Mike Cortson

Parametric Acceleration explained

2012-02-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

The golf swing is governed by physics and Newton's laws of motion. Without getting into the mathematics and a multitude of equations I will endeavor to simplify what is going on. Take a machine nut and tie it to a string about a foot in length. Be sure to tie it securely so the nut doesn't come flying off. Take the string in your hand with the nut hanging. Start twirling the nut in a circle. Keep twirling it and try to make the nut twirl faster. What you will notice is that you have to pull on the string to make the nut go faster. That pulling force is called centripetal force. The faster you pull the faster the nut will go. The speed of that pulling force at the hub of the radius i.e. the string held in your fingers is what Miura termed Parametric Acceleration. The faster you pull the faster the nut travels. In a golf swing the string is the player's lead arm (left for right handed player) and the club shaft. The center point for the swing is the left shoulder. The faster the left shoulder pulls the faster the club head goes. Brute force has nothing to do with it. The pulling action accelerates the club head.

Hit 'em straight

Mike

www.benhogan.ws

2011-12-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

We just put my books Winning Thinking and The Secret to a Great Golf Swing on Amazon Kindle for only .99 cents each! Get yours today. The new DVD, Pure Force Golf will be available soon. I'll keep you posted.

Mike

You want to improve your golf game

2011-09-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

Since you really want to improve your game you'll want this On Target Power and The Secret to a Great Golf Swing.

Way to go!!!

2011-08-28T18:42:00.001-07:00

Way to go!!

Quid Pro Quo said...

Thank you Mike for saving the rest of my golfing life! After reading The Secret to a Great Golf Swing watching On Target Power, I won the qualifier for our club championships with 74 strokes- from backtee... Can´t wait your new video!

August 25, 2011 4:36 AM

New video shoot

2011-08-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

We shot some great footage today! The challenge was teaching a student who has 32 years of experience using the conventional swing. He learned today a simple motion that now has him knocking down targets at will. The 4 time Emmy award winning director can't wait to get to putting the final DVD together.

New video

2011-08-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

We begin shooting the new golf instructional DVD next week. I have learned a lot since we released On Target Power in 2007. I have been able to make what was so simple to do even simpler and more effective. Better accuracy and even more distance.

Rhythm

2011-08-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

To get consistency you need to get a rhythm like Sam Snead.  He used to hum the blue danube waltz 

da da da da 

WHACK! 

dot dot dot dot

Mission Impossible?

2011-07-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

Charles Barkley is trying On Target Power. I'll let you know how things progress. :)
On Target Power

Ben Hogan's move

2011-05-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

Overhead player POV

2011-05-06T18:49:00.001-07:00

A recent message to a student...

2011-04-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Below is an actual message I sent to one of my students who struggling with his old habit of trying to kill the ball.

More than likely you are TRYING to hit the ball rather than letting the club head just swing. You have to stop TRYING to manipulate everything. When you set your hands on the back swing you have already stored up enough energy to create speed simply by dropping your hands and turning toward the target. Your BODY SQUARES THE CLUB FACE, not your hands. It you are hitting it thin you are raising up too much. This is because you are TRYING to create more centripetal force. You are over-doing it in hopes of hitting 300 yards. Brute force will NOT create distance! It is NOT POSSIBLE! You can't argue with physics. You want to whip the club to FLICK the ball off the ground. You are TRYING to smash the ball to smithereens! Has that worked for you yet? Using the technique you now have with RHYTHM will produce what you are after. Sam Snead used to hum the Blue Danube Waltz when he "swang" (his term). That 3/4 time will work. Da Da Da Daaaa WHACK! Dot Dot Dot Dot, Da Da Da Daaaa WHACK! Dot Dot Dot Dot. Get that rhythm going to get to consistent results. If you flex a muscle you make it slower because it has to resist motion to stay flexed! If you flex a muscle you make it slower because it has to resist motion to stay flexed! If you flex a muscle you make it slower because it has to resist motion to stay flexed!

Once you can hit the ball a consistent distance and straight you can than mark off the average distance you hit each club using that techique. THAT then becomes your distance for each club. Forget about what pros' distances. They are the best at what they do, have custom lofts and lies and you couldn't do what they do as they are 25 years younger anyway. For a 130 yard shot my smooth average straight shot is with a 7 iron. If it is windy into me or across it is a 6 or even a 5 iron. That doesn't make me a wimp. It makes me get the ball to the target so I can score well. If my putt is 10 feet or farther away from the cup, my target is a 5 foot circle (kiddie pool). That will leave me a 2.5 foot tap-in so I 2-putt. You have to THINK your way around the course. Long hitters are in the trees and are always having to scramble to save par. I have no problem being 100 yards or more behind anyone I play against because I know I can get to the hole in par or better. If the hole is just too long for me I accept bogey as my par for that hole and know I can get a birdie somewhere else to make up for it. PATIENCE is what is required and learning to accept who you are as you are. The sooner you can just fall in love with yourself as you are no matter what, the better.

New season begins!

2011-03-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

After a rather tough winter here in Southwestern Michigan the weather yielded today. I dragged out the old bag of rusty blades and teed it up for the first time since November. Two warm up swings and I took aim at 4 o'clock on that little white ball, thanked John Schlee and took a swing. I striped it right down the middle. Okay, lucky? Nope. I had to go 3 wood for the second shot on this longish par 4 and left it just short of the green to the right. I popped a SW over the bunker to 4 feet and made the putt. Finished the 9 for the day with 2 bogies and a birdie on #9 to finish +1. Gonna be a good season, Tater!

Hit the ball and swing from 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock (old post)

2011-02-11T04:05:00.000-08:00

Below is a graphic that I use when teaching my students. Along with Ben Hogan's secret I have my students think of themselves addressing the ball from standing at the 6 o'clock position facing 12. The target would be at 9 o'clock. The goal is to swing the clubhead from 4 o'clock to 10. The body rotation will square the clubface at impact. I also tell them that they want to contact the ball at the 4 o'clock position which would be the inside quarter of the ball. I am sure this visual will help you eliminate your slice and lead to purer contact. You contact the ball at 4 o'clock not the back of the ball (3 o'clock). Aiming for the back of the ball leads to trying to guide the club head down the target line and even worse leads to coming from the outside the target line and actually hitting the ball at 2 o'clock.

Hit 'em straight!

Mike

http://www.mikecortson.com/

http://www.benhogan.ws/

Excerpt from - "The Secret to a Great Golf Swing"

2011-01-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

Introduction

My name is Mike Cortson. I have been a PGA Tour Player Manager for Bruce Crampton for several years. My own skill as a golfer is less than perfect as I have had the misfortune of severe illness visit me. Nevertheless, I have been around the game and golf pros for more years than I care to admit. I have seen more successful golf swings than you can shake a stick at. Some are great to look at and some are just down right unbelievable. I was trained as a lawyer and my eye for detail is quite keen. It is far more difficult to catch a good liar than to catch a great golf swing.

When I took up the game any hope I might have had for turning professional was long past. As most wannabe golfers I decided one day to take up the game. I did the usual and went to the sporting goods store and bought myself all of the latest paraphernalia, loaded up my trunk, drove to the nearest driving range, plopped down a few dollars, took a bucket of balls up to the range, dumped them out onto the ground and began to immediately make a damned fool out of myself. At first I was quite embarrassed. Then I noticed that in the grand scheme of the company I was keeping, I fit right in. I spoke to a few guys and they offered me all sorts of advice. You’d think I was at a surgeon’s convention and had a cancerous mole the size of a golf ball on the end of my nose.

