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We began with Chapter 1 on the Grip and I hope that that topic continues to generate interest. Now we turn to Chapter 2 - Stance and Posture.

Hogan says "Many golfers make the sizable error of thinking of the stance as that preparatory part of the swing in which the player merely lines himself up on the target he's shooting at. While one of the purposes of the stance certainly is to set up the direction of the shot, it also has quite a number of other functions that are much more important."

Hogan's idea was that the true function of the stance was to organize oneself to produce "maximum control and power."

Let's talk about Chapter 2.



Again if you do not have the book you can turn to Sports Illustrated via the following links:

Part II: Stance and Posture
Flash
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/edb/read...mp;mode=reader_vault
Text
vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ar...MAG1132520/index.htm

I love this chapter. The golf stance is more about stability and swing automation than it is direction...if it was about direction, Trevino would have played out of the left side trees all his life.

People have GOT to get over the modern way of thinking that "closed feet for a draw, open feet for a fade" is the indisputable truth. Because it's not...and I think it has screwed up more than one weekend warrior.

Tim,

I love that - "... stability and automation..."

(don't know if it's the right time to discuss it yet but I would like to hear thoughts on shoulder alignment used with open and closed stances.)

Great quote from chapter 2

NOTE THIS WELL: THE MUSCLES TO WORK WITH ARE THE "INSIDE MUSCLES"- THE MUSCLES THAT STRETCH ALONG THE INSIDE OF THE LEGS AND THIGHS, THE MUSCLES ALONG THE INSIDE OF THE ARMS. " page 57

hogansquest wrote:


Which is crucial to stability and containment.

Recently I have felt the need to widen my stance, as I work at developing a more vicious hold on the ground to provide some resistance against which I can rotate my torso. I was heartened to see something on this in 5L on the bottom part of page 40:

I do want to bring out, however, that most golfers take too narrow a stance. I advocate a stance that is fairly wide because it gives you a firmer foundation for traction and balance, and it permits the shoulders to be unbunched and to operate more freely than a narrow stance does.

page 39: "... balanced and poised..."

usually should be felt in the hips ... yes?

As a Doctor of Chiropractic, the appealing aspect of Hogan's stance is the lack of bending from the hips. The Mechanisms of Injury for back sprains/strains are bending, lifting, twisting, all of which make up a golf swing. Dropping down like an elevator shaft, with weight towards the heels, puts less stress on the low back joints. I first became interested in Hogan's swing due too the fact that he survived a horrible car accident, yet a year later was able to play championship level golf. We all received a bonus in that with him figuring out how he could hit the ball, with a broken body, he arrived at a great swing motion.which he shared, (sort of)

hogan wanted his weight toward his heels,toes abl to wiggle,different instructors and golfing greats have said different things,some on the balls of the feet,some the whole foot,about the only thing they agree on is never weigh toward the toes

Except Don Trahan, whose son DJ is on the PGATour recommends weight forward as if going to jump into a swimming pool from the side of the pool

Well, this will probably be off the charts for some.

I've never found the correct image yet while searching, but to me Hogan's stance has for a long time reminded me of a praying mantis standing on its rear legs A mantis has very sharp, yet subdued at the same time, angles ready to pounce in any direction. They always appear to have just the right amount of knee flex in order to be able to jump straight up without shifting weight downward first.

Oh well, just how Ol' Festus' mind works....a blessing and a curse

Regarding closed and open feet:

Didn't hogan say that the function of opening one's stance was to control / restrict the length of one's backswing; i.e., to effectively shorten one's backswing in an effort to give priority to the accuracy of one's shots?

I suppose the almost hidden corollary of this principle would be that the closing of one's stance would increase the length of the swing arc.

Previous post removed in an effort to maintain the academic tone of this thread.

Well you can have your weight shading your heels and be ready to move forward toward the ball....in fact it can allow you to move MORE that way because you can then do so AGAINST the swing of the club which goes behind you.

If you start with your weight on the balls of the feet or shading toward the toes you really only have one way to go....away from the ball, and that is not what Hogan did or advocated.

Whats the right way,ive often wondered,struggled with were the weight should be,does it depend on how yr trying to swing

Eyeball wrote:


when I open my stance for shorter irons & wedges (prefer to think of it as just stepping forward with my right foot since I usually keep my shoulders on a chosen target line) I just assumed that opened stance worked because it allowed the hips to clear faster / easier for the shorter radius swing(?). (Ball already at your side kind of thing).

All things being equal an open stance will put more weight on your left side, closed stance more weight on the right.

Phily I think it does exactly what you say, and I think it will also shorten your swing a little if you aren't into controlling the length of your swing and rather relying on the way you walk in to it to do that for you.

It just struck me while i was out working,Hogans stance and posture would be a tell in football,a pitcher,getting the sign,just before getting ready to to go from the strech,a base stealer if he was turned around facing the outfield,,,,Hogan is prepared to haul butt to his left,chest in between the balls of his feet left foot flared,if he was playing linebacker across from e,i know hes going into coverage in the flats

tells me everything i need to know about weight distribution,how much bend at the waist,everything

if you have ever played these sports and postions im talking about this will ring true for you,inside leg muscles ,is what you will be using,the works

Bradley Hughes wrote:

If ever there was a picture that spoke 1000 words to me this is it.
The swing of the club determining the amount of body motion necessary to complete the action.....and the other 984 words have to do with how to achieve that.

yes,its all right there,looks alot like what you do Martin,and,ive seen you demonstrate this counterbalancing in yr videos,if im using the right term

That's right Alan....and there's no crunching down of the left side in either of those....quite the contrary...left side looks well spread. Everything goes back more because the club demands it.

Hogans pratice swings,that evryone was mesmerized by,I think demonstrated this also,he really is set up in his posture and balance as if hes going to take off in a sprint down the line,He never loses this intent on the way back,that makes way more sense to me,than the gravity fall peole talk about,hes waiting on the starters gun to go off,as he takes it back,the gun goes off and then hes off to the races