Opinion & Analysis
New book suggests Hogan’s secret, how it can help you
Did you ever wonder exactly what the greatest ball striker of all-time was doing in the endless hours of practice he put in? One golf coach thinks he knows, and he’s laid out his findings in a new book: Hogan’s Ghost.
Further, golf coach Ed Myers thinks he’s unearthed the secret Hogan dug out of the dirt. More specifically, he thinks he’s uncovered the secret golfers can most benefit from.
The secret has less to do with pronation of the wrist or having “three right hands” and more to do with the concept of deliberate practice; it has more to do with a pencil and a notebook than any club in the bag, any strengthening or weakening of the grip.
Now before you write this off as another baseless suggestion as to what Mr. Hogan’s secret was. Do yourself the favor of reading on.
Myers is a golf performance coach who has taken a circuitous route to teaching the game at Memphis National Club. After years as a consultant and director of the Guaranteed Success Institute, Myers took up the game in middle age, determined to see how good he could get (and he got pretty good, routinely shooting under par).
Working with pro Rob Akins, Myers observed that most of the students he was seeing regularly weren’t getting any better. Ditto tour pros who were passing through working with Akins. He figured there had to be a better way to practice.
Thus, he turned the greatest practicer of them all: Ben Hogan. An investigation into Ben Hogan’s life, a close reading of Five Lessons, an understanding of Anders Ericsson’s concept of deliberate practice and Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 hour rule” led Myers to this conclusion: the passage below from Five Lessons contains Hogan’s secret.
“I found out that it helps me immensely to bring along a notebook and pencil to the practice tee and to write down after each session just what it was I had been working on, exactly how it was coming, and precisely where it was that I should resume my testing the next time I went out to practice”
What exactly was Hogan writing down in his notebook? Myers believes Hogan was essentially applying the concept of deliberate practice to golf.
And just so we’re all on the same page, this is how Myers defines deliberate practice:
[quote_box_center]“An activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance by reaching for objectives just beyond your level of competence, while providing objective feedback on results involving high levels of repetition.”[/quote_box_center]
And how does one use the above to improve his/her golf game? Through a series of progressively more difficult drills meticulously documented in your workbook. And while there’s a more complex formula for determining acceptable error and this may not be Myers preferred standard, a progressive drill looks something like this.
Stock pitching wedge: 5 times cumulative miss not more than 50 feet (that is, the total distance of all the balls from the target is less than 50 feet). After this drill is mastered, a player moves on to a smaller target area and so on. Myers also advocates setting both “preferred” and “acceptable” standards.
Myers’ claim is a bold one. In Hogan’s Ghost, he firmly maintains that if you aren’t working with a practice book, you aren’t really practicing, and you aren’t practicing the way Ben Hogan advocated.
And while there is something self-serving in his claim (Myers has developed and sells his own practice workbook), there’s certainly a ring of truth in what he suggests.
The search for Ben Hogan’s secret is a wild, highly subjective fool’s errand, ultimately. The literal truth of Myers’ claim — that this is how Ben Hogan practiced — ultimately can’t be determined and can certainly be debated. What is not up for debate, however, is that with his workbooks and Hogan’s Ghost Myers has laid out an application of the concept of deliberate practice to the game of golf in a singular way.
If one truly wants to practice like Ben Hogan and ultimately improve, Myers’ thinking—and his texts—are more than worthy of consideration as points of departure.
This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.
I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.
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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.
With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.
Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!
Club Junkie
Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast
The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.
Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.
If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.
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Ronald Ross
Aug 30, 2016 at 8:39 am
I am happy to say this is another baseless suggestion.
The answer has much to do with the hands (theory and practice), as revealed by golf instructor Sey,mour Dunn, on this site http://www.seymourdunn.com
cody
Feb 24, 2015 at 4:50 pm
when the legend becomes fact print the legend. Qoute the man who shoot Liberty Valance
Dlygrisse
Feb 20, 2015 at 5:49 pm
Just another guy trying to use some excerpt from one paragraph of 5 Lessons or some quick blurb in an interview with Hogan to write an entire book. The myth of Hogan is just too tempting for every wanna be teaching pro to resist. For goodness sakes when is it going to end? if you want to learn about Hogan he wrote 2 great books, read them. If you want to know what some guy that should be sued by the Hogan trust for using his name thinks then buy crap like this. Quite frankly I think books like this are disgusting at worst silly at best.
Gorden
Jan 25, 2015 at 1:16 am
Hogan was no different then Moe Norman, what they did in their golf swing and how they did it was a mystery to both of them……bottom line, hand eye skill just like every pro golfer out there.
Phil
Jan 20, 2015 at 4:40 pm
Guys, we covered this long ago. The secret’s in the Pantaloons.
h4ck
Jan 19, 2015 at 10:33 pm
I posted an excerpt of a Ben Hogan interview. I had to chime in…
Interviewer:Did you do any charting of the course — any note-taking? Or would you keep all of that in your head?
Ben Hogan: I tried to keep it in my head.
Interviewer: Didn’t you keep a notebook when you were practicing?
Ben Hogan: No. I get credit for all this stuff, but I didn’t do it.
Jim
Jan 19, 2015 at 12:14 pm
Bob – Thank you for the additional article, which I found most illuminating.
Gary McCormick
Jan 19, 2015 at 10:07 am
Deliberate, directed practice is a good idea, but not exactly a new idea – and the use of Mr Hogan’s name and the mention of his “secret” is just a cheap ploy to garner attention for Myer’s book amidst the teeming mass of golf’s game-improvement books.
