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