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I ran across this little snippet of Ben Hogan taking a practice swing during the Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf Ben Hogan vs. Sam Snead match in 1965 and didn’t pay much attention to it until recently, when I noticed an oddity in his leg and foot movements as he casually makes a full back and forth movement in preparation for a drive. The player I coach on the PGA Tour, Kevin Streelman, has often indicated his affinity for the “step-in” drill, where he takes a step back on his backswing and then steps forward with his left leg as he initiates the forward swing. It’s not quite “Happy Gilmore”, but the exaggerated lateral movement is athletic (pitchers and batters almost always take a fairly large step to drive forward and around in their respective movements) and gives a heightened feeling of the “catch” of the backswing by the forward and rotational motion of the lower body starting before the backswing has ended. Here Hogan twists his left heel toward the target as his right hip pushes forward, then twists the toe back in front of the heel before the foot hits the ground. It’s kind of hard to describe, so watch the video to see exactly how he does it. As I tried to imitate what he is doing I found it to be a subtle but effective way to reinforce the proper sequencing of the swing whereby the downswing movement is initiated from the ground (Hogan would say by turning the hips back to the left), engaging the lower back, mid-back, then shoulders and arms in that order.
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