Oh they had all of the right answers. You had to “grip” the club just so, “stand to the ball” just so, you had to “turn”, “bend your knees” just so, “take the club back” just so, have a good “swing thought” (whatever the heck that is, my thought was “knock the hell out of it!”), then you had to “pivot” and drop the club into a “slot” and then BANG!...it was over in an instant. Did it work? No!

Well, I wasn’t discouraged. I went to the book store and bought instruction books. I went to the video stores and bought videos up the ying yang. I had a golf library within a month. Oh I had to also subscribe to every golf magazine too. My wife was ready to kill me, and rightly so. It was now an obsession to hit that little white ball.

I flailed at it like a monkey with a hatchet trying to crack a coconut. I looked like one too. Well if I couldn’t be a great player I at least had to look good. I watched every tournament every chance I got. I taped tournaments and would stay up until the wee hours of the morning trying to find out that “secret”. Hell, there just had to be one. Those guys on TV weren’t any bigger than me and made it all look so easy.

I finally relented. I did the unthinkable…I signed up to take golf lessons. Ah, now that just had to work. I was now paying big bucks and just like everything else, you could buy the secret. What could be easier? Oh, why didn’t I think of that before? How stupid of me.

I went back to the driving range and met with the instructor. He came highly recommended. He sounded just like the teacher I saw on the videos I had bought…and I had all of them. I knew each one of them by heart. Nothing escaped this attorney’s keen eye.

The golf swing was under the microscope and it was going to be conquered like it or not “Mr. Golf Swing”. Your butt was mine!

So what happened? I was still flailing away getting nowhere fast. The only thing that was getting better was my teacher’s bank account. If it wasn’t for putting, I would never have even broken 100. I beat my brains out. I would sneak out of the

office early and whack balls until dark night after night. Bang! Bang! Bang!...dribble…boink….clank. I stank.

One Sunday afternoon I went back up to the range and got 3 large buckets of balls. I looked like I should be on tour. I had the clothes, the best clubs, and a fancy staff bag with my name on it. The best golf balls…you name it. Golf was mine.

About half way through the first bucket of embarrassment I noticed that the person behind me was quietly hitting shots. I heard them before I actually looked at where they were going. I was convinced never to look at a crummy player as the bad habits might be contagious. I finally had to see just what was causing this sound of “bullets” coming from behind me.

There was a man in his mid to late 50’s in tattered clothes and leather skin wearing a sweat stained visor. He had an old golf bag that had his name on it and the clubs were “blades” which I knew from all of my study were only used by “pros” since they were impossible to hit. He was zipping shot after shot boring into the air. I was sure that he must be cheating some way. No one that I knew, other than the pros I had seen on TV came even close to what this man was doing. The ball bolted off of the clubface and pierced the air leaving a loud stinging sound in its wake. I shook my head. The man looked up for a second and said simply, “Hi.” I returned to splaying balls all over the place.

This continued for about another 10 minutes when finally I heard the man from behind me say, “Hey kid.” I said, “What?” He said, “You suck.” I slowly turned around and said, “Oh, Mr. Holmes I presume?” We both laughed. He said, “Kid, let me show you something.” I thought to myself, oh no here we go again. I politely declined but he insisted. He kept pressing me out of pity no doubt. I finally relented.

He asked me, “Kid, you ever heard of a man called Ben Hogan?” I said, “Sure, I have his books and some tapes of him.” He said, “Well kid, I was Ben’s only student. My name’s John, John Schlee.” I said, “Nice to meet you. Wow, you know Ben Hogan?” He smiled and said, “Yes. He taught me something many years ago and if you have a minute I’d like to show it to you too. But…”

And this was the big proviso “but”. “But kid, you can’t tell anyone about this until I’m dead and Mr. Hogan is dead. Promise?” I thought for a nano-second and said, “Hell yes!” He said, “You ever heard of ‘The Secret’?” I said, “Sure, everyone has heard of Mr. Hogan’s secret.” John smiled and said, “Well kid, it ain’t in them books you been readin’. Mr. Hogan never put it in the books. He swore me to secrecy and I’m breakin’ it. Don’t ask me why. I know I’m sick and no one will believe you anyway so here goes.”

And away we go… “You wanna know a ‘secret’?” Come on in for a minute. That’s all it will take.

The Secret to a Great Golf Swing

Left Side Snap

2010-12-21T06:12:00.000-08:00

All golfers have one thing in common. They all want to hit the ball farther. The laws of motion govern how far the ball will go. I have studied the “golf swing”, if you will, for over 20 years. I have been fortunate enough to have been a PGA Tour Player Manager and had the opportunity to observe the world’s finest players up close. I also had the privilege of working with John Schlee who was Ben Hogan’s only pupil. John passed onto me what he specifically called “The Secret”. I have already published that information in my book “The Secret to a Great Golf Swing” and also demonstrated it in my DVD “On Target Power”. I didn’t stop there. I have continued to experiment and study. My understanding of the “swing” and how to create maximum club head speed have led to this paper.

With a swing we are trying to create force. The formula for force is mass times acceleration equals force, ma = f. Mass is the only constant in this formula; i.e. the club head. The only variable then is acceleration. So the issue is, how do we create more acceleration? More importantly, how do we create maximum acceleration with the club face square at impact?

John told me that in his first lesson the very first thing Hogan asked him; “John, show me your impact position.” John was perplexed at such a question but it was coming from the foremost authority so he tried to get into what he thought was his “impact position”. This makes total sense. We are trying to achieve square contact at maximum velocity. We need a full understanding of just how one creates this velocity.

There are two forces at work in a swing. 1) The linear motion of the club head and 2) The centripetal or pulling force exerted on that club head. That’s right, pulling force. A simple demonstration is the rock on a string example. You could use a yoyo. When you twirl the rock or yoyo on a string how do you increase the speed of the projectile? You pull harder on the string. The hard you pull the faster it goes. You have to maintain your balance for the projectile to keep moving smoothly. What happens if you let go of the string? The projectile flies straight away. That is the linear motion I mentioned above.

Can you twirl a projectile faster with a long string or a short string? You can twirl a short one faster, of course. So speed will actually increase with a shorter string or radius for this circular motion. This revelation dispels the widely touted “wider arc creates more speed”. A short string pulled hard creates speed. I am not going to chop my clubs down. I am going to use my clubs as designed while applying these principles I have outlined above.

At impact I want to have my body in a position where I can apply the most pull as possible to generate the most speed I can. This means pulling the string harder. So what position would I have to be in at impact? First I had to determine where was the center of the radius? I’d read over and over that the center of the swing was the spine and even more specifically, the 7^th cervical vertebrae. Wrong! The center of this swing radius is the tip of the left shoulder (for right-handers). That is where the arm and club shaft rotate around. This revelation changed everything.

I realized that since the tip of the left shoulder is the center all of the pulling force had to be applied at that point to create maximum centripetal force. This force coupled with the linear force of the club head creates the fictional force we call centrifugal force which is not a force but a byproduct. This pulling force has to go up. That’s right up and away from the ball. To create that pulling force I focus on driving my left shoulder up. The faster I pull the shoulder upwards the fast the club head will swing.

