To this day, tour and teaching pros, ordinary players, and commentators continue to search for the secrets of the Ben Hogan golf swing.
And that’s not surprising. As the winner of nine Majors and one of only five men to have completed the career Grand Slam, Hogan is undoubtedly one of the greatest golfers ever.
Want to feel this in YOUR swing? Try a free AI-powered golf lesson → — GOATY gives you real-time voice coaching, pose tracking, and instant feedback on every rep.
But his reputation within the game rests not so much on his impressive haul of trophies as on his legendary ball striking. Putting problems prevented him from winning even more tournaments, but from tee to green he has had few if any equals.
He also wrote bestselling instructional books that were way ahead of their time and made a major contribution to the theory of the golf swing.
The Ben Hogan Golf Swing Guide
So, what did Ben Hogan regard as the key elements of a sound golf swing?
Countless hours on the practice range convinced him that success boiled down to just a few closely related fundamentals – grip, stance and posture, backswing, and downswing.
Apart from the very first movement back to the ball – a turn of the lead hip – Hogan believed that a good downswing happened too quickly to be consciously controlled and depended largely on a sound backswing.
A good backswing depended in a similar way on a correct stance and posture. But no amount of work on perfecting any of these elements could compensate for a poor grip.
How to Imitate the Ben Hogan Golf Swing Technique
Assuming a sound grip, stance, and posture, the number one key that Hogan insisted on was to think of the swing as a rotation of the body, led by the hips, with minimal conscious involvement of the hands and arms. Modern tools like an AI swing analyzer make it possible to see exactly how well you're executing this body-led rotation in your own swing.
And he gave a marvelous demonstration of a simple drill to help develop such a swing on Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AmPuzgBXEM
The Ben Hogan Golf Swing - Elbows
Starting with his elbows tucked into the sides of his waist he begins slowly turning his hips and body to set the club in motion and give the feel of the rotation with arms attached to the body firmly but without tension.
Gradually he lengthens the movement until, with upper arms against his chest and elbows pushed towards each other, he reaches full speed. Swinging back and forth without a pause and without a ball he is rewarded by a very audible “whoosh” as the club releases with the enormous power generated by proper lag.
“It’s simple,” he says, “anyone can do that”.
Perhaps he’s teasing us a little as he recalls the long years of work that it took him to make the game look so easy.
But there’s no doubt that the regular practice of this drill and the many others based on the Ben Hogan golf swing will work wonders for the quality of your ball striking. If you want to ingrain these patterns through structured repetition, the GOAT Drill system is designed to build exactly these body-rotation fundamentals.
FAQs
Did Ben Hogan have the best swing?
Ben Hogan had the best golf swing for HIM. His set up for alignment and posture are great aspects to emulate but you need to find the best golf swing for you and the Rotary Swing is a method to learn.
How do you swing a golf club like Ben Hogan?
Ben Hogan’s book has claimed to have created “a Nation of Slicers” and isn’t a great swing to emulate.
Who has the most technically perfect golf swing?
The most technically perfect swing is the swing that works for you. Check out the RotarySwing as a great start for a swing concept that can work for you.
Did Ben Hogan have a single plane swing?
Yes, but that probably is not the best fit for you. The RotarySwing is a simple golf swing anyone can learn.
Ben Hogan has long been marveled for his athletic and pure golf swing. His ball striking was unparalleled during his prime, and his swing was poetry in motion. He had many admirers of his swing, but few were able to capture the athleticism and grace that defined his move to replicate it at a professional level. There are a great number of things to be learned from Mr. Hogan's swing that I find both interesting and misunderstood and will take the time to point them out in the following synopsis. As a point of reference, I use a swing of an elite player from 2002.
