Tales From The Bunker

During our recent blogs on the three best golf instruction gooks ever, Ben Hogan’s Five lessons The Modern Fundamentals of Golf came in at number 2.

This was actually Ben’s second book. Published in 1948,  Power Golf was written by Ben himself.  Five Lessons was written with the help of a ghost writer (Herbert Warren Wind). The difference shows as Ben is not the greatest golf writer.

Power Golf has always received mixed reviews.  Some people hate the book and find it utter useless while others believe it is almost as important a book as Five Lessons. Obviously part of the problem is that any book pales in comparison with Five Lessons.  That does not mean that Power Golf is not an important book.

 First and foremost any book written by Ben Hogan deserves a spot in your golf library. But Power golf earns it spot on its own. In my opinion it is a comprehensive golf instruction book which includes such basics as:

• The evolution of the Hogan grip
• Club selection
• A balanced stance
• The full swing
• Turning on the power
• Plus many more basics

The last few pages of the book are the most valuable as Ben talks about course management, and tricks to saving shots when you are playing in all types of conditions.

Reading about the mindset of a great champion and the stories of golfers in his era, was quite fascinating, and I thoroughly enjoyed the historical perspective.

Some critics believe that it is an outdated book and you are better off with a newer book or with Five Lessons.  There is some validity to the criticism but any book written by Ben Hogan contains invaluable insights into the golf swing and to golf itself. To dismiss this book is a mistake and an opportunity lost to learn from the great Ben Hogan.

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In our last blog we were discussing Sam Byrd and hinted at his connection to Jimmy Ballard, Ben Hogan and Babe Ruth. If you missed our last blog you should read it first before continuing with this current one.

NOW THE GOOD STUFF

Byrd owned and operated a par-three course and driving range in Birmingham, Alabama, and hired Jimmy Ballard, then seventeen and a state amateur junior champ, as his teaching assistant.

Byrd, Ballard says, was Babe Ruth’s roommate on the road, “and it was Ruth who taught Sam the trick of holding a handkerchief beneath his left arm in order to keep his left arm ‘connected’ to his body throughout the swing.”  Let’s understand that statement!  Every golf teacher emphasizes the relationship between the arms and the body and uses the handkerchief drill as a training aide to correctly maintain the relationship. The drill and the connection theory were taught to Sam by  Babe Ruth who used it in his powerful swing. Amazing!!

Byrd also became convinced that a good golfer, like a slugger, “braced” with his right leg on the backswing, moved the head slightly to the right as the body naturally “coiled,” and obtained power by “firing” the right side of the body at the target. “One swing was on a level plane, the other on a tilted plane,” says Ballard, relating Byrd’s gospel. “Other than that, they were totally identical.”

It was Byrd who first told Ben Hogan about the handkerchief and a proper coil, ideas that clearly had a major impact on Hogan’s thinking about the swing. Before Byrd, Hogan had suffered from a chronic duck hook, which nearly caused him to abandon the professional game and resign himself to being a club pro. Instead, armed with Byrd’s ideas about connection and his own dogged persistence, Hogan went on to become the finest shot maker in the game and author of (almost) the best swing-instruction book ever: Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.

Hogan’s book is simply the predecessor of Jimmy Ballard’s classic How to Perfect Your Golf Swing Using Connection and the Seven Common Denominators published in 1981 now out of print.

Now that we know about Sam Byrd and the amazing man he was, it is a shame he has not gotten more credit for his contributions to the game of golf. Every player owes a debt to Sam (and the Babe) for bringing the connection theory to the game of golf.

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As stated in our last blog, we have decided to name what we believe are the three best golf instruction books ever written. In our last blog we named Jack Nicklaus’s Golf My Way as the third best golf book ever written. Today we reveal the number two book on our list ……  Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.

Blasphemy the crowd shouts. It is virtually unanimous that Five Lessons is the finest golf instruction manual ever written.

Written by one of golf’s greatest players and finest experts on the mechanics of the golf swing, this book, written in simple and succinct language, will improve everyone’s game. Hogan doesn’t just tell you what to do, he explains why. He shows how to make a basic repeatable swing that can be used with every club. This makes the game so simple.

Actually a series of 5 magazine articles, Hogan decided not to release them weekly but rather over a greater period of time so his readers could fully comprehend each article before going on to the next one.

I have read this book again and again and, while I understand what it says, for some reason I did not really understand the golf swing until I read my number one book. The fault probably lies with me and not with the book.

Every golfer should own this book and study it until it falls apart. You can’t go wrong when his name is Hogan.

 As always do not forget to check out our TheEscapePlace stores on eBay, Amazon and Bonanza.
They will help your golf game and more!

Remember to keep  ‘em in the fairway.

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