I began my experiment by jerking my left shoulder up while holding a 5 iron comfortably at address. I had to use my entire body to get my shoulder to pull the club. What I immediately noticed was when I made this upward motion my hips turned to the left as my left arm fell against my stomach. I had my left side straightened and all of my weight over my left foot. I also noticed that my club face opened up with the heel of the club now leading dramatically. I thought to myself that I would have to somehow twist the club face shut in order to compensate for this. Then it occurred to me why not get into that impact position with my left arm fully extended, my hips turned with all of my weight over my left foot and simply adjusted the club face to be square to my target line and then taking my grip on the handle. I did that. Without changing my grip I relaxed back into my address position and noticed my club face closed. I figured that the club face would square itself up if I simply snapped myself back into the impact position. It did. I just stepped into the impact position and back to the address over and over without taking any back swing. I observed the club face squaring up without any manipulation of my hands or arms.

I began making short swings and to my amazement I generated a great amount of speed with this simple body motion. Note that I was not trying to hit the ball with my hands and arms. Quite the contrary, I was trying not to hit at all and simply rely on the physics I described above to create the power. It worked. The only time I faltered was when I tried to do something active with my hands and arms.

I started my swing from my new impact position and swung the club head back and then snapped back into the impact position which was indeed quite easy to do. Hogan called that muscle memory. Whatever you call it, it bloody works. The more comfortable I got with this new method the more I became aware of just how to apply this new force in the same manner I learn to twirl that rock on a string. If I deviated from the method the swing broke down. It took a little getting used to but the results are dead straight a long shots. Balanced force in motion using physics. There are no piano throwing muscles in the golf swing; that is for sure.

One thing I did realize was the left wrist position as shown to me by John Schlee happens automatically when I start from this new impact position. I don’t even have to think about it. You will find that you do not need a long back swing to achieve maximum force. You will realize that this left side snap as I call it is the power source. You will also find that your arms will stay close to your body making it easy for your core to turn more quickly. This is the application of conservation of angular momentum just as the ice skater used to spin faster. The turn toward the target using this method happens as a result of the left shoulder moving upward. The left shoulder goes up and the hips follow. The club head, like the rock, just whips through.

I intend to detail these findings in a video soon. If you have any questions feel free to email me at mike@mikecortson.com .

Hit ‘em straight!

Be patient

2010-12-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

Be patient. I am working on an explosive swing move. Once I can explain it simply I'll be posting it here. Stay tuned.

Mike
www.mikecortson.com

Hogan's first lesson with Schlee

2010-11-21T05:55:00.000-08:00

Hogan and Schlee

Easy swing

2010-10-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

What John Schlee taught me.

Jamie Sadlowski - centripetal force at the max

2010-10-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

In the 3rd from the last photo take notice of the "chicken wing". This move shortens the radius and is a pulling of the handle upwards (parametric acceleration) which gets him his extraordinary club head speed.

Bubba Watson - centripetal force

2010-10-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

Effortless power in a golf swing

2010-10-07T17:11:00.000-07:00

If you have a rock on the end of a string you know when you twirl it there is a tug on the string. The rock's inertia is linear which you can find out easily if you let go of the string. The pull you feel when you twirl the rock is centripetal force. Centrifugal force is not really a force but the product of the linear inertia of the rock and the pulling force (centripetal). Parametric acceleration is the increase in the pulling force. The faster the more centripetal force thereby increasing the moment of inertia (more rock speed). The pulling actually works similar to shortening the radius of the swing which is another way of increasing the moment of inertia. This stuff is simple. There is no throwing, Conservation of angular momentum kicks in because of the angle created between the arms and the club shaft. With the wrists set properly through the hitting area (Hogan's bloody secret!@!) as the hands reach the bottom of the swing they are slowing down and the club head's inertia is multiplied via COAM. As the hands get closer to your body your body will turn faster on its own, just like the skater. That helps whip the club through. If you think you can help that by trying to throw with your right hand you are wrong. Physics tells us all that will do is slow things down and wreck the timing. Pouring on the power is coordination not effort (work). The golf ball doesn't know any of this and you don't need to either. Easy game. http://benhogan.ws

Centripetal force increased parametric acceleration

2010-10-06T14:17:00.001-07:00

Hogan using centripetal force for power

2010-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

Directing energy in a golf swing

2010-09-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

The "square setup"

2010-09-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of Tiger Woods setup for a tee shot. The long ball hitters in baseball and golf are pull hitters. So much for all that square setup talk. Give this setup a try. Immediately you'll notice that your right hip is out of your way to make lots of room for your hands to come through.

Mike

http://benhogan.ws

http://mikecortson.com

Keeping the club square

2010-08-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

HAMSTER WHEEL GOLF SWING THOUGHT

Imagine that your club head was one of the rungs on this hamster wheel. Ideally, you would spin the wheel backwards and then forwards hitting the ball absolutely square. Even if you were to tilt the wheel the swing (rotation of the wheel) you would deliver the club face square at impact. If we were to twist the rung (club head) breaking it loose from one side or the other as the wheel spun you immediately realize the problem that creates for hitting a ball straight. I teach using what John Schlee taught me to be “Hogan’s secret”. Using this simple method I can keep my club head as close to being one of these rungs throughout my swing. It is how I allow my hands and wrists to work naturally makes this simple “hamster wheel swing” work.

Hogan's wide open set up.

2010-06-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Take a close look at Hogan's club face position at set up here. Notice how wide open it is as is his stance. He is apparently hitting a cut shot. This photo is from an old Life Magazine article and is no doubt staged for the photographer. Typical of Hogan; he ain't showing you nuthin' 'cept what he wants to show. My good friend Bruce Crampton played quite often with Hogan back when he lived in Dallas. Bruce said Hogan wouldn't tell you a thing. He was out to beat everyone and there was no way he was giving vital tips.

Hogan's club head motion

2010-06-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

Take another look at Hogan's grip pictured in the previous post. magine that the club head is a knife blade with the point of it being the toe of the club. Hogan's hands are in a perfect position to make a stabbing motion through the ball. Visualize using your right hand to stick the knife point into an imaginary bullseye down the target line. This is done by using your entire body to make a powerful stab not just a little poke.

Hogan's grip

2010-06-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting look at Ben Hogan's grip taken from his photo layout in Life Mag 1955. The red line points out a most significant position indeed.

Mike's Open Mic

2010-06-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

My new radio show, Mike's Open Mic, debuts June 4th at 10 PM ET on WRHC-FM 106.7 streaming live at www.radioharborcountry.org. The show features local talent from Michigan, Indiana and Illinois at open mic performances. Come join us each Friday night!

Some passing thoughts on Hogan and his "secret"

2010-05-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Some passing thoughts

After the debilitating effects of my stroke I lost most of my strength. In 2004, after having to relearn to walk, talk, read, write, zip a zipper, button a button and everything else I was released from my end of life hospice program in a nursing home. I hobbled back into my life or at least what was left of it. I still have severe neuritis in both legs and feet, severe back pain due to arthritis and residual paralysis in my upper right side which affords me little to no real power any longer. The stroke hit me on the left side of my brain so the major residuals are to my right side.

