You can call this “Why You Can’t Learn Ben Hogan’s Swing Pt II,” because I already dismantled Jim McLean’s attempt to analyze the legend’s mechanics back in 2014.

Note: I have just finished writing this posting and, having outlined everything wrong with this video, I am convinced that this very video is what everyone has been using as their blueprint to to try to swing like Hogan, either personally or teach others, or both.  Including Jim McLean.

The errors and phraseology seem to mesh perfectly with what the Modern Golf Swing world is doing.  See for yourself when you’ve finished reading.

This is an old video, likely from the mid-60s or so, because it’s in color, and Ben Hogan retired in 1971.

I’m pretty sure I even saw this video back in the late 90’s when I would watch Ben Hogan and Moe Norman videos in my instructor’s driving range trailer, and it would fit the bill for being the culprit that steered everyone the wrong way on copying Hogan’s golf swing.

Everything in this video illustrates why, if you have video of something, you would do well to both listen and watch very carefully, because no matter what the narrator is saying, you can see for your own eyes whether or not what they’re saying is true – or not.

It’s a 19 minute video, so I am going to go through the key points and the timeline because not everything in this video is pertinent to my point.

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There will be three different things that I highlight (forgot what he gets correctly, it’s what’s wrong that is important), being the narrator saying:

1. Something that is most definitely not correct,
2. Something that could be misinterpreted, and therefore could lead to error and
3. Something that is actually correct and which contradicts earlier assertions

• Right off the bat, at 1:20 mark, the narrator states that “his right knee is positioned inward, bracing the swing from swaying the hips to the right, but allowing the upper body to turn freely on the back swing.”

This is very misleading, because of the term with the right knee to “brace” against swaying the hips, and most everyone is likely to have meant this to restrict the hip turn because the narrator immediately says “but” the upper turns freely.

So, what is implied here is that Hogan didn’t have a full and free hip turn, or he wouldn’t have had to “but” with the upper body turning freely.  Right here, generations of analysts and golfers have misinterpreted both the “brace” comment because of what the narrator subsequently says about a free upper body turn.

It’s clear from the picture below that Hogan had a full hip turn – the hips are literally facing the camera!

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There is a dark shadow beneath Hogan’s black shoes, so you can’t see the separation of the left heel from the ground, but you will see it at 9:37 of the video, and I’ve shown you with different angle clips, Hogan’s left heel was not nailed down:

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• The narrator then at 1:30 goes completely off the rails, saying “the right knee stays put, but does flex somewhat on the back swing to accommodate the sitting position at the top of the swing.  His weight transfer is accomplished to the right side, by turning the upper body.” 

Here, right here, ladies and gentlemen, we have the origin of the X-Factor mythology – if you sit into the address, restrict the hips and turn the upper body on the back swing, you have the Modern Golf Swing.

Wow, just wow – how wrong could you be in so little time?

Is Hogan “Sitting” Here?

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1. Look again at the above swing gif. and see that Hogan’s right leg straightens on the back swing, it does not flex, so a completely opposite description of that pivot action,
2. Hogan does absolutely no sitting at the top of his back swing, which would occur if and only if that right leg flexed with the left.  You would then have a sitting or, shall I say, “squatting” position? However, Hogan’s head remains level during the backswing from a very erect address stance, so it’s impossible for him to be doing what is described.

It’s not going well.  But it gets worse. We’re not even two minutes in.

• At 1:55, narrator says, “bracing the swing with right knee inwardly,” which again is dead wrong, as Hogan’s right leg straightens on the back pivot.  Sure to confuse people into thinking they have to restrict the hip turn, when the straightening of the right leg is what prevents the hips from swaying to the right but also facilitates the hip turn.

Here’s some wild stuff now.

• I don’t know if the narrator even kept track of his wrong assertions because at 3:40, he proceeds to say about Hogan’s setup, “this accommodates a wider and fuller hip turn to generate more power.” That is absolutely correct, but why hasn’t anyone pointed out the fact that even the narrator admits to a full hip turn?
• Also, you can’t get a full hip turn if you’re sitting into the address.  So, the truth wrapped around a bunch of falsehoods.
• Then at 3:55, he incredibly states that “this athletic stance gives him both balance and power from his legs, and a solid base from which to swing at the ball.”