Address
Fellow golfers who played with Ben often said his swing looked halfway done right from the setup position. His setup and address position looked so solid that it just looked like he could never miss a shot. Below is a picture of Ben at address with a wood. Some interesting things of note in his setup: First, his lead arm angled back away from the target at address rather than the classical more vertical position taught today. Interestingly, his position at address shares a lot in common with the elite players of that era. What I like the most about Hogan's lead arm position here is that it is more into his lead side. What I mean by that is that Ben's connection between his lead arm and lead pectoral muscle is very snug because he rotates his upper torso “into” his lead arm at address, setting his shoulders open at address compared to his feet. This creates a very secure connection with the lead arm and, thus, the club. The rotation of the body causes it to appear that his spine is tilted away from the target and that his shoulders are steeper than they really are at address because of the fact he is more open at address.
Hogan's trail arm is something that has been discussed many times as well, but if you understand how his lead arm was more into and across his chest, then you understand how this position simply pushes his trail arm more away from his body, and the target, at address. Most golfers are the opposite, reaching more across their body with their trail arm while their lead arm is less connected. You can see that Hogan's trail arm is hanging pretty loosely here, very relaxed.
If you look at Hogan's lead knee, it appears to be pointed more toward the target when compared to elite players of the modern era, whose lead knee tends to point more toward the ball. This is also due to the way Hogan set his body into his lead arm, opening his hips at address as well, which rotated his leg toward the target.
If you look at the yellow line drawn above, you can also see how Hogan leaned the shaft slightly toward the target at address, even though his hand position was more in the center of his body. You will often see golfers of the modern era with their hands at address more into their lead thigh. This position makes it easier to work the arms out away from the body during the backswing, creating more swing width and keeping the club and arms more in front of the body.
Backswing
As Ben took the club back, he had a fair amount of width in the backswing, contrary to a popular belief. You can clearly see here that his trail arm has hardly begun to bend as the club reaches parallel to the ground, and his hands are a good distance away from his trail hip. What can't be clearly seen from the face-on view is that the club has moved much more to the inside than elite players typically demonstrate. Ben had begun to swing the club more around his body from early in the takeaway.
Hogan has done little more than rotate around his spine at this point, with zero lateral movement of his head or hips. His hips have begun to rotate more than many elite comparisons, but they haven't shifted in any way because Hogan's trail leg was like a post. He spoke about this in his book, “Five Lessons”, and considered it a serious mistake to let the trail leg shift away from the target during the backswing, demonstrating he favored hip rotation over lateral motion.
Second Half of the Backswing
While Hogan's arms were very quiet during the takeaway, the second half of his backswing tells a different story. Once the club reached parallel, Hogan's trail arm began to fold and work back behind him dramatically as can be seen in the sequence below. Everything else in Hogan's swing has remained very quiet to this point. His hips have moved very little, and his head has also moved very little. He's done little more than turn his upper torso and begun to swing his trail arm behind him while folding at the elbow.
When compared with elite players who set the club later in the backswing in an effort to create as wide an arc as possible, Hogan was quite the opposite. Once his takeaway was complete, his swing arc became very narrow and more around his body with a fair amount of wrist set by the time his lead arm was parallel to the ground. Elite modern players often use a later wrist set to achieve a wider arc for more power in their swing.
Head Movement
Ben Hogan's head remained very still throughout the golf swing, but it is a myth that it didn't shift laterally at all. As you can see in the photo below, Hogan's head did in fact shift off the ball from his address position, as can be seen by the red line in the photo that represents where his head was at address. Hogan's nose was actually almost over his trail foot during the backswing, far from being in the center of his stance, as many people believe.
Transition
The screen shot below is taken at the first possible frame where there begins to be the slightest hint of the transition back to the lead side. Interestingly, this happens with the club in similar positions at the top of the swing, just short of parallel, for both Hogan and elite comparisons. Hogan's trail leg has been a pillar, never moving off the target more than a half inch. The interesting thing from here is that the club in elite comparisons is about to start going the other way while Hogan's will travel back quite a bit farther to complete his much longer backswing. Hogan's club will dip well past parallel. This is where you will start to see how Hogan's hands were more involved in his swing. His lead arm will not move much farther, but his wrist cock will increase significantly to finish the backswing.