I then decided to see if I could swing a golf club. That winter of 2004-05 I had a sand wedge and a foam ball to practice with in my little apartment. I could not and still can’t even begin to approach swing a club to parallel. It hurts far too much to do that. As a result of my stroke my right arm hangs from the shoulder and I don’t have a natural arm swing anymore. My left arm still swings when I walk but the right arm just hangs there like a sausage hanging in a butcher shop. So with these problems it would seem playing anything but putt putt would be the extent of my golf. Well that is not the case.

I met John Schlee over 20 years ago by sheer chance at a driving range. I had just taken up the game and was horrible. I had bought books and videos and went over the material just as if I was studying for the California Bar Exam again. (I’m a lawyer). My love for golf led me to become a PGA Tour Player Manager for Bruce Crampton and others. As a result, I have had the privilege of meeting and studying the great players up close and personal.

Schlee took pity on me. I detail what he taught me in my book “The Secret to a Great Golf Swing” and demonstrate it in my DVD “On Target Power”. Even with my limited range of motion and pain I can hit the ball dead straight with a reasonable amount of distance. At 58 and in my condition I will not be winning any long drive contests. But, play to about a 2 handicap actually handicapped.

I know for a fact that this mysterious golf swing is just that a SWING. If it were a HIT I wouldn’t get the ball out of my shadow. I learned the biomechanics necessary to swing a club fast and in balance while capitalizing on conservation of angular momentum. The mechanics are simple; almost too simple. I have had students come here from all over the country and the common comment they have is, “IT CAN”T BE THIS EASY!” I just say, “Why not?” Riding a bicycle is far more complicated than swinging a club yet no one seems to have a problem riding. How may bicycle riding lessons have you had? If I asked you to tell me each little detail of what you had to do with your body to get a bike rolling with you on it pedaling away do you think you could do that? Do you think I would learn how to ride a bike from your description?

Hogan had a definite way he used his hands and arms that few understand. All of the “experts” are looking in the wrong place. It is comical if not just sad to see. Hogan’s secret is like the arrow in the FEDEX logo; once you see it you can’t help but see it all the time.

Wrist action

2010-04-22T05:40:00.000-07:00

I get many inquiries regarding wrist action. In the numerous books and videos that I have scrutinized over the years golf instruction is all over the place when it comes to what to do with your wrists. I would say nearly everyone who first comes to me for instruction has this all important move completely backwards. Hogan once said if you disregard your natural inclination of what to do to swing a club and do just the opposite you would be well on your way to a great golf swing. Most amateurs cock their wrist the opposite way that they should be by picking the club up on the back swing in an effort to get the club to parallel. They flail away at the driving range hammering balls all over the park with no idea why they can't hit the ball with any accuracy or power. When I worked with John Schlee the very first thing he asked me to do was show him my impact position. Of course I had no clue what that was and he guided me into the position. I started my swing from that position holding my wrist position solid from start to finish. I hit the ball pure and straight. This was the exact starting point John had when he started working with Hogan. Hogan felt that if you knew what you were supposed to feel like at impact your "muscle memory" would find its way back to that position. He was right. So what about wrist action? I would say find that impact position feel with your left wrist bowed out to the target and your right wrist bent backwards. Get your hands in that position right from the start of your back swing and hold them there through impact. You'll find that you will no longer be throwing the club at that ball and you'll have to use your body, as you should, to apply the power.

My Video, On Target Power

Hitting "around" a firm left side

2010-04-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

I have read hundreds of golf instruction books dating back from the mid 1800s to the present. Heck, I've written two myself. My video library, I'll stack it up against any one out there. I have tried every conceivable swing method and I am open to any new ideas that come down the pike.

In the 60s through the 90s players swung to the famous reverse "C" position. This made more doctors and chiropractors happy than you can shake a stick at I'm sure. The purpose of that move was to increase centripetal force in hopes of adding power. If timed right you could hit the ball a long way. The down side was if you were the least bit late you hit a wild slice or push. If you flipped your hands in hopes of saving the shot it only made things worse.

I posted earlier about Ben Hogan's "turning point" as it was taught to me by John Schlee. You have to make a lateral move to get your tailbone over your left heel. If you imagine yourself as a door and the hinge runs from your left heel up your spine you just turn your body around that hinge right on through the ball. Couple this along with Hogan's hand action which he stumbled upon you'll be amazed as he was that day he found his "secret".

Hit 'em straight!

Mike
www.benhogan.ws

Ben Hogan - how he applied his "three right hands!"

2010-03-08T13:42:00.001-08:00

Reverse Views - Ben Hogan & Steve Elkington

2010-03-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

REVERSE VIEWS

These photos of Ben Hogan and Steve Elkington dramatically show the amount of lateral shift. I reversed the photos as these mirror images make it easier for a right hand player to emulate. Both players get their centers of gravity over their left heel setting the body in a position like a door hinge around which they can swing.

Ben Hogan's "turning point"

2010-02-21T12:03:00.000-08:00

Turning Point

Ben Hogan’s turning point (white line below) consisted of him laterally moving his tailbone over his left heel on the downswing. What this did was place his center of gravity over his left foot which set his body in a perfect place where he could then turn hard toward the target. That weight shift, as I describe in my video “On Target Power” , is basically just stepping from your right side to your left and then turning your belt buckle to the target. You are a literally dragging the club through. I feel as if the back of my left hand is slapping the back of the ball. Note that the left shoulder joint is the top of the turning point leading the way through the shot.

New song - A Soldier Never Truly Dies

2010-02-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

A Soldier Never Truly Dies

Ben Hogan swing and cupped left wrist

2010-01-17T19:56:00.001-08:00

Too Many Angles

2010-01-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

Too Many Angles

The butt end of the club has its own slot during the golf swing. My findings agree with Jimmy Ballard i.e. If you create an angle on the backswing you will have to compensate for it on the downswing in order to get the clubface square at impact. I don’t advocate a rotation of the forearms on the backswing as that motion will create a 90 degree angle leaving the toe of the club pointed skyward as the club shaft is parallel with the target line. In modern teaching once you have the club in this position you simply lift the club over your shoulder as you turn your back to the target.

The problem with this is that at the top of your swing your clubface is 90 degrees open and worse yet, if you’ve cupped your left wrist you’ve opened the clubface even more. All of these things have to be accounted for in the split-second of the downswing. If you throw the clubhead from the top (casting) you have complicated the problem even more by having the clubhead cross the target line leaving you trapped to only be able to deliver the clubhead to the ball from outside to inside the target line. So no wonder you slice.

Even if you don’t throw the club to the outside and simply drop your hands to your side you are still plagued with the clubface being wide open because of the forearm roll and left wrist cupping you've applied on the backswing. So now in that nanosecond you have left you have to violently roll your forearms to account for the angle you created at the start of your backswing and also flip your wrists in hopes of even hitting the ball at all. All of this activity is like trying to choreograph a flock of turkeys on Thanksgiving Day.

