Sergio Garcia Swinging Like Ben Hogan

Sergio Garcia Swinging Like Ben Hogan

Sergio Garcia swinging like Ben Hogan is a much talked about comparison. In transition from backswing to downswing both Ben and Sergio are seen to flatten the club shaft and increase the angle. This is a fair likeness but there is something far more significant that makes their golf swings comparable and it happens in their delivery to the ball.

In Hogan’s “Five Lessons the Modern Fundamentals of Golf” he talks of: “the turning of the hips inaugurating the downswing. This movement of the hips automatically lowers the arms and hands to a position just above hip level.”

Essentially this is a tucking motion similar to baseball. The batter, starting with the hips, tucks the right elbow flattening the bat and leveling the hands to deliver the handle of the bat towards the ball.  With this delivery the right elbow passes the right hip with the bat released out past the plate.

But with golf the hands are on the side of the handle at impact with the club in front of the body. Sergio and Ben achieve this by first turning the hips, just as in baseball. by doing this the right elbow is trying to pass the right hip just as in batting. But before this can happen the right hip pass the elbow which puts the hands on the side of the handle as they straighten down.

In this way the right arm and elbow connects behind the right pocket in the downswing putting the right hand more on top of the handle prior to impact. The right hand has gone from under to more on top. With further delivery, as the right arm continues to straighten, the hands work on the side of the shaft for impact. These golfer become what is refereed to as an “an on top golfer.” The following pictures show how this works.

The first picture is the start of the downswing as depicted in Hogan’s book. The second shows the right hip passing the hands allowing them to extend the arms to the ball. With both Ben and Sergio the arms extend to a more center connection.

The video follows: