Took a lesson and read Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons.

So a little background. I played golf about 20 years ago and was decent, then stopped to focus on baseball. Well I got back into golf a lil over a year ago, took a lesson and decided that the 10 finger aka baseball grip was most comfortable for me and proceeded with that. I would slice the ball A LOT, and badly 150 yards straight 100 right at least. Needless to say hardly any control. I'm a member at club so after playing enough I got used to how to play my faults and would hit in the 90's on most days.

With that said, I just wanted to share what I've experienced over the past couple of weeks.

I made a decision that I was tired of no control and wanted to seek more consistency. So I wanted and am building a new foundation to build from; and, Hogan's 5 Lessons book seemed to be the best resource for this.

I changed my grip to the Vardon and immediately I could tell a big difference. I was hitting the ball straight but I was pulling it left and not hitting the sweet spot. So I went and took a lesson, learned where to put the ball in my stance, the proper way the club should impact the ball and got some drills to work on my club path. After that I have implemented the proper stance at address because of the book.

I just want want to say, it's an amazing transformation. I'm making much better contact with the ball, it's way more consistent, and the flight patterns are straight with the right kind of trajectories. Now, don't get me wrong there's still a ton I need to work on but I am much more enthused about my play now than I have ever been. I played a round today and scored higher than I used to but I know I'm only a few rounds away from beating those scores and progressing a lot further.

I very strongly recommend this this book to form your foundation if you're just starting out or if your like me and just feel like you need to wipe the slate clean and start over. Everything is described in such a simple manner, I don't cloud my mind on the tee box with all these different things I have to do. I just set myself up properly and the swing takes care of itself.

Now, I just really and I mean really need to work on my wedges. That's now what kills me. Well, that and re-learning my distances but I'll get there.

Seriously though, having much more consistency and knowing I can aim with confidence is making this game so much more enjoyable and encouraging for me. Sorry for the long rant.

TL;DR
Decided to change my swing from ground up because of inconsistency. The fundamentals described Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons have made a huge transformation for me. I hit much more straight with way better ball striking. Consistency is way up. Highly recommend for anyone.

Good post and welcome back to the game. I would like to offer a few thoughts concerning Mr. Hogan's book and baseball...specifically batting. Let's begin with the grip. Mr. Hogan stressed the importance of a proper grip...saying that a proper grip is fundamental to executing a proper swing. Well...you already know that from your experiences in baseball. The grip may be different; but it is fundamental to both and I'm betting that makes sense to you. Then there is the stance and posture. How you set up to the plate, or to the ball, is also fundamental. All that stuff about the lower body leading the upper body, a stable head, the lag, etc...is exactly what you instruct batters to do when the goal is to stroke one up the middle. The games are different, granted, but there is no reason you cannot use what you already know about baseball to help you decipher what Mr. Hogan, and your instructor, are trying to convey. The details matter. Grip, stance, posture, loading, unloading, balance, fluidity, it's all the same...and all a bit different. You are off to a good start...best of luck to you.

4Regal said:

Good post and welcome back to the game. I would like to offer a few thoughts concerning Mr. Hogan's book and baseball...specifically batting. Let's begin with the grip. Mr. Hogan stressed the importance of a proper grip...saying that a proper grip is fundamental to executing a proper swing. Well...you already know that from your experiences in baseball. The grip may be different; but it is fundamental to both and I'm betting that makes sense to you. Then there is the stance and posture. How you set up to the plate, or to the ball, is also fundamental. All that stuff about the lower body leading the upper body, a stable head, the lag, etc...is exactly what you instruct batters to do when the goal is to stroke one up the middle. The games are different, granted, but there is no reason you cannot use what you already know about baseball to help you decipher what Mr. Hogan, and your instructor, are trying to convey. The details matter. Grip, stance, posture, loading, unloading, balance, fluidity, it's all the same...and all a bit different. You are off to a good start...best of luck to you.

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Thanks man! Much appreciated! Yah you're right both are very similar yet different. It's really amazing to me that when you have the right mechanics how much more crisp and natural the swing feels. I would say having the baseball background has made it easier for me on movements in my hips and wrists. Thanks again! Just really need to work on my under 100 yards game.

Best golf instruction book I ever read. I hope it helps you too!!

I couldn't afford lessons or even range balls very often as a kid. When I was 12 and decided to quit baseball for golf my dad pulled Five Lessons off the shelf and told me everything I need to know to shoot in the 70's is in Hogan's book. He set up 3 orange bicycle flags in our very large yard(over an acre of grass). I broke a window that summer learning my swing, but by the time I was 15, I was a down to a 3 handicap and a scratch a year later. My dad was right and for the last 40 years, I read Five Lessons each spring when I start my golf season and always glean some bit of information that I have forgotten or need to brush up on again.

Another thumbs up for Hogan's 5 lessons. It is easy to drift into weird grips and setups trying to fix various faults. I routinely "reset" by reading through the book again to get the fundamentals correct. As a short book, some might think it doesn't have enough meat. I would argue that it is distilled to the fundamentals without the extraneous info.

My copy is a bit rough around the edges as it spent some time floating in a swimming pool last summer. The lessons in this book helped me get from shooting well over 100 to an index of 17.9 index at the end of the year, and what looks like it should fall to about a 14 and change based on my winter play. I will keep this book (my exact tattered and water stained copy) forever and always.

After a long layoff (10 years), I too just bought a copy of Hogan's book on Amazon. I've been working on the waggle from that book, getting the correct takeaway, good stuff happens from there for me.