So what causes this insanity? It comes from a misunderstanding of how to cock your wrists properly. It has been taught incorrectly forever. Take your left hand and hold it out in front of you palm open and thumb pointed up. Now cock your wrist. Do it very slowly and you will notice that the only way you can accomplish this wrist cock is to rotate your forearm to the right as the back of your left hand becomes visible. There’s the problem. Some call that pronating which is a misuse of the term. The back of your left hand is pointed in the same direction as your clubface. So if you cock your wrist as you are traditionally taught you can readily see that your clubface is opened very wide on the back swing. If you can’t get it closed at impact the clubface is pointed way right (open) and worse yet it has increased your loft dramatically. The high right shot is inevitable.

You are then taught to correct for this to strengthen your grip turning the back of your left hand even more open and getting your right hand now under the shaft in hopes of making it easier to close the clubface. This only creates even more angles and problems. So no wonder golfers suffer so.

Instead of going through all of this wouldn’t it make more sense to be able to use your body as it was built? Learn to create angle that sets up “the angle” which produces the set up to achieve maximum power from the conservation of angular momentum without getting the club opened up that only the most agile and skilled individuals can even come close to repeating it. Simple is better. If you can swing simple and not sacrifice power – even better! The swing I teach is just that. I got it from John Schlee who got it from the master, Ben Hogan. Hogan was one of those skilled and agile people, no doubt. However, you can’t see in his pictures what it was he was feeling and thereby trying to accomplish.

Once I realized how all of this fell together simply, as Hogan did it, did it become repeatable for me. Hogan deliberately disguised what he was doing to keep his edge over his opponents. Schlee showed me this simple “secret” and he said “It’s not in any of the books. If you don’t know what to look for you’ll never find it.” Hogan has been heard to say the same thing. Fewer angles in the wrong places and an angle in the right place makes all the difference.

On Target Power DVD by Mike Cortson

2009-12-21T10:55:00.000-08:00

Available at www.benhogan.ws

My radio interview with Australian hall of famer, Bruce Crampton

2009-12-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

I host a weekly half hour public radio show. My interview with Bruce Crampton is available for free mp3 download at http://www.mediafire.com/?bhy2d9slyjy . The link to my show archives is located at http://radio.mikecortson.com/ .

Mike
http://www.mikecortson.com/
mike@mikecortson.com
http://www.benhogan.ws/

Hogan's MacGregor "Ben Hogan reg. 1622" irons

2009-12-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

Hogan's MacGregor "Ben Hogan reg. 1622" irons and

"His Own" putter

The Secret

2009-11-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me why I teach this swing. I found this the simplest way to hit a ball after my stroke. I knew what Schlee had showed me regarding the wrist position at impact. When John first went to see Hogan the first thing Hogan asked him was "Show me your impact position." Hogan knew precisely how he needed to feel at impact. He would always try to hit that exact feel through his body at impact. He would pose impact to burn it into his memory which is where he came up with the concept of muscle memory. John used to wrap his hands in duct tape having them in the impact position. He'd sleep that way trying to ingrain it. He even made a device to put on the back of his right hand to hold it in the impact position. When he was hurting for money he sold his device to Greg Norman who later sold it as Greg Norman's Secret. I'm sure you've seen it.

Now that you can hit the ball straight you can try working the ball. If you've ever played ping pong you should know how to put side spin on a ping pong ball. A golf club works the exact same way. Get that feel for moving the clubface just as you would a ping pong paddle and you're on your way. I step up to a shot and always ask myself, "How do you want to spin this one?" I make a decision and let my body and subconscious do the rest. So try that long handled ping pong paddle you call a golf club and start having some fun. Take care.

Ben Hogan and "I wish I had three right hands!"

2009-11-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

Ben Hogan stated in Five Lessons he wished he had three right hands. Unless you know HOW to apply your right hand properly you most likely have experienced much frustration hitting fat shots, thin shots, slices and pulls. All the while you keep hearing that haunting "I wish I had three right hands!" Not to worry. If you've had these problems and more there is a solution!

You have to learn the proper use of your hands. The right hand stays extended through impact. I am willing to wager that you have been "flapping" your right hand through impact hoping to create three right hands. What I mean by flapping is the extension and flexing of your right hand. Hold your right hand out in front of you with your thumb pointed up and bend your wrist left (flex) and right (extension). That's flapping. Hogan had the right wrist extension through impact. He also had the left hand flex or what you would call the bowed left wrist at impact. So how do you apply "three right hands" without flapping and maintaining the bowed left wrist at impact? Here's the trick or secret. Get a hand towel and take it and set in on your table. With your right palm on top of the towel start wiping the table by twisting your forearm back and forth. Notice that you still have the wrinkles in the back of your hand and wrist as you wipe. That right to left motion is how your hand must work through impact. Now curl your fingers under as if you were gripping a club. Your index finger and the first pad nearest your palm is where Hogan said he felt pressure pressing forward. Now try the same motion now with the back of your left hand on top of the towel and wipe left and right. That is the motion you want to have with your hands through impact. Couple this with 4 to 10 hitting UP on the ball. You'll soon realize that you can pour on the three right hands as hard as you like. The next issue is simply timing. We'll talk about the race between your thumbs and pinkies in an upcoming post.

Hit 'em straight!

Mike
http://www.mikecortson.com/
http://www.benhogan.ws/
mike@mikecortson.com

Hit down on the ball?

2009-11-03T05:19:00.000-08:00

One of the basic teaching points which has been considered an absolute must is, hitting down on the ball, at least with irons. The belief is that by hitting down on the ball this motion causes the ball to spin backwards and get airborne. One of the hazards in taking this advice, and one I believe is the cause of more bad shots than anything, is that instinctively hitting down on the ball 99.9% of the time can only be done if you come over the top. Take a club now and try it. You'll see your instinct is to chop down on the ball and your right side will dominate coming over the top. The second bad thing is that your right hand dominates. If you set your arc with the left arm and then try to hit with the right hand that extension of the right wrist will change the arc causing the clubhead to hit the ground before getting to the ball. Fat shots come from this and/or not shifting your weight to the front foot. So what can we do to get rid of these problems and still get the ball airborne with back spin? Easy, hit up on the ball. Take your club and swing from 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock hitting the inside quarter of the ball. You will immediately see that the only way you can hit up on the ball is by coming from the inside, which is as it should be. The loft and grooves on the clubface take care of the spin. It is the speed of the clubhead that creates the spin. Count Yogi in his book Five Simple Steps To Perfect Golf states that he hits up on every shot. Try it. You will get better and more consistent results.

I recall seeing a tournament telecast where Peter Kostis was describing Ernie Els' iron shot in super slow motion and a close up of the clubhead at impact saying, "Look at how Els' clubhead is coming down, compressing the ball against the ground causing the ball to go up." Kostis must not have been looking at the screen as Els' clubhead barely nipped the grass catching the ball cleanly. Stop digging up the fairways and start hitting the golf ball instead of the one you're standing on.

4 to 10 GOLF

2009-09-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hit 'em straight!

