HOGANPart 4

The 'Radial' Ball Position

I WAS BORN IN 1957, the same year that

Ben Hogan published his seminal instruc-

tional book 777e Modern Fundamentals of

Golf. For five decades, the work and teach-

ings of Hogan have loomed large wherever

golf is taught. What Hogan discovered in his

pursuit of perfection has left a precious lega-

cy to students of the game and golf teachers

everywhere.

Everything that Hogan achieved was

through hard work and perseverance, and we

are fortunate that he recorded his findings so

carefully and thoroughly. If you haven't yet read

Hogan's masterpiece I strongly urge you to do so. Serious students of the swing

will find his writing fascinating and stimulating, and his technical analysis of the

fundamentals that govern a biomechanically correct golf swing is as relevant

today as it has ever been. In fact, it will help you - the reader - to have a copy of

The Modem Fundamentals of Golf at hand for reference as you study this, the

fourth in a series of five articles for Golf International, in which I explore and re-

visit the teachings of Ben Hogan.

My goals are as follows:1. To ensure that the significance of Ben Hogan's writing on the

Fundamentals of the game is not'lost'in the modern era-with

specific reference (part i of this series) to the importance of the

Overlapping or 'Vardon' grip

2. To respectfully correct and clarify minor details of Hogan's

teaching on the 'Swing Plane' (part 2) and 'Plane Shift'

(part 3), and to re-affirm their validity and relevance. [Note: Despite

tiny inaccuracies, Hogan's explanations still serve us better than

most of today's muddled doctrines.]

3. To recover Fundamentals that have been 'lost' by being

misconstrued or distorted through the passage of time - such as

those concerning the Ball Position (this issue).

4. To reveal 'Lost' Fundamentals that I believe Hogan used

instinctively without realising their significance - i.e. Shaft Alignment.

5. To name, or re-name according to their function, certain principles

that I believe are key to a correct golf swing - such as the 'Parallel

Left Thumb' the 'Optimum Biomechanical Swing Plane', 'Shaft Alignment'

and the 'Radial Ball Position'

84 Nov/Dec 2006 www.golfinternationalmag.com

By Luther BlacklockHEAD PROFESSIONAL, WOBURN GOLF CLUB

Photography by David Cannon/gettyimages.com

On Page 125 of Ben Hogan's book The Modern Fundamentals of Golf (and.

as ever through this series of articles it will help you to have a copy to hand)

is a very simple graphic by Anthony Ravielli. This little drawing is, to me, the

second most important picture in the whole book (the 'Pane of Glass' image

on Page 78 being the first). To my mind it is puzzling that this illustration

should appear so late in the book, some three pages from the end, in the

"Summary and Review" section. The picture - which we have recreated

here using as reference simply the Driver, 6-iron and Wedge (right) - gives

us 6 principles that relate to the Set-Up and the Golf Swing itself:

1. Alignment of Body

2. Alignment of Shaft (more of that next issue)

3. Distance from Ball

4. Swing Path

5. Swing Plane

6. Ball Position

As I have stated previously, 90% of all Swing Faults can be traced to a faulty

Address Position (and the other 10% originate at Address as well!). Of the

six areas listed above, I believe that understanding the Ball Position fully

and properly will lead to the most effective application of the remaining five.

If we get the Ball Position right at the outset, everything else will fall into

place.

Two Schools of Thought(one University of Confusion...)The Modem Fundamentals of Golf was first published in 1957 nearly 50

years ago. For thirty-three of those years I have been teaching golfers of all

levels. During all of that time there have been two schools of thought in the

golfing fraternity regarding ball position. One was called the 'Constant Ball

Position' whilst the other was named the 'Progressive Ball Position'

The Constant Ball Position placed the ball just inside the golfer's left heel

for all clubs, the idea being that that the position of the right foot would be

adjusted to create the ideal width of stance for the club being played (i.e.

ENS' 'LOST' FUNDAMENTALS OF HOGAN

Medium Irons

Simplify your ball position - follow Hogan'sexample (correctly!) and you will find thatyou achieve the ball position that suits thetype of shot you are intending to play withthe club you are using.

the widest and fullest stance for a driver, narrowing

progressively as the player worked down through to

the shorter irons, the narrowest stance, quite natu-

rally, being reserved for the Wedge.

(Note: This method still has a hint of'progressive

ball position' about it, for whilst the left foot does

not move the narrowing of the stance creates a 'cen-

tral' ball position for the Wedge.)

The 'Progressive Ball Position, meanwhile, sets

the ball opposite the Left Heel for the Driver, left

centre of the stance for the 6 iron and dead centre

for the Wedge (with progressive increments taking

care of all clubs in between). In other words, by

placing the ball opposite the Left Heel for the Driver,

the ball position moved progressively nearer to cen-

tre as the club became shorter.

