Ben Hogan’s Short Game Simplified
The subtitle for Ben Hogan’s Short Game Simplified, by Ted Hunt, suggests that careful study and practice will show the readers “the secret to Hogan’s Game from 120 yards and in.”
I am hoping this will prove to be true.
For most golfers, the large difference in skill between our playing skills and those possessed by professional golfers is to be found in the short game.
They can snuggle their approaches in closer, hit out of traps more effectively, and chip to gimme range more consistently than the rest of us.
Ted Hunt argues that we can all learn to improve these parts of our game, by emulating one of the acknowledged masters of the sport.
Hunt first gives the uninitiated a short biography of Hogan, tied together with a well-done synopsis of the swing Hogan described in his best-selling Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.
He then breaks down the elements of Hogan’s swing, beginning with putting. From there, Hunt explains how to use those same elements in the next part of the short game, chipping, the bane of my own golfing existence.
If I can transfer this part of the book’s suggestions into my own game successfully, I will become yet another Hogan disciple.
Hunt then brings the reader along to show how to apply these same fundamentals to longer pitches, three-quarter iron shots, and full swings with short clubs.
Later chapters go into further detail to describe different kinds of greenside maneuvers, such as running chips or high-lofted approaches that stop quickly.
Another chapter toward the end is devoted to golf exercises, many of which can be performed at home in the dead of winter. Snow is no excuse.
The book is amply illustrated with photographs and foot/ball location diagrams that should be very helpful to the visual learners among us.
I look forward to finishing this book and applying what it says to my winter game—weather permitting.
Review Date: January 7, 2011