I was recently asked by a gentleman, named Steve from the UK, about Ben Hogan's lateral slide in the downswing, because it remains a niggle to him, and what my thoughts were on the subject. I thought it was a great question and decided it needed to be in print.

Ben Hogan never did slide his hips in the downswing, period. He slid before the downswing.

You might say, "Huh?"

You see Hogan had a 3-part swing. He had a backswing, a set, and then the downswing. The "set" was his positioning of the hips before the downswing started.

Let me back up a little.

Why would Ben Hogan slide to set his hips? Didn't he say we should "spin the hips" and the faster the better? Yes, but because of his bus accident, he (not everyone else) had to make an adjustment. Hogan advocated minimal lateral motion for the golf swing but couldn't do it himself, because of the pain it created in his left side. He set up with a little more weight on his right side at address, and on the backswing would load against the right leg.

Stay with me now.

As he was still making his move back the lower body would start moving toward the target to position the base of his spine just in front of the ball. (this is the set) Why? Because the base of your spine is the bottom of your arc and in a proper golf swing you connect with the ball just before the bottom and on a typical iron shot a divot would follow. It is a timing move and Hogan found it needed constant practice to perfect, and if he took off even one day of practice he would lose his edge. He felt it unnecessary for most golfers and tried to emphasize the proper motion of the spin with little lateral movement whenever asked. But most people just wanted to watch him swing and not listen to his words. That's why he told John Schlee not to copy his swing, and in Hogan's own words said, "Why would anyone want to swing like a cripple."

Once he positioned his torso just ahead of the ball, he tried to spin his hips as fast as he could.

Load - Position - Spin

So there you have it. Ben Hogan's 3-part swing. If you didn't know it or understand it, now you do!

Tom Bertrand is the new leading authority on Ben Hogan and author of the new book,"The Secret of Hogan's Swing". He teaches the game of golf at Olympic Resort Hotel in Carlsbad California.

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