Top of Swing
At the top of the swing, Hogan has made a very strong move into his lead side and will continue this move into his downswing — it will NOT stop during the transition. In fact, this move to the lead side will continue very late into his downswing as you will see later. Hogan has made a nice, full shoulder turn, but nowhere near that of elite players who finish their swing with a more extended arm arc rather than increased wrist cock. Elite modern players demonstrate a later wrist set to achieve a wider arc, yet keep their arms more in front of the body and the club from going past parallel, demonstrating excellent control of the club. Another interesting note that is often commented on is the amount of lag that Hogan maintained late into his downswing. If you look at the wrist angle at the top of his swing when compared to elite Tour professionals, it becomes obvious where part of this lag stems from. The angle created by his shaft and lead arm is dramatically sharper than that of elite players and will actually increase during the downswing. It will appear to increase more than it actually does because of the fact that he flattens the shaft on the way down to get the club right back on the exact plane he swung the club back on during the backswing.
Downswing
As we move into the downswing, you can see some striking things about Hogan's mechanics. He has increased his wrist cock due to his dynamic transition, flattening of the shaft, and tension-free hands. The clubhead is still completely on the trail side of his body by almost a foot when his lead arm reaches parallel to the ground. Hogan has begun to make an aggressive move into his lead side, and the yellow lines represent his lead hip at the top of the swing — you can see that he has moved past it early in the downswing.
Also noteworthy is the position of Hogan's trail elbow. It is clearly beneath his lead arm and close to his body, which is a hallmark of his compressed, body-driven delivery. This elbow position allows the body to dominate the motion and the club path to stay on plane through the hitting zone.
In the photo below, you see a position that is coveted by so many golfers, but is not something that should be attempted to achieve in most golf swings. Hogan has achieved so much lag in his downswing through the dynamics of his swing that he will have to wait on the club to come through impact and aggressively rotate his lead forearm through impact to square the clubface because, at this point, it's wide open with a cupped lead wrist. The only way to physically achieve this much lag is to have a cupping in your lead wrist because if it is flat or bowed, it simply cannot be cocked this much; the wrist joint won't allow it. Hogan will go from a severely cupped lead wrist late in the downswing to a severely bowed lead wrist at impact in just a matter of milliseconds. It takes phenomenal hands to time this consistently. Also note that Hogan has continued to move past the yellow line at this stage in the downswing — in other words, his hips have continued to slide toward the target very late into the downswing.
Nearing Impact
Amazing how similar elite positions become at this point in the swing after all the variations earlier. Hogan's massively powerful hip drive has bowed his lead leg dramatically, actually getting his lead knee out past his lead foot. His spine has tilted back here as he prepares to deliver the blow, but it appears to be more than it really is because the rotation creates this illusion. At this point in the swing, Hogan has significant lag and is rotating very aggressively. His lateral movement has ceased and he is posting hard into the lead side.
Impact
A master at work here — pure poetry in motion. What sets Hogan apart at impact is that he has kept his trail elbow back and his arms closer to his body at the moment of contact. You can see that his trail arm is still bent at impact, a product of his body outrunning his arms through the zone. He has made a dramatic move into his lead side and is rotating his body at great speed. Hogan has moved so hard into his lead side and is rotating so hard that his trail heel is well off the ground. He has kept his head well behind the ball at impact, creating the obvious reverse “C” or “K” position that is apparent in elite ball strikers who use their hips as a significant source of power because the lower body is much more open and ahead of the upper body. Using an AI swing analyzer can help you identify whether your own impact position reflects this powerful lower-body lead.
Follow Through
At this position in the follow through, you can see how much more open Ben's body is to the target. Where elite players fling their arms and hands through impact with authority, Hogan has rotated his body much more to the lead side. Even accounting for the tremendously fast hips seen in elite swings, Ben is much more open, his hips and chest completely facing the target. Hogan used his whole body as a source of power, especially his hips, and that can clearly be seen here.
