There is no doubt that the swing you use is going to evolve out of the gear you play..
For example, if you look at Hogan films, you will see a very distinct shaft compression into his body at the transition at the top. TGM would call this a float load, or down stroke loading..
You are going to see a lot more of this with a heavier club than a light club. Hogan tells us he gripped the club very firm, yet we see this suppleness in his wrists at transition. But a lot of what you see is the gear he was using. If you try and create that “look” with today’s lightweight clubs, you will do yourself harm because that “look” is not actually a “look” it is a by product of much heavier clubs than what players use today..
If you don’t believe me, put three clubs in your hands, take a practice swing, and film it with your video camera, and you too will have that “look”. It’s very hard to throw the club from the top with the hands if the clubs are heavy, and this is one of the reasons Hogan preferred heavy clubs. They are most certainly a throwaway inhibitor.
Like Prot said, there is only one club in your bag you need to hit far, and that is your driver.
If you line up 5 golfers from 150, and they all have different clubs,
player #1 has a super light weight over length wedge that he can hit 150.
Player #5 has a super heavy shorter 6 iron, and everyone else is somewhere in between..
If everyone is the same distance, the goal at this point is to hit the ball close to the hole.. and certainly the guy with the 6 iron is taking
THE SHORTER ROUTE! yes, as I have said before, his ball will travel on a more direct arc, lower trajectory, and not have to travel
nearly as far in the air..
The question is, can he stop it on the green? Into the wind he sure can.. are the greens soft? sure.. if they are rock hard in the summer,
and the pin is cut right over a bunker, and it is down wind, then maybe the wedge guy might have a better chance, but if that is the case, both players might be wise to play a safer shot to the center of the green.. also, the SKY ball is much more likely to PLUG in the event the shot lands in the trap.
There is zero advantage to an iron you hit farther, unless you get to pick the ball up and move it 20 meters closer to the hole, you’re still the same distance..
Find an iron set you hit straight!.. Find a driver you hit a compromised “straight and long” one that is appropriate for the type of golf you play.
Getting back to Hogan, in his era, he played most if his golf on tight tree lined courses in the States, where there was more if a premium on driving accuracy than there is today. Golf courses topped out around 6900 yards, so he knew if he could drive it 250 yards he could play anywhere. He also had an extra 20 yards in his back pocket when he absolutely needed it. From there it was all about
STRAIGHT.. and proper shape, and trajectory. Hogan could have hit light weight clubs, they hand them back then… he also could have played loose shafts, and he could have played upright irons, but he did not… because he either knew… or experimented and found out
that the best way to hit a golf ball straight would be to use heavier clubs that engage the bigger muscles in the body and promote a pivot driven golf swing… he knew that stiff shafts would offer better consistency and respond better under pressure, and he knew that the flatter you swing, the easier it is to minimize plane shifting, and the more difficult it is to come OTT or to hit the ball left..
The flatter you can swing, given other things are done correctly,
the straighter you will hit the golf ball..
You don’t lose power either.. if done properly, I know Bio will back me up on this too.
Golfur66,
I do like proper hitting technique as an end goal.. it’s what most of the great ball strikers do, it’s time tested, and from personal experience, I have played top level golf using both methods, and I can attest that hitting is absolutely a superior method. Also I have Homer’s work in TGM to back up hitting as the superior method.
Homer backs up hitting all over the place in his work as the superior method. The greatest ball striker of all time “Hogan” was a hitter.
What more do you need?
To answer the second part of you question… getting close to Hogan’s swing?
I think there are two ways to look at Hogan’s swing.. there are the basic principles… and then there is his swing itself..
Hogans basic principles are minimal plane shifting, or flat downswing plane, late release, active acceleration, thin divots, consistent ball position, no roll hinging, pivot driven rotation, firm grip, active hands, perfect balance aided by a wider than normal stance, firm body tension.
Now you could apply most of all of those characteristics and have a swing that looks quite different than Hogan’s. I can think of a lot of players that would be applying most of those characteristics..
The backswing and the finish swivel allow for a lot of personal style in the golf swing.. history shows us this.. but we see very similar action through impact especially when we look at the greats..
Lag Pressure throwaway is the root of all golf’s evils
