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Ben Hogan's practice swings were characterized by a thoughtful two-step action. That is, he would step right, swing the club back, step left, and then complete his follow through. Ultimately, this is a great way to connect the movement of the feet (and lower body) to the swinging of the club. More specifically though, it is useful for feeling the sequencing of the lower body leading into the downswing. If you are a player who tends to become upper body dominant during transition, this is a great drill (and feeling) to exaggerate. However, be careful not to lunge too much with the upper body, as we still want to work on maintaining a centered torso during the weight shift.
Tags: Transition, Drill, Intermediate
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This drill is the Hogan 2 step drill. So the Hogan 2 step drill pays homage to Hogan's
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practice swings. If you've ever watched them, he would basically get set up and
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you would step to the right swing, step to the left and swing. So there was a
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little step step. So he was very in tune with the movement of his feet
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connecting to the swing of the club. That movement of the feet is really helpful
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for getting this movement of the lower body leading the down swing wall the
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club is still finishing the backswing. So what I tend to find is sometimes
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when golfers are doing the step change direction drill, they kind of swing
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everything all back at once and then all down together. I tend to find with this
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little two step version because you're using your lower body a little bit more
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actively both in the takeaway in and in transition. Some golfers have a
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better time of initiating with that lower body. So this is a exaggeration drill
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on the feeling in transition. Basically what you're going to do is you're going
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to take your normal setup and then bring your right foot to your left foot. So
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now I'm way ahead of the golf ball. Now I'm going to step to my where my right
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foot was when I got set up. As I do this the club is swinging back. Once the
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club is about here I'm going to step to where my left foot would be and let the
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club finish the backswing as I'm already starting down. So it will look more like
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it happens altogether but you're going to feel like you're leading it clearly
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behind. So it's an exaggeration of this lower body starting while the upper
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body is still going back or while the club is still going back. So I'll try and
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demonstrate a couple here. So we're going to take our set. Come to here. Now I'm
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going to step back. I'll break it down first so I'm going to step back.
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While the club is swinging once I get to about here I'm going to step forward
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as the club is still going backward and then once my arms get to about that
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same point in the downswing that I'm going to swing everything through. So this is
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more of a rhythm drill not trying to kill it as hard as I can. I'm just more
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working on the timing and the sequencing of the lower body leading.
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Okay so I hit the first two a little bit heavy. Next one I'm going to make sure
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that when I do that second step I don't lunge forward with my upper body. So you'll
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see that for golfers such as myself who played tennis or sports that have a
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lot more upper body movement this can trigger too much lateral movement of
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the upper body but if you're used to keeping your upper body more still this can
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be a great way to get that timing of the lower body active in transition. So if
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you're struggling with a little bit more upper body dominant swing then try the
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Hogan 2 step for getting the lower body to clearly lead the club in transition.