Mike

http://www.mikecortson.com/

http://www.benhogan.ws/

Hogan's swing plane - misunderstood

2009-08-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

I watch in amazement commentators and golf instructors talking about swing plane. Ben Hogan coined the term when he came up with the thought of his head sticking out from a huge pane of glass resting on his shoulders with the front edge lying just past the ball. He knew if he were to hit from the inside he had to keep his clubhead below the glass from the top of the swing through to the finish. I have seen several teaching aids trying to mimick the pane of glass either commercially made or homemade. What is never addressed is that Hogan's pane of glass also had to be moved during the down swing. The glass has to tip to the right of the target line and point to the right in the direction of the second baseman if you were standing at home plate or to about 10 o'clock if you were standing on 6 o'clock and ball was sitting in the center of the clock face. Hogan swung out from 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock hitting the inside quarter of the ball. See page 88 in Hogan's five lessons. That 4 to 10 motion is the only swing plane that matters. If you stand with your hands hanging at your side and start walking you will notice that your arms swing naturally as you walk. I lost that natural swing in my right arm after having a massive stroke in 2003. When I taught myself to play again with these paralysis limitations I literally have to force myself to create that "natural" arm swing for my right side. It dawned on me that this arm swing was the guide Hogan was using for swing plane. You can see it in his waggle before each shot. John Schlee, Hogan's only pupil, taught me years ago Hogan's actual secret. After understanding the arm swing and plane, I just had to get my hands in Hogan's "secret" position (not so secret since my book and DVD came out) to hit the ball purely. Works like a charm.

Tempo

2009-04-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'd have say that Fred Couples has the best tempo of any pro golfer I've had the pleasure of watching. He uses Mother Nature better than anyone. He takes the club back outside raising his arms up high over his right shoulder and simply lets his arms drop in behind his right hip letting the club head fly from the inside out up to a relaxed effortlessly looking finish.

I met Fred's mom back in '92 after he had won the Masters along with Jim Nantz' dad. We had been following Fred at the Shark Shootout and had a wonderful day. I remember asking Fred's mom how proud she must be to have such a good looking and talented young man for a son. She smiled and said, "Oh, he's a dead-ringer for his father." We parted company and later after the round was finished I ran into her again at the practice tee. Fred had just finished hitting balls and told his mom to "Get dad, let's get something to eat." She went over to a group who had been watching Butch Harmon putting on a trick shot show. She came back with dad in tow and I was pleased to see that Fred was a "dead-ringer" for his dad. I told Fred's mom and she shook her head "No" and said "Oh he's not his father. This is his step father!" I was shocked and then she grabbed me and laughed. "I was kidding!!" She smiled and the were off to dinner. It wasn't too long after that Mrs. Couples passed away. She was a genuine class act with a great sense of humor.

Angular Momentum to the max

2009-02-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

Jack Hamm, famous long drive champion and creator of "The Hammer", manages to maximize conservation of angular momentum beyond anyone I have witnessed in the thousands of hours of instruction video, competition video and my own up close and personal observations of some of the world's longest hitters. Hamm's approach comes right out of the science classroom as he was an engineering student at the same undergrad school I attended at the same time. I never met him or for that matter had any idea he was also a student there. His setup is simple. His take away is even more simple merely taking the club head away slowly turning the face and the back of his left hand parallel to the target line with his hand facing away from him when the club head is a knee height. He then simply picks the club up while turning his right shoulder as far away from the target as possible. His first move is a hard turn of his hips dropping his hands to his hip while the club head is still completely behind him. He turns as hard as he can and this ice skater spin catapults the club head through the hitting area as fast as he can allow it without throwing himself out of balance. It is a simple move to learn and can produce "POW!" big time for those looking to kill the ball. I wouldn't recommend it for your short game, hehe.

Mike

Winning Thinking

2009-02-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

In 2003 I was diagnosed with terminal cancer and then had a massive stroke landing me in an end of life hospice program in a nursing home. I was indeed left for dead. In January 2004 my lucidity returned but I was still terminal. I resolved to be happy no matter what and low and behold my health started improving. Not just improving but IMPROVING! to the extent that my cancer cleared up (no treatment) and I was able to learn to walk, talk, read, write, yes everything from scratch. I wrote my book, Winning Thinking, how to be happy almost all of the time, highlight all of the thinking techniques I use to keep myself happy and thereby maximizing the law of attraction bringing more happiness and abundance into my life. These techniques will teach you how to get yourself into the zone at will. I kept it short and to the point. If you're struggling with your golf game, business, relationships or just life in general these techniques will give you to power to take 100% control over your thinking and your life. It bloody works. Find the book at www.winningthinking.mikecortson.com You will be happy you did.

Also be sure to check you my radio broadcasts on positive thinking and the law of attraction. Great info and great guests including Australian Hall of Fame golf star Bruce Crampton. Learn how to think and win 7 times in one season just like Bruce! www.mikecortson.com Click the podcast download link and find all of my shows for FREE mp3 download. Listen, learn and enjoy!

Mike

Pure Ball Striking

2008-12-16T05:14:00.000-08:00

Ben Hogan was noted for his pure ball striking. John Schlee was his only pupil and I was fortunate enough to have learned Hogan's "secret" from him. Hogan made no mention of any "secret" in his 1957 book The Modern Fundamentals, Five Lessons. He did allude to it. A lawyer by trade, I have the skill to research analyze after decades of practicing being editor of law review back in law school. My golf library is bulging with books and videos from every era, expert and great player. I was a PGA Tour player manager for Australian Hall of Famer Bruce Crampton and others for many years. As a result, I had the good fortune to have been able to observe up close and personally the golf swings of the world's greatest players. Swings on tour are as varied as there are players. Many of the new comers have what we refer to as "cookie cutter swings" all based on modern teaching as expounded by a small circle of teachers brought to prominence through television, books and other media.

The modern swing is designed around positions believed if mastered in sequence will produce a "perfect" golf swing. Having studied these methods for decades now and seeing how frustrating and haphazard the results have been, especially in competition, I chose to revert to my own experiences as advocated by Hogan through Schlee to me.

Of note is that little in modern instruction focuses on the actual impact with the ball. All of the teachings are focused on the mechanics of swinging as if impact with the ball was merely a consequence of these mechanics. Hogan specified mechanics there can be no doubt, however, impact and trajectory were his primary focus. In teaching Schlee, Hogan asked John to show him his impact position. John got into the position he thought he should be in at impact and Hogan shook his head in disgust. Hogan adjusted John's impact position to the powerful position Hogan achieved as witnessed in stop action photos of himself and told John to start his swing from that position; swing back and through allowing himself to replicate the impact position on through to the finish. John did that and hit the ball pure and straight. Not to leave this welcome result to being a fluke, John repeated this swing each time starting from the position Hogan put him in for impact and low and behold John hit each shot perfectly.

By starting from this impact address position it became almost automatic for the body to return to that position from the back swing as if the body wanted to get right back to the impact position. The typical static address position with the club face square to the target is obviously not the impact position. At impact there is an enormous weight shift to the left side with the hips opened to the target slightly with the hands handle leading the club head. If the club face were left in its original address position is would be wide open at impact unless it were somehow closed by the hands. So the radial axis of the club head has to be achieved in some manner. This is where Hogan found his "secret".

