Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf

GET THIS BOOK !!!
Repeat GET IT NOW and it will, without a doubt IMPROVE YOUR GAME and outlook on golf 10 fold! I have had and read this book like a bible over the past 3 months and I will tell you unequivocally, It is simply the best book on what makes a golf swing a TRUE golf swing. I have been a golfer for 20 years and through all the articles I have read, any lessons I have taken, none have come close to breaking down what the mechanics of a golf swing truly are.
This book takes you from the start to a finish of a solid fundamental golf swing. As every individual has their own style, I would recommend once you learn these basics, make your own minor adjustments to suit your own physical limitations due to factors such as flexibility and body size.
Now I have to tell you, I am slow to comprehend and grasp new ideas but once I catch them, if they are indeed true, I embrace and preach upon them like a priest in the church. This book is a true awakening for a golfer and what it takes to make a real golf swing.
The amazing results of this book and what a golfer actually experiences when making a true swing as a result of the study of this book are absolutely astonishing. You should make this book your BIBLE to a great golf swing. The results you see (and feel) will leave you in total awe of how simple a great golf swing is and how easily it can be accomplished.
I endorse this book 100% and promise you will not be disappointed. Indeed you will be delighted and your game will see the dawn of a new day.
5 ***** book. A MUST for every golfer

I won't go into a summary of the 5 Lessons because, well, it hardly needs one. What I will say is that the notion that the average golfer would suffer by paying attention to what Mr. Hogan describes in this masterpiece is utterly ridiculous. The facts are the following:

- This man's swing was/is envied by legions of golfers, prob for all time.

- Everything he says about the swing, is not only true - it's the holy grail to great striking

- This is not a complete picture of Ben Hogan's swing, it's a breakdown of how to implement/apply the fundamentals, not his exact swing. There are variations that come along with each fundamental - they are tweaks that work only in conjunction with other modifications - such is the golf swing; Mr Hogan took most of those to his grave, at least the explanations, that is. There are clues to *what* (not necessarily how) he did in the golf swing, they are out there - everywhere...

- Claims that Ben Hogan had more physical ability than most people and that being the reason for his swing being nearly flawless are preposterous. He was an athletic man, but he was *just* a man, after all. No, what Hogan had was not physical, it was mental strength, heart, dedication, and most importantly, motivation - something Ben Hogan had droves of (if that's not a secret I don't know what is).

- Anyone can develop a swing based on these fundamentals. Key word, CAN - not will*. Just like ANYONE can become a rocket scientist given the right motivation/circumstance/effort etc, the same holds true for any version of the golf swing, including variations of these techniques, and believe it or not - Ben Hogan's own variation(s). Also, theories about body types limiting these fundamentals are nonsensical, and over-stated.

- An open club face, with the RIGHT path - will always produce a reliable shot, it's call a fade. You can even hit a hook with an open club face, given the correct alterations in the setup/path. The idea that this will just make you slice more is just silly, it's the chicken or the egg - if you're already a slicer, you likely swing out to in, which means you are destined to hit slices for life anyway - and a hook, much less a draw - is something you will never experience. Don't believe me? close the clubface and swing away, if you're a slicer, it'll still be a slice. Some argue that it is better to learn how to hook a ball first, and then adjust your grip - but in my mind (and more importantly Hogan's) - if you learn how to hit from the inside correctly, the difference between a weak grip and a strong one is obviously a fade and a draw.
Well, a power fade is far more consistent than a draw and if you manage to do what Hogan did, which was hit a push fade - the loss of distance is negligible. After all, this is what Hogan battled for his whole career, a repeating fade that didn't lose distance as compared to a draw; he accomplished this.

- The biggest thing to draw/learn from this book has nothing to do with "the secret" - at least not how people have historically described outside of this book (aka weak grip, cupped wrist). The real secret is to take everything Hogan says in his book as bible and follow it until you figure out what he's saying about swing path, ball positions, grip* etc. That's why they are called the 5 fundamentals...Hogan never said follow this book and have HIS swing - the amount of dedication required to develop a swing like Hogan's is something only experience will reveal.