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How many times have I stated that in the Classic Golf Swing, it is the leg and hip action providing the power and turning action in the pivot?  Again, the narrator gets some things so correctly without knowing how horribly he’s mangling the entire analysis.

Now, if he so confidently asserts that the pivot is accomplished with a flexed right leg and just a turning of the upper body, how can he then pivot and say that the power in the swing comes from the legs?

• Train wreck at 4:05 – “his knees are slightly bent to allow for a sitting position…”

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Again, there is no “sitting!”  His right leg is nearly if not completely straightened and his left leg has “swung the gate” to a very bent position, so no, both of his knees are not “slightly bent.”

• 4:10 showing Hogan’s impact position:

Look Familiar??

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In the above picture, Hogan is just getting to impact, and his weight is nearly all into his left or leading foot while the trailing heel has raised and is about to release so that he can finish on his left foot.

If you don’t transfer the weight to the leading leg and you don’t release the trailing foot, guess what you get?

A Hyperextended Left Leg!

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You can literally see the entire Modern Golf Swing catastrophe unfolding second by second and only 4 minutes into this, for crying out loud.

• At 6:15, with absolutely no irony, the narrator says, “It’s the number of little things he paid attention to that set him apart from all the other pros.”  Do tell, sir.
• At 6:35, “the arc of his swing is to the inside of the target line on the back swing, and down from the inside of the target line, back to the ball. Then the arc moves back inside on the follow-through.”

And here, friends, is the whole “swing left” nonsense that Tiger Woods so many other of the pros do on practice swings and then contort themselves into pretzels trying to yank the club head left through impact.

Except that the narrator says explicitly “on the follow-through,” and not “through impact,” because the golf swing is an arc and will swing back inside without the swinger doing anything to make that happen:

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Here comes the face-plant moment for this narrator.

• At 8:45, he says, no word of a lie, three completely fallacious things in one go:

1. “Hogan’s legs are fairly inactive during his back swing.”   No, they are not.
2. “They bend at the knees as he swings back into a sitting position.”  No, they do not.
3. “That position is maintained as the down swing begins.”  No, it is not – it is a split-second snapshot of a dynamic motion.

Here is Ben Hogan himself demonstrating, as he states in the video from which clip is taken, that the entire swing is performed with his hips and legs:

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• At 9:00, we get, “as the legs and hips move together towards the target, both knees are still bent at impact… the left leg only straightens after impact as the follow-through finishes, and he stands tall on his left side.” 
• Yes, they should both be bent at impact, with no hyperextension of the leading leg, but they aren’t both “still bent” as the right leg straightened on the way to the top of the back pivot.
• Accurate description of impact with a big misleading claim about the legs on the back pivot.

Let me ask you what part of “both knees” being bent at impact does the Modern Golf Swing need explained?

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As for “the left leg only straightens after impact as the follow-through finishes, and he stands tall on his left side,” we now know where this comes from:

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• At 10:15, while describing the downswing, the narrator says, “his knees stay together,” and I really have to ask myself how many bourbons this gent was consuming watching the video.

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You can clearly see that Hogan’s knees separate from the first to the second frame, before moving closer together in the third, so there isn’t and never was a “his knees stay together.”

• At 10:40, you see the Hogan Transition position that Tiger Woods sees in his dreams:

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… and the narrator says, “his upper body hits through with his right shoulder going downward, as his left hip moves toward the rear.”

Modern Golfer – Left Hip To The Rear, Got It!

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• 10:50 – Narrator says Hogan is doing something that is physically impossible to do when you’re holding a golf club – “his forearms, not his hands or his wrists, roll over after impact, and remain close together.”

Go ahead, try that and see what happens.

His release action is no different from anyone else’s.

• At 11:35 – “his arms swing down before his body turns.”

Oh, Really?

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• At 12:00 the narrator finishes by trashing his entire analysis, saying, “Hogan swings with his whole body… it’s a body swing, not an arm swing… a synchronized motion of his entire body that collectively produces the power.”

There’s more minutiae but we’re essentially finished here, and the below gif. is my summation of the entire presentation:

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