In the 1955 Life magazine article, and I do have an original copy, Hogan explained about half of his "secret" indicating the "cupped left wrist" at the top of the back swing. In Five Lessons Hogan makes no mention of this. He actually talks about the left wrist "supinating". That term was misused there and continues to be misused by the top teachers I have studied. While the terminology is misused I fully understand what Hogan was talking about from my work with Schlee and my verification of it from strict scrutiny of hours of Hogan footage that I have. It required me to become intimately familiar with video editing software and I have become somewhat of an expert in using this tool to find that proverbial needle in the golf swing haystack. And I was immediately able to substantiate the "secret" because I knew what I was looking for in those films. I reviewed Jim McLean's video done with The Golf Channel on Hogan and it was abundantly clear that while Jim has a huge amount of understanding he did not understand what Hogan was doing. Nor have I witnessed any other teacher who has pointed to the features that Hogan so cleverly disguised. Just like a magic trick, Hogan's misdirection sent everyone on a wild goose chase.

The "cupped left wrist" at the top is actually a disguise. That opening of the club face made Hogan look about like all of his contemporaries at the top. In Five Lessons he said he wished that he had three right hands which is also a red herring. Close observation will show how Hogan closed the club face and the path upon which he determined to be crucial. At page 88 of Five Lessons he shows how the pane of glass had to move to accommodate the down swing plane. It is crucial. Also crucial is the weak left hand grip because it is that left hand and wrist that apply the fire to the swing. To understand this imagine that the club handle is a screw driver. To tighten a screw you would turn the handle clockwise. That would be the motion on the back swing which would open the club face as shown by a cupped left wrist at the top of the back swing. So it is logical that since the club was twisted in a clockwise manner on the back swing it would have to be twisted in a counter-clockwise manner on the down swing in order for the face to be square at impact. Right here is The "secret". This counter-clockwise twist his started right from the top of the back swing down and through as hard and fast as it can be done. Since the grip was weak from the outset the worst one can do is square the club face at the moment of impact.

The launch sequence as I refer to it in my DVD "On Target Power" as it was shown to me by Schlee is; 1. knees, 2. hands, 3. club head. The left hand is aggressively twisting the handle through impact applying maximum speed all started from the ground up. It is far easier to demonstrate this in my video than to try and explain it here. The DVD can be seen at my web site, http://mikecortson.com/ or directly purchased at http://benhogan.ws/ .

Even in my state of disability and age I still maintain a 2 handicap actually handicapped. Hogan's technique is easy to learn and works like a charm.

Hit 'em straight.

Mike
mike@mikecortson.com
lessons year round call: (269) 326-0736

Story

2008-11-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

Oh Little One
By Michael Cortson
Having had the misfortune or fortune, depending on your point of view, of surviving a collision with most certain death, my observations of even the most basic of good and evil, right and wrong, and all of the core values upon which we all place our foundational beliefs were, to say the very least, violently shaken to rubble only to be rebuilt to a new and enlightened view. When I look back to a time when I was little and the world was filled with every possibility, dream and fantasy one could imagine, I see clearly now just how, at a glacier’s pace, my life evolved into a morass of confusion, fear and pain. Not that I was ever mindful that these most unwanted aspects were to be afoot, but how these virtues of success, safety and security were never more than a belief and illusion in the first place. That is to say that all the while that I studied and worked tirelessly to build a life, wealth and a family somewhere along the way that little person who I had been became lost and forgotten and thrown into the dust bin mostly likely never to be seen again. Perhaps it was the adult thing to do. I was to put aside childish thoughts and virtues and become a man taking the world head on without regard for anything more than my success, wealth and family. So there I was battering away day after day, month by month, year after year climbing some imaginary mountain to nowhere which at its peak there was to be some glorious reward.
Well, this journey came to an abrupt halt and I landed smack in the middle of the absolute end of it all staring helplessly at a ceiling which was to be my final view of all this. Frightening, wouldn’t you say, but of course. The end of it all is not something we wish to ponder at any length and that is due to our absolute fear of all fears, certain death and the unknown of it all. I look back now, having lost all that what was once so dear to me that I would tear the eyes from someone’s skull should they threaten my success, wealth and especially family. After all, I had devoted a lifetime to building these things and woe is to the one who dared threaten any of it!
So the little boy, that fragile harmless lad, scampering about the yard, dreaming dreams of becoming the world’s greatest baseball player, squeezing the joy out of every precious minute of daylight he could get, I would tell him now; you never left. You have been here all the time. You are the one that this living is about. To live and live as large as your imagination will take you! To be happy and laugh until your sides ache. To cry as if it were your last moment. To love as heartfelt for all, as you love the new puppy, your catcher’s mitt, and the promise of the new sunrise. Never lose yourself, little one. Live proudly in joy and happiness throughout your life. Bring a smile where there is sadness. Bring hope where there is despair. Let your innocence and love for all things be a light, a beacon to all who seek the same. Now I hear my mother’s voice asking me again, “Whudja learn?” And I can say without a doubt, “I was at the top of the mountain all along! Welcome back, oh little one.”

Leverage vs "Swing"

2008-11-23T04:36:00.000-08:00

Leverage vs "Swing"
By Mike Cortson
I have been a student of the golf swing for over 20 years. I have been a PGA Tour player manager for some of the best players over the years including Australian Hall of Fame golfer, Bruce Crampton. Needless to say, I have been around the best players up close and personal where I never wasted the opportunity to study. I am a lawyer, now retired. I was also valedictorian of my law school class and law review editor. I am a research nut. My golf library is loaded with every important golf book, article, and video I could get my hands on. I truly have left no stone unturned.

Having had the good fortune to learn what Ben Hogan was actually doing in his golf swing as it was taught to his only pupil, John Schlee, I have been amazed at how other teachers, and I mean big name teachers, have totally misunderstood just what it was Hogan was doing. Pictures and films can guide you to what it was that Hogan was doing, but only if you know where to look. If you don't know what you are looking for it is hard to know it when you find it.

Ernest Jones author of "Swing The Club Head" is the father, if you will, of the swinging versus hitting school. Much like Count Yogi, Jones was a proponent of allowing the club head to swing freely to generate as much speed as possible to create force. The force equation of F (force) = M (mass) x A (acceleration). Nowhere in that equation do we see F as part of its own creation.
Yet there is a school of thought on leverage as the method to be used to create force. Leverage in and of itself is a force and by the law of physics has no business in the equation F = M x A, as it would tend to fly in the face of physics making the equation F = M x A + F, or some such thing. So by applying force on the wrong side of the equation actually defeats the outcome.
There is more going on in a golf swing than just F = M x A so it would seem. To sort is out I had to break this down even further to clearly understand how this all worked. And I must tell you without having had the benefit of knowing what Hogan was actually doing I would probably be floundering around expounding "swing theories" rather than science.
Joe Dante, in his book "Four Magic Moves", came as close to understanding what Hogan was doing as anyone of his day. Unfortunately, his focus was on leverage in "delaying" the hit by locking the "backward wrist break" from the top of the back swing on through the hitting area.

That truly uncomfortable feeling of breaking the wrists twisting them under and holding them tight in that position will indeed get you into Hogan's impact position albeit in such an uncomfortable and contorted position that a student will quickly give up on that method. He discussed Conservation Of Angular Momentum (COAM) but didn't express how it works in the golf swing. He did mention the ice skater using COAM to spin fast by holding her arms in close to the body to speed up but did not understand how that actually works in a golf swing. Hogan called it "loading up", as Schlee told me. How it got released was a mystery to Dante. So "leverage" is actually part of the "A" in the F = M x A equation. Getting your body in the proper position to maximize COAM is the key, and it doesn't need to be all that uncomfortable.

