The New Ben Hogan Equipment Company

This posting includes one of several special treats I received from the Ben Hogan Equipment Company.  The fantastic group of professional equipment people at Terry Koehler's company have come together to produce the new 2015 Ben Hogan Irons.  The video provides some insight into the company and the clubs themselves.

You can get the new Hogan irons from Juan Gomez of Prestige Golf at the Mel Reese Golf Course in Miami.  He has a terrific reputation in the club fitting business and works with professional golfers from just about all the professional tours.  You can demo the clubs there and have them customized and fit at his shop.

Enjoy!

Ben Hogan Fundamentals to Help the Next 10 Ryder Cup Teams from USA

This new post includes rare 8mm film footage of Ben Hogan hitting a driver.  The film was shot at the Augusta National Golf Club, site of the Masters Tournament.  Mr. Hogan's swing is spot lighted from the hips down to show is core and legwork, a key fundamental action of his unique golf swing that garners praise for the past 70 years and will on into the future.  Only the finest players on the PGA Tour and other professional tours from around the world have shown a semblance of capturing this exquisite move.  It encompasses a studied setup position, a one piece takeaway, a loading of the right leg and hip, an extended lateral move, and a pulling through the downswing with the legs/hips/core/ to the end of the downswing.  It results in Hogan's classic whip action seen in his swing, especially in the late 1940's when he was a bit younger and did not have extensive body damage as a result of the accident.  The snapping action of his hips is followed all the way through to the end of his swing.  It ensures acceleration of the clubhead well past the ball and hitting area.  Mr. Hogan won 5 US Opens with this swing and its earlier versions.  He completed the Hogan Slam in 1953.

Study this video closely if you will.  It will help your understanding of what Hogan did.  If you are a younger player it will do you great benefits and who knows, maybe a spot on one of the next Ryder Cup Teams.  A good reference is the analysis by Jim McLean in 'The Complete Hogan, A Shot by Shot Analysis of Golf's Greatest Swing."  McLean does a good job explaining the swing action and the 'feel' of the action.  Mr. Hogan talks about this move in 'The Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf' as well.  In my teaching, I work with my students to capture this movement as best they can to improve their golf swings and shot making.

Ben Hogan Swing Revealed CD Software

I had posted this demo film clip to Facebook awhile back and it was well received.  It shows some of the features of the software CD showing different views for four swings by Ben Hogan showcasing his fundamentals.  The time frame includes 1948 as well as 1967.  The swings are a bit different as a result of the accident and aging but the grace and power of his fundamentally correct swing are all there.  The user can view each in a frame by frame mode with reverse ability, continuous loop on a selection, and a slow motion mode.  Otherwise, it automatically cycles through the sections after showing a repetition of five for each swing.  It is available on Amazon and titled 'The Swing Interactive Software - Ben Hogan (CD-ROM)' at a sale price of $6.95.  It installs easily in a couple of minutes on all Windows based computers (not Apple iOS) systems.

I turn this on and watch it regularly and I'll bet you will too.  Have fun with it!

A Secret to Ben Hogan's golf club head acceleration

An image from 'The Complete Hogan' page 94.  At impact his right arm was still bent and does not fully straighten until the club head is about 2 feet past the original ball position.  The club head was continuing to accelerate THROUGH impact and past that point.  Jim McLean points out that initially Ken Venturi identified this action as 'the long right arm' on Hogan's downswing.  Hogan clearly addresses this action in his book, 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf'.  PGA Tour professionals including Tiger Woods strive to achieve this secret move on their downswing.  If they show some video clips of Hogan during this year's US Open at Merion CC on the Golf Channel you will get to see what this looks like on TV.

The Ben Hogan Setup Tip

One of Ben Hogan's setup positions was the cupping of the left wrist at address while keeping the right wrist flat.  This helped to prevent a hook.  The picture above is from 'The Complete Hogan' on page 63.  Jim McLean provides a good description in this section of the book regarding the other setup keys Hogan used in his pre-accident swing.  You can see the lean of the grip part of the club shaft away from the target as he begins the backswing in the series of photos in the book.  This action is part of the big muscle swing Mr. Hogan described in his Five Lessons book and in Power Golf.

Swing Tips from the Ben Hogan Collection

Moving forward in addition to news and information about the Ben Hogan Legacy and current events we will be bringing you a variety of swing tips and related images from our analysis of Ben Hogan's golf swing.  Since these are generally true fundamentals of a good swing we will be referencing Mr. Hogan's books such as 'Power Golf' and 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf' as well as 'The Complete Hogan'.  We will also try to include photo images and video images that support the swing tip and fundamentals discussed.

