What does Mr. Hogan mean?

[bts]

In his "Power Golf", he wrote "....when you grip a golf club to take your first swing at the ball every natural instinct you employ to accomplish that objective is wrong, absolutely wrong."

[YodasLuke]

In his "Power Golf", he wrote "....when you grip a golf club to take your first swing at the ball every natural instinct you employ to accomplish that objective is wrong, absolutely wrong."

1. Lift the ball into the air.
2. Keep your clubface square.
3. Impact must look like address.
4. Swing toward your target.
5. Long backswing means greater power.
6. Keep weight on toes.
etc., etc., etc.

[6bmike]

In his "Power Golf", he wrote "....when you grip a golf club to take your first swing at the ball every natural instinct you employ to accomplish that objective is wrong, absolutely wrong."

first swing as in first time- rookie.

The golf swing is an unnatural movement. You must fight the impluse to club the ball with a big upper body first move. That is OTT. Better to throw the right hand like an underhand pitch which is not the way we naturally think of blasting something off the ground. Slide and toss - not turn and smash.

6bmike LBG- the only place 4 me

[Mike O]

first swing as in first time- rookie.

The golf swing is an unnatural movement. You must fight the impluse to club the ball with a big upper body first move. That is OTT. Better to throw the right hand like an underhand pitch which is not the way we naturally think of blasting something off the ground. Slide and toss - not turn and smash.

6bmike LBG- the only place 4 me

Just a pet pieve of mine- "unnatural"?

It's an acquired skill- like most things. I'd definitely disagree with Hogan- EVERY natural instinct is NOT wrong- people take the club back and then swing it through- that's a good start for a "natural instinct".

The whole concept- "The golf swing is an unnatural movement"- just seems disturbing to me. It's an acquired skill. I'm sure if we dropped you off in the middle of a jungle and said Hunt for food- that you would be terrible at it- Hogan could say that every natural instinct you have for hunting prey is absolutely wrong- but you (the human race) would learn over time from the piles of dead bodies over the generations of those that couldn't get the job done- what knowledge was required to hunt and acquire food to survive.

Same thing- and the time frame might be similar- so stick around 1000 more years or longer and you'll see the general golfing population - more skillful than the general population today! But generation to generation- it's a slow to invisible process- unless of course you have something like the Golfing Machine?!, Then you could...................

Of course, as Ted pointed out- those in the know understand what Hogan means by that comment- But still it's a poor way to describe the situation.

Not meaning to pick on anyone- all good posts- just wanted to throw in my 2 cents on "un-natural".

Once you've acquired a skill- it's as natural as natural can be and you don't have to fight anything- once you have the knowledge. So that's the nature of man- the natural is the tabla rasa- the blank slate- and your tool for survival in Golf or in Life is your cognitive faculty- or put another way "G.O.L.F. is a game for thinkers, and as detailed as this book is, it is still greatly dependent on thinking players." - Homer Kelley-1-G.

[powerdraw]

interesting thread. a friend of mine told me today: "i dont understand why my fella cant play good golf...hes very athletic and very very good at all sports naturally except golf"

any thoughts?

[12 piece bucket]

I'm sure if we dropped you off in the middle of a jungle and said Hunt for food- that you would be terrible at it- Hogan could say that every natural instinct you have for hunting prey is absolutely wrong- but you (the human race) would learn over time from the piles of dead bodies over the generations of those that couldn't get the job done- what knowledge was required to hunt and acquire food to survive.

Great post Mike! Is human head collection "un-natural?" Couldn't let it go . . .

[mb6606]

My guess is throw away. To throw the club head is very natural to nearly all non accomplished players - but wrong. The mind must be in your hands not the clubhead.

[6bmike]

The acquisition of a learned skill to replace the natural tendencies is in itself a natural human process. Everyone learns and replaces actions that fail to achieve perfection but the original primative tendency to hit something is to turn and smash from the top down not from the bottom up- a slide and underhand throw.

[Mike O]

The acquisition of a learned skill to replace the natural tendencies is in itself a natural human process. Everyone learns and replaces actions that fail to achieve perfection but the original primative tendency to hit something is to turn and smash from the top down not from the bottom up- a slide and underhand throw.

6BMike- all good points! For some reason those "un-natural" comments always rub me the wrong way- whether they deserve that response or not.

By the way, I tend to always like your posts- spot on! You're a serious student of the yellow!

[efnef]

For example, a newbie will think, "swing as hard as I can and try to kill the ball." Just the opposite of what he needs to be doing. Powerless effort vs. effortless power.