In 2003 I was terminally diagnosed with cancer and the shortly thereafter had a massive stroke landing me in and end of life hospice program in a nursing home. I managed to overcome all that and hobbled out of the nursing home on June 11, 2004. I was indeed and still am totally and permanently disabled with all sorts of residual maladies. Yet I still had the golf bug and was determined to teach this beaten body to play golf again. I have little physical strength left and I am not all that big at 5' 9". So I can't generate a lot of power. But I knew that "power" had to do with electricity and not mechanics. In the golf swing we are trying to create force not power.

When I focused on the mechanics of the swing and allowed the club to swing allowing my body and wrists to flow naturally into the proper positions to create speed and what appeared to be leverage, I found that it was just a matter of getting myself set properly for the Hogan impact position at the finish of my back swing and then rotating my body back toward the target keeping the "launch sequence" in order; knees, hands club head all going to the target in that order that I was able to apply the club face dead square to the ball hitting it dead straight with appreciable distance. The faster I rotated keeping the proper sequence the farther I hit the ball.
Hogan deliberately hid what he was doing and I know exactly where he made his "secret" transition. Like a magic trick; once you know how it is done you can't help but see it happen. I actually demonstrate this "secret" in my DVD "On Target Power". COAM plays a huge roll in creating force. COAM is part of the "A" in F = M x A. Also what is further misunderstood is what constitutes the "M", mass. Mass is not just the club head alone. Mass constitutes every bit of who is swinging the club, not just the club head. If you merely swing the club head using solely its mass you are what I call hitting the ball with a bicycle rather than a dump truck. When you can get your entire body moving along with the club head now you are putting as much mass as you have times the acceleration you are generating with COAM. When your hands get down close to your right hip you are now in the ice skater's position and the faster you can rotate from that point them more COAM you can apply to the "A" part of the equation. It is literally FREE power and now for you, no longer a mystery.

If you want to learn how to do this properly I would strongly suggest that you get my book, "The Secret to a Great Golf Swing" as well as my DVD "On Target Power". You can order the book at your local bookstore if they are out of stock or order it from my web site. The DVD is available only from my site, http://mikecortson.com/ with a direct link to the DVD at http://benhogan.ws/ . You can also book a lesson with me either here in Southwestern Michigan, indoors during the winter by calling me at (269) 326-0736. I do travel and you can call me to discuss the details.

Hit 'em straight!
Mike

The power of thought

2008-11-21T07:52:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago had anyone told me that thoughts alone had the power to change people not only mentally but phyically as well I would have dismissed it as nonsense. Now after overcoming what was certain to be terminal cancer and a massive stroke I have to admit that thoughts indeed shape us physically, both good and bad. After looking at my thinking and all of the choices I made up to my illness striking me down it became abundantly clear that my thought patterns which determined my choices and actions certainly did lead me on a collision course with near certain death. Actually I did die twice during surgery when I was first hospitalized April 1, 2003. There was no light, no nothing. I was sent home to get my affairs in order which I reluctantly did. I made my funeral arrangements July 16, 2003 and the arrangements are still in place as I will indeed have one eventually. I withered away to about 110 lbs when on October 16, 2003 I had the stroke. My hospice counselor found me on the bathroom floor and called the ambulance.

In January 2004 my lucidity returned only to find me still hopeless lying in a nursing home. Coming to grips with the finality of all of this was quite overwhelming to say the least. I finally resolved that if this was all I had left then I would make the best of it. I decided to find joy in wonder in all that I saw. The view from my window was the garbage dumpsters behind the home. Yet I still admired the snow and the ice and was truly grateful for the opportunity to still be alive. As my thoughts focused on positive things exclusively I began to feel better emotionally and physically. Mind you this was not some program I conjured up to battle. It was just a change of my thinking to make each moment happier. Since my focus was on finding happiness low and behold that is exactly what I began to find. There was no time to think about illness or pain. I didn't complain.

I realized that if all of my past thinking had led me to illness there was no reason that my thinking couldn't lead me away from it. And so it did. The more I focus on happiness the more of it I get. By the same token, if my focus were to be on negative things the more of that I would get. The great thing about putting your thoughts on the positive is that you begin to attract more positive people around you which is exactly what I needed at the nursing home. The doctors, nurses, therapists and everyone were happy to assist me. Why? Because I was indeed genuinely happy and resolved to get back on my feet. Had I been an old grouch no one would have come to my aid. They most likely would have stood by and counted the minutes before I was gone and had a celebration.

So it is this resolve to find good and happiness that is the starting point. Regardless of your situation once you start looking for happiness, even in the tiniest places, you'll find it. The giant snowball starts with a single flake.

So where is all this happiness? It comes from within. How you feel is always your choice. And that is what winning thinking is about; choices. It is about taking 100% responsibility for how you feel and how you choose to be affected by the people and things around you. If you are set on looking outside of yourself for your happiness you will never find it there. It is always your choice. Taking 100% responsibility for your feelings is indeed frightening at first. We all would love to blame others for how we feel but you can't be insulted or hurt without giving your consent. So when I feel bad I look to myself to see what it is I am thinking that is causing me to feel that way. If someone pushes a button that makes me play a bad thought, I simply find a new thought for that button. I can't stop people from pushing my buttons but I sure can rearrange the records in this juke box of my called the brain.

Ben Hogan's secret

2008-11-20T17:01:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate enough to have been taught Ben Hogan's actual swing secret by his only pupil, the late John Schlee. In 2003 I was dying from cancer then had a massive stroke to boot. I managed to get myself out of that mess and hobbled out of the nursing home end of life program on June 11, 2004. I had been a PGA Tour player manager for tour pros including Bruce Crampton. My legal career was at and end and my disabilities left me with little hope of doing anything without being in a lot of pain and at best awkwardly at best. I loved golf but had never really been much of a player before my illness. Now that I had time to do things I decided to try to swing a golf club again. I adapted Hogan's secret to what I was able to do and after the winter of 04/05 I hobbled out to the local course to give it a try. I could hit the ball dead straight with acceptable distance for my age (mid 50s) and my physical disabilities. My scores were regularly in the 7os which came as quite a surprise. The local members all knew of my situation and were amazed that I even tried to play in pain much less as well as I did. People sought me out to teach them what I did and before long the word spread. I am able to teach people this simple technique and they improve.

One of my students from Chicago helped me get my book, The Secret to a Great Golf Swing published. The book has been well received. There have been a few who refuse to believe it is so simple and continue to seek simplicity through frustration on their own. My DVD, On Target Power lets me actually give my lesson as clearly and simply as possible and has been a success.

I have students come to see me from all over the US now and they all manage to improve dramatically. It has been very rewarding to be able to help even the most frustrated person to finally be able to hit a golf ball straight and with authority.

I now do a weekly radio show on WRHC-FM in Three Oaks, MI on positive thinking and the law of attraction. It was my thinking that got me through my health ordeal as I was not a candidate for surgery or treatment. I have a web site where you can download my shows for free http://mikecortson.com/ . Just click on the podcast download link. Bruce Crampton was kind enough to be on my show and share his thinking techniques which he used to win 7 times in his rookie season on the Senior Tour (Champions now).

If you have any questions about golf or just want to say hi feel free to email me at mike@mikecortson.com .

Hit 'em straight!

Mike