A great resource of videos for those interested in maintaining their own study materials is 'The Ben Hogan Collection' DVD set that we produced and released in 2006.  Along with Jim McLean we completed the new book 'The Complete Hogan' in 2012 that gives a good description of Mr. Hogan's swing from the period before the 1949 accident and after he found his 'secret' that led to his domination of the professional tour in the late 1940's and his crowning achievements in the 1950's.

This effort is for everyone that is working on improving their golf swing and who wants to play better golf.  So, here is a quote from Ben Hogan's Five Lessons:

'The correct hitting motion is one unbroken thrust from the beginning of the downswing to the end of the follow through.'

New Ben Hogan Accessories Available Now

New Ben Hogan Accessories

The new caps from the Ben Hogan Company (Perry Ellis) are finally out in the market.  Many of the styles are available at your local Walmart in the men's performance apparel section.  The styles are new and there are some new wrinkles in the modern fabrics used that are performance tech based.  If you can't get them at your local store contact me directly at mcctee@aol.com.

There are more accessories in the design stage.  I spoke with the marketing and design teams recently and the excitement level is quite high and the items are going to represent the Hogan legacy very nicely.  I will post photos as soon as I can release them.  

If you notice on two of the hats they used the iconic Merion photo as the model for the logo on the cap.  Very innovative of the design team.  

As you may have already noticed Mark Leishman on the PGA Tour has been sporting the apparel line.  The shirts are the Ben Hogan Performance Collection line.  

Ben Hogan's Legacy shines brightly in 2011.

The city of Fort Worth is beaming this December with the announcement that their municipal golf course complex is the site of their successful First Tee Program and the location for the Grand Opening of the Ben Hogan Learning Center.  Several press releases over the past few weeks point to a December 10 opening date and a funders dinner on December 8.  It should be quite a gala on both dates.  You can access more information about it from the Ben Hogan Foundation website at www.BenHoganFoundation.org.  

New Book!  We have been diligently working on some projects that will complement Mr. Hogan's Legacy.  The first is the publishing of the new instructional book The Complete Hogan (Wiley and Sons) in January 2012.  Author and renouned golf instructor Jim McLean presents a complete description of Mr. Hogan's excellent golf swing from the golden years of 1946-49 prior to the catastrophic accident.  Its a terrific accounting and visual demonstration of his swing from multiple views.  There is a view for the 'lefty' golfer as well.  I am excited that we are bringing this out for everyone to enjoy and learn from. Also included are numerous interesting stories that Jim has picked up over the years from taling to Mr. Hogan's friends and fellow competitors. 

New Ben Hogan golf swing on YouTube posted

I just posted a video clip from the 'Ben Hogan Collection' archives to YouTube. Mr. Hogan is practicing in front a group of admirers prior to a tournament. The view is from behind Mr. Hogan and he is using his driver. A great viewpoint for golf professionsl on the PGA Tour (e.g., Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, etc.) and amateur golfers to learn from. Mr. Hogan almost always hit the fairways and greens even in the demanding course setups of the US Open he won.

Here is the YouTube link:

Ben Hogan Foundation Charity White Hot Gala

The charity gala was a huge success for the Ben Hogan Foundation and the Henry House charities. The Foundation is building a Ben Hogan Learning Center in Fort Worth, similar in concept to the Tiger Woods Learning Center in California. It will be located at the local municipal golf complex that already serves approximately 10,000 kids in their First Tee Program. The Foundation also supports the First Tee Program.

We were one of the Gold Sponsors for the event. They ran a slide show of the sponsors in photo #1. Next is one of the floral arrangements using original Ben Hogan golf clubs from the 60's as part of the display. Next is one of the ice sculptures that served as a table. David Feherty was there with his wit and stories about Tiger Woods and one of our severely injured service men who was a star at a recent Tour event when he met Tiger. The two paintings are on 6 foot canvases. They were painted on the spot as the artist spun them around on their mountings to creat likenesses of Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan. A shot of the crowd pouring over the silent auction items and finally the Proprietor of JanKris Winery from California who launched Ben Hogan Label wine selections, Merlot, Chardonet, and a Cabernet. All very good and well spoken of in wine circles. My choice was the Merlot!

Golf Swing Fundamentals for Tiger Woods: See Ben Hogan

I am really stumped. For the life of me I cannot see why our golf announcers/writers/teaching professionals simple defy common sense about golf swing fundamentals as demonstrated by Ben Hogan. Too often I hear or read that Hogan was the best ball striker ever. Ask Butch Harmon. Ask Gary Player. Ask Jim McLean. Ask Tiger Woods.

Then, in the same sentence/breath I hear or read that a golfer cannot copy his swing; his grip and his 'secret' would only work for him and would only 'confuse' a golfer and/or simply create a really big slice. The fact is that Hogan went from a very strong grip in the evolution of his swing to a more neutral grip and finally into a weak grip that he used to hit his power fade. A shot that went left to right only a few yards and started off on line.

It should be relatively easy. There is new technology in the instructional arena. There is a perfect model. There is video analysis. There is biomechanical analysis and instant feedback. There are excellent instructors that advertise that they teach the 'Hogan' swing. There are motivated students of the golf swing who are willing to put in long hours of practice and dig it out of the dirt for themselves. There is video. There are excellent instructional books from Ben Hogan himself, 'Power Golf' and 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf'. There are detailed photo swing sequences.

So, the question is where and who has an exact replica copy of Ben Hogan's golf swing? If you have it or see it, let me know!

Hogan Swing from 'The Ben Hogan Collection' on YouTube

I have seen many of the swing clips we used in 'The Ben Hogan Collection' set appear in YouTube.com over the past couple of years. We produced the dvd in order for all golfers to enjoy Mr. Hogan's swing. Here is a link to one of the postings that actually did some justice to our original and copyrighted production.

This posting does not condone the illegality of the postings on YouTube of copyrighted material.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNgMNK3CtWU

Check it out. It is a really good sequence of swings by the legendary Mr. Hogan.

Ben Hogan Golf Schools

I recently spoke with Charlie Ricks, the guiding force behind the new Ben Hogan Golf Schools. The concept is similar to the previous ESPN golf schools where there are various school types at cities around the country. These include a 3 hour introductory course to a several day school. The curriculum evolves around Ben Hogan's 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf' and should be a terrific way for golfers to get a practical instructional setting to learn and practice the fundamentals.

The website is www.BenHoganGolfSchools.com.

I hope to attend one when they are in Florida.

New Ben Hogan Collection Store Web Site

The internet is a great vehicle for information and shopping. Sometimes the glitches and complications in the system are troublesome.

We had to set up a new website store domaine name. The new internet address is:

www.BenHoganCollection.net.

In the long run this new site will be more cost effective along with our home website that does provide information about the 'Collection' The movement from one to another will be seamless. Right now simply try our new site if you want see what it looks like. We are adding items to this site on a regular basis. Currently, it has the 'The Ben Hogan Collection' 3 DVD set, the Swing Revealed Interactive Software CD, and the coffee table book 'Ben Hogan, The Man Behind the Mystique'. Soon, other books, memorabilia and photos, apparel and some equipment and swing improvement items will be added.

Ben Hogan Foundation charity on Ebay

I wanted to again provide notice that now the Ben Hogan Foundation, a not for profit organization, founded to keep Ben Hogan's legacy current in the world of golf, can receive direct donations on sales through Ebay listings.

Sellers have a choice to include a portion of their proceeds from a sale to automatically be sent to the foundation with a partial match from Ebay from their fees. Its an easy way to contribute but alternatively one can contribute to the Foundation by calling them or going to their website at http://www.benhoganfoundation.org/. There are contact numbers there and a direct donation link.

The Foundation is also accepting donations of Ben Hogan memorabilia that it can display or use to generate additional funds for its charitable work. The website also provides information on its charitable initiatives including the funding of the Ben Hogan Center in Fort Worth, Texas. This will operate in conjunction with the area's First Tee Program located at a local municipal golf course complex.

US Open

The supreme test of golf's finest players. Ben Hogan set the winning standards for the US Open, for golf fundamentals in his 'Five Lessons', for the winning work ethic, and pure determination, all of which are now emulated by today's top professional tour players (Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, and even Phil Mickelson).

The new www.USGA.org website and other sites one can watch and even participate in the great game this week. We are thrilled whenever golf's commentators talk about Ben Hogan and his contributions to the game. We filmed at Golf House for the 'Legacy' documentary production that is part of 'The Ben Hogan Collection' 3 DVD set. It is truly a inspiring compilation of Mr. Hogan's life history. An amazing exhibit at the time and now with the Arnold Palmer addition the site should be visited by all golfers as its very inspirational as well as informative.