In my efforts to get from putrid to "I've seen worse", I picked up Ben Hogan's Five Lessons. My driving range session today went way better than I had hoped, but looking for opinions on one thing:

In the book, Hogan states he always spots the ball 1/2" inside the left heel.
I had though the ball placement was more centered or forward on the stance (left nut, front pocket, etc.):

Any of you adhere to Hogan basing his foot placement off his left (lead) heel?

4 ...

Report Post

Posted by RichJ

The Land of the CoonAss

Member since Nov 2016

4219 posts

Posted on 4/29/23 at 3:00 pm to pkloa

If you extrapolate the ball position in relation to his foot position, it actually moves ball position as his foot position moves from closed stance for driver, to open stance for wedges. Looks like he is promoting a draw flight for driver to more of neutral in mid irons, to fade in shorter irons…

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by Tiger1242

Member since Jul 2011

32676 posts

Posted on 4/30/23 at 1:42 pm to pkloa

Yea if you study that first graph closely you’ll see that since he is moving his back foot not only closer to his front foot but also closer to the ball as his clubs get shorter, the ball position is changing. Pretty good trick really as your mind feels like it isn’t changing thus promoting a more confident ball strike, while getting yourself in the correct spot to hit.

I also have a closed stance with driver that gets slightly more open with more lofted clubs, so basically I’m Ben Hogan.

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by SingleMalt1973

Member since Feb 2022

19417 posts

Posted on 4/30/23 at 9:20 pm to pkloa

Widening the stance with driver also allows a move off the ball allowing you to stay back and have upward angle of attack. A narrow stance promotes restriction in the legs hips that leads to more weight staying left in the backswing which creates a downward angle of attack that produces buttery compression. when coupled with forward shaft lean.

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by Riseupfromtherubble

You'll Never Walk Alone

Member since Jun 2011

39146 posts

Posted on 5/4/23 at 9:57 am to pkloa

In the first picture, the back foot is moving relative to a static ball position

In the second picture, the ball is moving relative to a static feet position.

If I use a similar shoulder width apart stance for my irons and put the ball in the middle, I really feel like I to have to contort my body to get a clean strike and it’s often fat or shanked. Hard to explain but it feels like I don’t have time to square everything up. Ball off the left heel is a GameChanger for me. With my swing it gives me the room to come through square and compress the ball. Hogan really didn’t miss much. I read his book before I really started playing and found myself straying away from the fundamentals. I always go back to it when I get in a rut

Page 1