In this second picture of the follow through, you can see that Hogan's body has continued to rotate to the lead side while elite players' arms have continued to release more. The angle between the club and the trail forearm of Hogan is also less severe. This is because he kept the club from releasing to avoid hitting it left. Golfers who release the club — or the toe of the club more specifically — aggressively through impact tend to hit some nasty hooks on occasion when the timing of this release is off. Hogan learned that by keeping this release from happening he could mitigate his tendency to hook. Also note how flat Hogan's shoulders are in comparison. His shoulder turn through impact is a testament to just how body-dominated his entire motion was.
Finish
A beautiful finish position in marvelous balance. In elite comparisons, an aggressive release of the arms produces a lead arm much further behind, and the club is much more released as mentioned earlier. Hogan's finish is much shorter because he didn't release the clubhead in the same way — his body rotation did the work.
Conclusion
There are so many amazing things in Ben Hogan's golf swing that make it a joy to watch. He produced fantastic results and his swing had many similarities to — and differences from — elite players of every era. Of important note is that Hogan essentially built his swing around avoiding a hook. He despised the shot and did everything he could to virtually eliminate the lead side of the golf course. Unfortunately, a great number of amateurs never see the lead side of the golf course because their misses tend to be the other direction, and copying Hogan would really only exacerbate that problem for the majority of amateurs.
I think it is important to dispel some myths about Hogan's swing that can be clearly seen from the video. First, Hogan was very handsy in his swing. His incredible late lag required that he wait on the clubhead and that he square the clubhead through impact with his hands because the club face was very open coming down. He did this through his famous “supination” of his lead wrist and forearm, rolling them over at the last instant to get the clubface square. Because he had a great sense of the clubhead through beating more balls than most any other professional in history, he learned to control this over a great period of time. Vijay Singh is another golfer who dramatically rolls his lead forearm through impact in order to square the clubface and he too hits a ton of golf balls in order to keep his timing in check. They also both hit fades as their predominant shot because it is much easier to control and time the release of a slightly open face rather than trying to return it perfectly to square or rotate it slightly closed to hit a draw when the club is travelling at such great speed.
Second, Hogan had a very large lateral move through the ball that continued late into his downswing, contrary to some people's belief. It did NOT stop during the transition. Hogan's lead arm was at least parallel to the ground in the downswing before he stopped moving into his lead side, if not even later. His drive both laterally and around was so strong it bowed his lead leg toward the target. This is a very clear sign that Hogan used his tremendous lower body movement to generate a great deal of power in his golf swing. If you want to develop this same powerful lead-side drive in a structured way, the GOAT Drill system builds the pressure loading and hip-clearing patterns that underpin this kind of elite ball striking.
Third, Hogan's trail elbow. There has been a lot of discussion about this throughout the years. No doubt, Hogan's elbow stayed behind his trail hip until very late in the swing, but keep in mind, Hogan was striving to hit a fade, and as you can see from his follow through, held off the finish to keep the toe of the club from turning over aggressively. I agree that keeping the trail elbow back is a fine way to strike the ball because keeping the arms in close to the body allows the body to not only dominate the swing and control the arms, but rotate faster as well. Part of the reason that Hogan kept his trail elbow back so far was because he was, in essence, out-running his arms and club to the finish with his body by sliding and aggressively turning. The faster the body moves and the more passive the arms, the easier it is to keep the arms back, but the dramatic lateral movement helps this move happen to a large degree. If you stand in one place, staying completely centered, and just rotate as fast as you can with passive arms, it is much more difficult to keep the trail arm back through impact. However, if you couple this with a large lateral move, it is much easier to keep the elbow back until later in the swing. You can see a lot of both on Tour these days, but the prevailing fact for most is those who keep their trail elbow up and back tend to miss trail-side, and the opposite is true for those who release the arms through impact. To make a long story short, I prefer that the golfer not try and keep the trail elbow back; rather, they should focus on their body rotation with passive arms, and the elbow will naturally stay back the right amount for their golf swing, as the arms will release naturally at the right time.
Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