Good luck.

tahoebum said:

I couldn't afford lessons or even range balls very often as a kid. When I was 12 and decided to quit baseball for golf my dad pulled Five Lessons off the shelf and told me everything I need to know to shoot in the 70's is in Hogan's book. He set up 3 orange bicycle flags in our very large yard(over an acre of grass). I broke a window that summer learning my swing, but by the time I was 15, I was a down to a 3 handicap and a scratch a year later. My dad was right and for the last 40 years, I read Five Lessons each spring when I start my golf season and always glean some bit of information that I have forgotten or need to brush up on again.

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This will be my approach as well, I think it's important to reinforce the fundamentals at the start of every season.

Kenomikes said:

After a long layoff (10 years), I too just bought a copy of Hogan's book on Amazon. I've been working on the waggle from that book, getting the correct takeaway, good stuff happens from there for me.

Good luck.

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Best of luck to you, I have nothing but high praise for the book.

JayB said:

Another thumbs up for Hogan's 5 lessons. It is easy to drift into weird grips and setups trying to fix various faults. I routinely "reset" by reading through the book again to get the fundamentals correct. As a short book, some might think it doesn't have enough meat. I would argue that it is distilled to the fundamentals without the extraneous info.

My copy is a bit rough around the edges as it spent some time floating in a swimming pool last summer. The lessons in this book helped me get from shooting well over 100 to an index of 17.9 index at the end of the year, and what looks like it should fall to about a 14 and change based on my winter play. I will keep this book (my exact tattered and water stained copy) forever and always.

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haha! good thing it's not expensive. Right now my handicap is high teens, I think with enough proper practice I can get it to single digits by the end of fall. May be a bit ambitious but I'm an optimist.

BogeyWizard said:

haha! good thing it's not expensive. Right now my handicap is high teens, I think with enough proper practice I can get it to single digits by the end of fall. May be a bit ambitious but I'm an optimist.

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I look forward to following along.

JB said:

I look forward to following along.

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Damn, now there's pressure. Haha! Jk.

JayB said:

Another thumbs up for Hogan's 5 lessons. It is easy to drift into weird grips and setups trying to fix various faults. I routinely "reset" by reading through the book again to get the fundamentals correct. As a short book, some might think it doesn't have enough meat. I would argue that it is distilled to the fundamentals without the extraneous info.

My copy is a bit rough around the edges as it spent some time floating in a swimming pool last summer. The lessons in this book helped me get from shooting well over 100 to an index of 17.9 index at the end of the year, and what looks like it should fall to about a 14 and change based on my winter play. I will keep this book (my exact tattered and water stained copy) forever and always.

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Taking your same route. My swing is starting to fall apart thanks to YouTube. I am going back and reading Hogan's 5 Lessons to get me back to when my swing was nice and consistent.

Hopefully your journey is going well, BogeyWizard.

Hogan's book is one I recommend to anyone looking for a good reference for a beginning player or experienced player looking for something to have in times of crisis (we all have them).

You bring up a really good point that I always try to go back to when my swing gets a little off kilter, set up and grip. Hard to hit good shots if your setup and grip are not sound. I tend to get weak in my left hand and start drifting away from the ball, that tends to lead to a lot more weak slicey shots.

I'm fairly new to golf and sounds like this will be a good book to start with.


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whizkidwho said:

I'm fairly new to golf and sounds like this will be a good book to start with.


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It's the Bible of golf books and can lay down the fundamentals and make you a single digit index. Pay special attention to the grip and the supination of the left wrist. I'd highly recommend an Impact Snap training aid along with this book to really make you understand how the wrists and hands work through impact.

tahoebum said:

It's the Bible of golf books and can lay down the fundamentals and make you a single digit index. Pay special attention to the grip and the supination of the left wrist. I'd highly recommend an Impact Snap training aid along with this book to really make you understand how the wrists and hands work through impact.

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Thanks! I'll definitely check it out.


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Added one of Mr. Hogans suggestions to practice this winter-consciously starting my downswing with my hips.

It appears to be getting me a little more power and fewer miss hits.

Can't wait to get outside on the course to really see how this has changed my game. Hitting a ball indoors at a dome doesn't give me a clear idea where that ball is going

Snow shovelling has improved significantly

Thanks for the tip, I’ll check that book out. And congrats to you on getting back in the golf groove and seeing some progress.

If I might add, read Dave Pelz Short Game Bible. It changed my life, seriously. My game inside of 100 yds is now my strongest facet, and my scores have dropped significantly due to his wedge system. Give it a look if you’re still struggling there.

Going to follow your journey. I may need to pick up this book...

Tee/Ski said:

Going to follow your journey. I may need to pick up this book...

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Tread with caution, Mr Hogan’s book and it’s interpretations are right there with the Good Book in terms of opinions of what he meant by this, what he felt by that, etc. It’s a great read and you can learn from it, but it can also mess you up pretty quick

It is not a book for everyone, certainly not for weekend slicers. You need to know that Hogan was a chronic hooker long before he wrote the book. The book touches, however, some universal things: proper grip or proper stance and introduces the swing plane concept. Being a TGM-literate I am pretty sure Homer Kelley learnt a lot from this book and Hogan's swing.

Buster1 said:

Thanks for the tip, I’ll check that book out. And congrats to you on getting back in the golf groove and seeing some progress.

If I might add, read Dave Pelz Short Game Bible. It changed my life, seriously. My game inside of 100 yds is now my strongest facet, and my scores have dropped significantly due to his wedge system. Give it a look if you’re still struggling there.

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Another good read.

Still need remember to fix the next worst mistake, not all of them at once

Picked up my own copy of Hogan's book this weekend. I am really enjoying it. Funnily enough, I follow Mike Bender on Instagram and just this morning he posted a lesson about leading the downswing with the hips (and yesterday about left-hand supination at impact). As Hogan said, the fundamentals are the fundamentals.

I need to get this book out again. My grip feels off. I do not feel comfortable at the top of my backswing, and it shows in my poor contact.