- Forget all this stuff about this book being too advanced for the avg golfer - this is the best Golf book of all time, and if you think there is a single Pro out there that hasn't figured out the majority of what Hogan is saying here, you're fooling yourself. Denying that fact is to deny yourself the chance of discovering your golf swing - you have zero chance, if you never try at all. Gotta be in it to win it.

Happy Golfing!

Ben Hogan was an excellent golfer, but he was not a great teacher. This book focuses too much on every little thing that your body is supposed to do during a golf swing. The problem with this is that golfers try to remember everything he talks about during their swing. It is impossible to recall all of this information during the 1-2 seconds it takes to swing a club. The golfer almost always forgets one little thing that makes them hit a bad shot. The next shot, they will focus on the one thing they forgot and, as a result, will forget something else.

I reccomend "Understanding the Golf Swing" by Manuel De La Torre. Rather than teaching you to focus on everything that is supposed to happen, Torre teaches that if you produce a true swinging motion with the club, all of these things will happen naturally as your body reacts to the swing.

It is not impossible to learn from this book (PGA Tour golfer Larry Nelson used this book and got on the tour four years later), but for most golfers, it is just too much information to learn on your own.

I recently picked up Golf. After my first round, untrained, I was ready to put golf back down again. I couldn't drive or hit the ball any distance at all. It was just frustrating and tiring. On one hole it took me 5 hits to get to the green on a par 3.

I picked up this book and it changed everything. I was gripping wrong, standing wrong, swinging wrong- The lessons in this book carefully explain each detail of building a solid, consistent, repeating swing. After a week of practicing the lessons in this book I can now knock a ball from the tee at the driving range to the red flag. Sure I still goof up every now and then, but when I do, I know what I did wrong and I can work to correct it. My swing has improved 100%. The difference is amazing. Bad golfers and amateurs THIS BOOK WILL HELP YOU!

This is hands down the best golf book and the only golf book you may ever need. Ben Hogan is the father of the modern golf swing. And almost every professional golfer's swing is based on the fundamentals described in this book. Realistically however, people are more likely to ruin their swing and give up the game of golf altogether if attempting to implement these lessons themselves.

The main reason being that as a golfer, you have the worst seat in the house to watch your own golf swing. This book will show you how a good swing is supposed to look, but it is not easy to understand where our mistakes lie. That requires a trained eye. So having a good golf coach is most important. And this book will remind you of all the things you forgot to write down in your notes from your golf lesson.

If however, you do not have access to an experienced golf coach, and you are as dedicated as a prisoner in Alcatraz, then I'd say that this book in conjunction with a good golf app (i use ubersense) is your best best. But I wouldn't put any money on it

I purchased this book back in 1985 and I found it to be concise and very helpful if you take what is written and apply it to YOUR particular swing. As Hogan has said: you have to dig it out of the dirt. This book is basic Golf fundamentals and everything that makes a good golfer great is built upon this. If you think that by just reading this book (or any other) is going to get you to shoot par, you're seriously deluded. It takes practice and lots of it. In 1989 I shot my fist sub-80 round and in 2009 I went from a 15 handicap down to a 9 with the fundamentals from this book. But in order to achieve that big of a drop in handicap, I practiced what he wrote and I played 3 to 4 times a week in addition to the practice. The book is the only book I look to for making sure that my grip, stance, posture and swing are correct for my swing. I don't play as much as I did in 2009 but I can still hit the ball the same by following the fundamentals laid down by Hogan back in 1957.

I have been playing the game for 12 years now, purely self taught. At my best got down to a 15 handicap, but then because of work and life I only played a handful of full rounds the last few years. This year circumstances changed and I have been able to get out on the course, and it was all gone. I couldn't hit anything, and I was back to shooting in 100s... it got so bad that I almost gave up the game. Then I found this book, and I rediscovered all the fundamentals that I had forgotten - my grip, my stance, my take away, coiling my shoulder turn against my hips, starting my down swing not with my arms. This, combined with the "wall drill" for lag got me back to hitting shots again. Recently I have been posting scores back in the 80s. The best thing is when things go awry, I just go back to this book and focus on the fundamentals, and things get straightened out.