As with the 'constant' ball position, the width of

the stance is widest with the Driver and narrowest

with the Sand Iron.

Both of these schools of thought on what is one

of the key fundamentals in golf contain some truth.

So, for nearly fifty years they have become blurred

in the way of communication and confused in their

application.

www.golfiiiternationalmag.com Nov/Dec 2006 85

Hogan's Ball Position: Visually "Constant", in practice "Progressive"

If you were ever lucky enough to

observe Ben Hogan face on (i.e. at

90 degrees to the target line) as he

went through his bag hitting full

shots, you could be excused for

believing that Hogan utilised a

'Constant' ball position (just inside

his left heel) for all his full shots. But

the fact of the matter is that Hogan

did not stand square to the ball-to-

target line on all shots; he varied his

alignment according to the nature of

the shot he was preparing to hit (as I

have recreated above).

Thus, he was "shut" with his Driver

(i.e. his feet were aligned to the right

of the target line), he stood "square"

with his 6 iron (the middle club in the

set) and "open" with his wedge - and

it is vital to understand these subtle

adjustments in order to appreciate

the fundamental principle of the ball

position.

The ball position that matters most is

the one that relates to a golfer's swing-

path and swing-plane, NOT the ball posi-

tion in relation to the "ball-to-target line.

DRIVERAs I have mentioned, Hogan

assumed a 'shut' (or 'closed) stance

with his Driver, the idea being that

this alignment of the feet and lower

body enabled him more easily

(automatically) to swing from 'in-to-

out', and thus fire the ball down the

right-hand side of the fairway with

draw-spin.

This is the ideal way of hitting a

long, controlled drive. If we were to

draw a line across Hogan's toes, we

would see that the ball position is

actually opposite his left instep.

You will note in this photograph

(above) that the shaft, like Hogan's, is

a touch behind the ball when talking

about his intended swingpath.

MID-IRONUsing a 6 iron (the mid-point in a full set

of clubs), Hogan adopted a square

stance, i.e. parallel to the ball-to-target.

So, in this case the ball position is

left-centre, both visually and physical-

ly! The rod across my toes is "square";

the row of balls is clearly at 90

degrees to the ball-to-target line.

There are 13 balls in the row you

see above (equating to the 13 clubs

in a full set) so I am addressing the

ball that is in the middle of the row;

the shorter shaft means that I am

now much closer to the ball. (Note:

See how the butt of the club is now

aligned ewer the row of balls, not

behind them as with the Driver.)

WEDGEMoving down to the shortest of clubs,

the Wedge, Hogan drew his right foot

closer to the ball, thus creating a dis-

tinctly 'open' stance. I am addressing

the ball nearest to me in response to

the wedge's short shaft. At first look

one could be forgiven for thinking that

my hands are behind the ball and that

the ball is still opposite the left heel.

However-and this is vital-if you

walked around to your right and

stood opposite me, two things would

immediately be obvious:

1. The ball is in the Centre of

my stance, in relation to

the dowel rod, and

2. My hands, in terms of

my swing-path, are now

placed correctly, slightly

ahead of the ball.

As a result of this ball- and set-

up position, the swing-path is des-

tined to be slightly 'out-to-in' with

the blade being adjusted to aim

directly at the target. Remember,

you cannot slice a wedge so you

are entitled to try!

So, to clarify, Hogan appeared

(visually) to play all his shots from a

'Constant' ball position that was

inside his left heel. But, because he

was 'Closed' with a Driver, 'Square'

with a 6 iron and 'Open' with a wedge,

in real terms, the ball position was

'Progressive'

This subtle distinction has already

had an effect on the alignment of the

body, the direction of the swing-path,

the swing-plane and the alignment of

the shaft as well as the ball position

itself. So, we now understand that

judging ball position in relation to the

ball-to-target line is a waste of time. It

is far more effective to talk about ball

position in relation to the swing-plane

and the intended path of the club-

head through impact. After all, what is

the point of swinging 'in plane' on the

correct path if the ball position is not

sympathetic to that plane or path?

A thought on 'ShaftAlignment'With the driver the shaft appears just

behind the ball, with a 6-iron the butt

of the club is over the ball and with a

wedge the butt of the club is just

ahead of the ball. All of this coin-

cides/helps you to produce the type

of strike you are looking for. Shaft

alignment is appropriate to type of

shot you are about to hit: a neutral

draw with driver, solid and accurate

mid-irons and precision wedge play.

86 Nov/Dec 2006 www.golfinternationalmag.com