees) grip is 'palm based' and the trailing hand is 'finger based'. That said, leading is not fully 'in the palm', nor is trailing fully 'in the fingers' (as opposed to a 'hammer' (fully palm action) for leading hand or tea/coffee cup grip (fully finger action) for trailing hand would be!). Both, particularly the second of the following show an excellent process (as per BH's text/pics) to orient the leading hand as per BH's recommendation. Also bear in mind, as Crow noted, that BH's setup was anti-hook!
There's a couple of videos on YouTube that explain/show this better than (certainly my) words do....
or
 
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lobthewedge

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Great book, but my advice would be not to get lost in it. As previously said there is more than one way to play the game, so take from it what you need, what makes sense to you and see if it works.

I refer back to my copy every now and then, and something as simple as his swing plane/pane of glass illustration might just spark or resolve something in my game.

Another good book to look for that somewhat compliments the 5 lessons is a book by David Leadbetter. He effectively critiques each chapter of the 5 lessons and puts his own spin on it, explaining what worked for Hogan and why the same may not benefit an average club golfer.
 

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My personal view is that it's very difficult to explain a movement with 2D drawings and descriptions in a book. Hogan's book is great, but the best thing about it I think is how it has been used to inform modern thinking, even if things have moved on a bit with advances in technology etc.. I wouldn't follow it as a bible of how to swing a golf club.

My preferred learning approach, and I appreciate everyone likes to do things differently so others will prefer a different way, is to have in person lessons with a good pro that I trust. Once the pro has identified a particular point for me to work on, I then look at different youtube coaches (again a select few that I trust), and how they explain the same issue and solution. My thinking being that we all learn in different ways and feel different things and I need to find a feel that works for me.
 

stefanovic

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I bought his book The Modern Fundamentals way back in the 1980's and it was dated then.
So it's even more dated now with all the equipment changes.
There is no such thing as the correct this or that. It's whatever works. The Vardon grip is probably as good as has been found, though.
Hogan also had a secret which he didn't publish until offered money from a magazine.
Again, it turned out to be misleading and one expert commented it could even destroy your swing.
In the end, like so many, he couldn't do it himself, such as Faldo's Swing for Life.
I'm afraid as you get older your body changes and like the op says the more confusing golf gets.
 

Wildrover

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Whilst undoubtedly a landmark book, there is a school of thought that because Hogan fought the hook all his career, he created a generation of slicers with this book. If it works though, it works. I'm not going to doubt The Hawk.
 

harpo_72

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Whilst undoubtedly a landmark book, there is a school of thought that because Hogan fought the hook all his career, he created a generation of slicers with this book. If it works though, it works. I'm not going to doubt The Hawk.
I don’t know if that is really fair on Hogan, the grip does a lot but in the end slicing is a lot about trying to force speed into the swing . Take that out of the equation and you will hit a draw or hook
 

bobmac

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There is no right or wrong way to swing a club.
The only important bit is what happens at impact.

There are the 5 laws to consider that directly affect the ball.
In no particular order........
1. Speed
2. Swing path
3. Angle of attack
4. Using the sweetspot
5. Where the clubface points.

It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you can deliver the club to the ball bearing in mind these 5 laws, you will get a decent result.
 
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