Ben Hogan & now Tiger Woods Power and Accuracy Secret for Your Golf Swing

I recently started golfing again after a year off to heal my back. I won’t be playing the Senior Tour, but it’s nice to play relatively pain free, so it was worth it.

Problem is: I lost what power I had. I’ve been using both Golf Swing Control and Bio-Visual Focus during my rounds and although I was hitting the ball well, I lost some power that I had. I must have been doing something in my golf swing that I didn’t realize, so I spent some time and found it.

As you probably know, I have a bad back, so stretching like Gumby to create long drives just ain’t gonna happen for me. If you know about Golf Swing Control, the X-Factor that GSC creates happens during the downswing where you can’t over-torque the body to the point of injury.

So where did I find my power and added accuracy? I found it in my left knee. (I’m right handed) Allow me to explain.

During my backswing, I coil my power into the big muscles of my right leg, the left hip turns in and the left knee moves toward the right knee to allow for my hip and body turn. When I lost my power, I did everything but allow the left knee to move to the right. It doesn’t seem like much, but the transition was next to impossible because I couldn’t post on my left hip.

I was watching some old Hogan films and saw how much he allowed that left knee to move in, and I realized by doing it, that the left knee is important to allow the transition to post up on the left hip.

What I do is to allow the left knee to turn in during the backswing until the left foot rolls slightly in and I feel a little weight on the inside edge of that foot. Then during transition, I try to keep the weight on the inside edge of the left foot, specifically the ball of the left foot, once the transition starts on through the downswing. The foot flattens out at some point, but the move allows me to build more power without sliding left and the knee helps me to feel the weight building under the left foot during the transition and downswing.

Here’s a link to a video of Ben Hogan doing exactly this in his golf swing.

Ben Hogan golf swing slow motion.

Watch how Ben starts the downswing by backing just his backside over that left knee as it is still bent in. You can only go so far and then the downswing starts. Most important is that once you have “backed” over that bent left knee, it will stay in place and keep you behind the ball as you finish the golf swing.

Now Tiger is using the same swing as taught by Sean Foley: Tiger’s new swing

If done right, the right foot stays down until impact, and there is no slide, both of which add accuracy. The average distance gain for me was about 50 yards, which gives you an idea of how pathetic my driving was when I first started golfing again.

At any rate, I went from being out-driven on every hole to out-driving even some of the best hitters I was playing with, so It was a significant difference. It’s also much better making an approach with an 8-iron than a 3 or 4-iron.

Looks like it’s helping Tiger’s distance too.

Give it a shot and leave a comment on what you discover for your own swing.

Tracy

Tags: backswing, ben hogan golf swing, downswing, driver, driving accuracy, driving power, golf swing, Tiger Woods new golf swing