My Hogan Pivot Action – Rear View

I have taken a swing of mine with the driver viewed from the rear aspect to illustrate my point about Ben Hogan’s later pivot being powerful even with a very low heel leading heel lift.

Because of the particular mechanical action of the hips and legs, you don’t get the high heel lift of, say Jack Nicklaus, but there is still a full hip turn and loads of leverage in the down swing action.

Taking a look in slow motion, first at Ben Hogan from a rear-ish aspect:

… and comparing it to my pivot here below:

… you see the full shoulder turn even with the low leading heel lift, and I was driving the ball well over 300 yards shooting video that day.

Full Shoulder Turn, Low Leading Heel Lift

There’s no instability in the leading foot at any time on the down swing, which is something you almost never see from the leading players on television, no violent hyperextension of the leading knee, just a pure, leveraged action through the bottom.

In fact, one of the longest drivers ever on the PGA Tour was one Jimmy Thomson, of whom it was claimed he had driven a ball 400 yards (this in the 1940s!), and who had a little higher heel lift but the same type of action – he however anchored his trailing foot through impact and therefore had the Flying Foot going on:

There is no special talent in being able to perform this pivot action – the genius of Ben Hogan created it, and I’ve watched his swing mechanics long enough to be able to perform it myself and tell others how to do it as well in the upcoming video.

It wasn’t until years after I’d released the “E = MCS” swing video back in 2017 until I really began to appreciate this pivot action, so in the intervening time, I have swung with both a high heel lift Nicklaus-style and at time with the Hogan pivot action.

I can now affirm that this particular pivot action is the optimal one for playing golf with both power and precision – and throw in repeatability and consistency for good measure.

11 thoughts on “My Hogan Pivot Action – Rear View”

  1. Kaushal Balagurusamy's avatarKaushal Balagurusamy

    i was reading your article on picking it off the ground without divots – how its pretty repeatable if you define your low point currently at address (correct weight positioning & lead arm position?) as the shoulder rotation at C7 will naturally carry the face up after the low point

    something clicked today with your short game video

    i found it extremely useful in hitting high flying lobs and flops off various lies at the chipping green today (starting to doubt that bump and run is actually more “safe” hahaha) – hitting out of bunkers feels trivially consistent now too

    1. DJ Watts's avatarDJ Watts Post author

      I don’t know what’s going on, Kaushal. You’re literally brand new to this and yet your insights and observations are those of a long-timer. Absolutely awesome!

      PS When you have a feel for certain shots, they will be safer for you than other shots. I knew a guy who hit lobs on almost every short-game shot. He just loved hitting lobs. Once, I had to do a double-take while playing skins with him – he was hitting a lob from the collar – but he stuck it dead kick-in beside the hole!

      1. Kaushal Balagurusamy's avatarKaushal Balagurusamy

        thank you! the game really is fascinating – another thing i was noticing today is how the grain of the grass is important to pay attention to, since it can influence the pace & line you need for your putt / chip (the break will be more aggressive when it is with the grain)

        it was cool to play around with draw and fade spin on chips to “fight” the grain and break as needed as well

        1. Kaushal Balagurusamy's avatarKaushal Balagurusamy

          that makes sense – i definitely am thinking more and more about the trade-offs with various shots i can choose from, and what feels more intuitive as well

        1. Michael's avatarMichael

          Thanks. Was there a previous article in which you discussed the correct weight positioning and correct leading arm position? Thanks either way.

          1. DJ Watts's avatarDJ Watts Post author

            Not aside from the usual discussions about the setup, Michael.

            Explaining the exact setup and particulars, I’ve always left to the videos. It’s not something you can explain in one comment or post.

            1. Michael's avatarMichael

              Okay, thanks. In a neutral setup, you still want to have a leaning A leaning slightly away from the target backwards, is that correct?

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