MJ
Jan 18, 2015 at 5:23 pm
Hogan told his secret in Life Magazine If you would just read it and read it again about how it instantly changed his game overnight. If you say it didn’t then you didn’t read the article. Don’t say he lied in the article either
Bob
Jan 19, 2015 at 10:29 am
I read the Life article. I have a copy of it. I also read this post, A Very Revealing Hogan Letter, on Al Barkow’s web site: http://albarkow.com. You be the judge.
Golfraven
Jan 18, 2015 at 4:16 pm
Well, there is a true piece of advise and just for free – write everything in a notebook. Take pictures, make a journal, read it over and over again. Knowledge is king. See how your score will crumble – hopefully in the right direction.
No glove much love to the ball
Jan 18, 2015 at 2:17 pm
No glove, and an extra long, leather grip on the shaft, and not having to have to change his swing from the irons to the driver because the heads were so small on the old drivers that he could swing the same way and smash it off the low tee off the turf. Plus his lack of lower body movement but instead using a hip-bump to time his elbow tucking in on the right side and hinging that move into the ball as he hit it as hard as he could with the tightest grip imaginable.
patrick
Jan 18, 2015 at 1:20 pm
I played professional squash for almost 20 years and played internationally for about 7 years in the 80’s. I always kept a journal of all my matches and training. To participate on the national team we had to surrender our journals for inspection to prove we had been trainng and playing all the relevant matches.
What Hogan did was smart in that his career was a culmination of specific practice and then playing tournaments to see if he was practicing effectively. Today this is common amongst most pro sports. Somebody is always accumulating information to help improve their performance. Apparently Hogan was ahead of his time and realized his practice sessions were critical. If I were a pro golfer I’d do the same thing.
Jeffcb
Jan 18, 2015 at 9:13 am
Wow that’s really bad.
As far as I’ve read there’s only one teacher who figured it out and he explains it perfectly in one of his books. The “secret” won’t apply to every golfer but if you have a similar swing to Hogan, one plane, then it can be of benefit. Of course that’s if you were suffering from the same problem as Hogan, timing you’re release and fighting hooks.
Steve
Jan 18, 2015 at 8:46 am
What helps one golfer, doesn’t help all golfers. There can be one thing said or shown to you that turns on a lightbulb. That same thing means nothing to the next golfer. Everyone pro or amateur has their own golf demons.
RetiredCartBoy
Jan 18, 2015 at 8:20 am
Who knows – maybe the book is fantastic. It makes perfect sense to keep note about practice sessions as described. However, what would really make this work significant would be if he had access to the actual Hogan notebooks to learn the details of just HOW Hogan documented his practice sessions. For example, what sort of language did he use to describe how things felt. Otherwise, as others have said, this is just using Hogan’s name to sell a book.
I used to keep a notebook where I would jot down notes about some of my practice sessions and rounds. It was amazing to look back through and see just how many times I FINALLY figured out my golf swing. A pattern wasn’t too hard to spot. I’d make some sort of change, and would start hitting it really well. After a short time I would end up overdoing that move, play bad, then discover a new move to fix the previous one, and would play well for a while. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Though I was improving during this period, after a few years I really plateaued, largely because I never zeroed in on just one swing.
Larry
Jan 18, 2015 at 4:03 am
Hogan, Moe Norman, Tiger Woods (all Pros) have the same SECRET it is called hand/eye coordination linked with the ability to remember what you just did…How many of us hole out a sand shoot for a birdie on number 3 on Monday and on Friday have the same sand shoot and cannot remember how the heck we hit that same shot on Monday??? The Real SECRET to golf is frist be able to do it (275 yd drive) and second be able to do it over and over which is almost impossible for unskilled amatures…..how fast do we armatures forget how we swing??? How long does it take from the pratice tee to the first tee…..
snowman
Jan 17, 2015 at 8:01 pm
I totally agree that is good to practice/document status/repeat, but agree with others — this is just another guy trying to grab attention/book buyers by using Hogans name.
slimeone
Jan 17, 2015 at 6:15 pm
Interesting read, but it can’t be Hogan’s secret because he suggests doing this in 5 Lessons. His secret is supposed to be something that he omitted from his book deliberately. However having read his book many times, I have never actually taken a notebook during practice and often I think I probably should. The thing about Hogan’s instruction is that he expects the reader to follow it to the letter because that was how he played.
Todd H
Jan 17, 2015 at 6:13 pm
Great article, this will be a great help, I personally need more specific practice, and less mindless hitting shots
William Gilbert
Jan 17, 2015 at 4:17 pm
If you don’t believe that the identification of specific goals during your practice time is not beneficial, then I would be interested in joining you for a round or two.
Jon
Jan 17, 2015 at 3:22 pm
There is only one authentic Hogan swing, the rest are mere imitations.
Can't you see I'm eating my lunch?
Jan 17, 2015 at 12:48 pm
Ben Hogan’s REAL secret wouldn’t help anybody but him. It was probably just a random thing he “felt” in his swing that helped him repeat and to get in to a good rhythm. Trying to be Ben Hogan will only hurt you.
Furthermore, you can’t say Hogan practiced more than Lee Trevino, Moe Norman, Gary Player or Tiger Woods.
Moe didn’t have a wife or a life outside of golf. Didn’t smoke. Didn’t drink. Didn’t date. For years he would get up, hit balls for hours upon hours, and then play 36 or more.
The “10,000” rule does NOT mean that if you practice something for 10,000 hours you will be an expert, it is a guess as to what the average is. For some people it could be 3,000 hours, and some people could put 25,000 hours and not see any real gains.
Will practicing better make you a better golfer? Probably. But at the end of the day, this is a man trying to sell a book. If Ben Hogan was alive, would he authorize this man to use his name? People who knew Mr. Hogan know the answer to that question. Haha
Darryl
Jan 17, 2015 at 3:15 pm
Well said!
Can't you see I'm eating my lunch?
Jan 17, 2015 at 3:37 pm
Thanks