Ben Hogan may or may not be the greatest golfer ever, but he certainly wrote the most influential golf books of all time.  He more than anyone else established and propounded the fundamentals of the modern swing.  Though some of the material is inevitably dated--younger folks may not even know what the heck a spoon is--most of what he says is just as helpful today as it was over fifty years ago.

This book is especially appropriate for beginners and there are three essential bits of advice that are all someone really needs to know when they pick up a club for the first time :

    (1) The basis of the golf swing is a good grip.  A good grip "enables the two hands to act as a single unit."

    (2) "The first movement in the downswing is the turning of the left hip to the left.  Forget about
            your arms, hands, shoulders and club at that moment and start the hips turning, led by the left
           hip."

    (3) "My advice to the beginning golfer is to go ahead and hit the ball as hard as he can right from
            the start.  He will be wild for a time.  That's only natural.  Later on he can straighten out his
            hooks and slices with minor alterations to his swing.  But if he doesn't learn to hit the ball
            hard right at the start, he will never be able to get distance without a major overhauling,
            because his speed and timing setup will be something less than his full power."

That's it; that's really all you need to get started.  It's a terrific little book, complete with quaint illustrations of a little golfer in pleated slacks and a sweater demonstrating the lessons.  Of course, there is one more more thing that Hogan emphasized and no book will help you with; if you want to improve you have to practice, a lot.

(Reviewed:27-Oct-00)

Grade: (B+) Orrin C. Judd

Tweet