I no longer read any golf magazines nor do I watch the golf channel for instruction. I just use this book. I seriously was out in the weeds, and this completely turned my game around.

About 20 yrs ago I read and tried to follow the instructions in this book.
After all, one of the best wrote it.
Take my advice, beginners, STAY AWAY.
If you like start your downswing with a hip turn to the left....
have fun....
Enjoy the game by studying old timers like Manuel de la Torre, Leslie King, or even Jim Flick. Swing .... swing and enjoy yourself.

Then read Hogan's book and shake your head.

Only 3 stars because readers may not benefit by it even though what is contained inside the cover may very well be the answers SOME golfers seek. Providing they are "One Plane swing" golfers and not 2 plane golfers.

I will not participate in the hero worship nonsense that so commonly accompanies Hogan reviews. You may very well read this book and not "get it" and it will do you no good.

To get the real and lasting benefits from this book which could be substantial keys to your repeating golf swing, I strongly recommend that the following books be read = MANDATORY

There are three books that form a rather complete package for someone trying to finally achieve a repeating swing and stop screwing it up.

#1 The Golf Swing Bible since 2006 = The Plane Truth For Golfers by Jim Hardy.
There are 2 books that present the information in 2 different fashions and/or DVD set (Library like I did) I like best The Plane Truth for Golfers Master Class: Advanced Lessons for Improving Swing Technique and Ball Control for the One- and Two-Plane Swings Get all three as this work is the new Golf swing BIBLE - PERIOD! Sorry Ben Hogan. Ben Hogan's the 5 lessons is great for a one plane swinger but will screw up a two plane swinger. The work by Jim Hardy can and will once and for all help you/stop you from screwing up your swing by realizing that there are 2 different swings with 2 movement prescriptions.

#2 The supplement to the Hardy "Bible" expands and illustrates and reveals major components and nuances = Your Perfect Swing by Jim Suttie
He reveals power sources. Turners, coilers, rotators, sliders, high swings, low swings, late releasers, early releasers, open or shut face releasers etc. Very valuable compliment to Hardy's work.

#3 How to Learn Golf by Harry Hurt, He teaches you about all those who are teaching you how to swing. What methods they are advocating and what categories all that instruction falls into. A very valuable resource for trying to sort out the instruction that appears everywhere. In the end you can focus on what you want and avoid what is not for you.
Outstanding book for a golfer set on improvement and trying to make heads or tails out of all the swing advice confusion. He took lessons from the worlds best at very high cost. But the book can also apply to books, TV and magazine "lessons"

From page 24: "No matter which approach you choose, you need to know where your instructors are coming from, which of the major methods they advocate, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Otherwise you are likely to find yourself bouncing from one pro to another, perpetually trapped in a state of confusion and frustration as you are inundated with conflicting advice and diametrically opposite swing thoughts. No one knows better that I do after taking lessons from twenty-one teaching pros in twenty-four months. Instead of suffering the pain and confusion of running a similar instructional gauntlet, you can simply read this book."

Another helpful book is Lowdown From the Lesson Tee : Correcting 40 of Golf's Most Misunderstood Teaching Tips by David Glenz

I'm a typical weekend warrior/hacker, probably get out on the course 3-4 times per month. I've been playing for 12 years or so and had never sought formal instruction or lessons, which has led to me being a very inconsistent ball striker and overall player. I was poking around on Amazon last month and saw the great reviews for this book and decided to check it out.

After a month of practicing the fundamentals in this book, I have become a much better ball striker, and probably most importantly, when I now hit a bad shot I know what I did wrong! This never happened before, it was all a big mystery.

This book explains the golf swing from grip/setup to backswing/downswing and tells you exactly how it 'should' be done, with some great illustrations and easy to understand language and theories.

If you are just starting golf, I would highly recommend you pick this up and avoid having to unlearn bad habits years later like I'm trying to do right now.