The Hogan Code

By CHRISTO GARCIA
Copyright 2014
Photography by Howard Boylan
Additional Photography by Bridget Garcia
Cover Design by Troy Devolld
Edited by Robert Garcia

MySwingEvolution Presents

The Hogan Code

By
CHRISTO GARCIA

The Hogan Code is the extraordinary story of how an average golfer

learned to swing like Ben Hogan, and pass those secrets along to other
struggling golfers.

Contents

PREFACE7
INTRODUCTION11
CHAPTER 1: BUY LESSONS, NOT CLUBS
19

TIM TERWILLIGER19

ROGER DUNN23

MARTIN AYERS29
CHAPTER 2: THE BIRTH OF MY HOGAN SWING

35

CHAPTER 3: MY BACKGROUND

43

CHAPTER 4: MY APPROACH TO STUDYING HOGAN

53

CHAPTER 5: BEN HOGANS FUNDAMENTALS

65

THE BODY SWING AND THE PANE OF GLASS65

THE LOWER BODY INITIATES, CREATING LAG IN THE SWING67

HOGANS ELBOWS AND THE SHORT LEFT THUMB68

ROTATION IS EVERYTHING70
CHAPTER 6: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HOGAN SWING

73

CHAPTER 7: HOGAN SWING CONCEPTS

81

THE BODY SWING81

THE HOGAN TRAP90

THE SUPERLOCK GRIP92

SLACK IN THE SWING100

HOGANS ELBOWS104


THE SECRET106

LASER/POWER STRETCH111

SHAFT PLANE SHOULDER PLANE SHAFT PLANE115
ACCELERATION 116

THE KARATE CHOP/LATERAL SIDE BEND118

BALL FLIGHT120

YOUR OWN SWING 121
CHAPTER 8: THE HOGAN SWING IN ACTION
125

THE WALK UP125

THE HOGAN STANCE127

THE TAKEAWAY134

THE DEEP TAKEAWAY137

THE TRANSITION140

THE ATOMIC ELBOW145
SLOTSVILLE146
SHANGRI-LA148

HIP THRUST151

THE RELEASE154
CHAPTER 9: SWING DRILLS
157

RIGHT ARM ONLY/BELT DRILL157

SLOW MOTION SWINGS 
158

LEFT SIDE PULL159

BASEBALL SWINGS160

THE CLAW161
MySwingEvolution Patronage165

The Hogan Code

Christo Garcia

PREFACE

I am a happy golfer. I wasnt always a happy golfer. Ive put

on some truly embarrassing displays of unsportsmanlike
conduct. Ive thrown clubs, cursed at the top of my lungs,
and at one point I swore I would never play golf again. I
made an absolute fool out of myself about 20 years ago
playing with some of my old high school buddies. I was
just 23 years old, I had been a decent high school player,
but I had completely lost control of my game. I couldnt
maintain my composure, and I started tossing clubs like
tomahawks after every bad shot. I was acting like a spoiled
brat. So, after walking off the course with a score in the
120s, I swore I would never play golf again.
Four long years later, I decided I would try to play golf
again on one condition: I would never act like such a
7

The Hogan Code

baby again. I would allow myself to play golf only as long

as I could keep my composure. For the next 13 years I
would maintain my composure and plaster a smile on my
face even though I was playing like a total hack. I basically had to accept the fact that even though I harbored an
intense desire to improve at the game, my lot in life was
to shoot in the 80s, 90s, and sometimes 100s (I played
once with a friend named George who tried to help me
and my score was 126!).
It seemed like breaking 80 would always be impossible.
I thought Id never get rid of my block/slice. I did not
think I would ever be able to control the flight of my golf
ball to any serious degree. I never thought that I could be
any good. But, I was wrong. I simply didnt know what
I was supposed to be doing. Its hard for me to believe
now that after playing golf since the age of eight, I never
understood the proper way to swing a golf club! Unfortunately, by my estimation at least 90% of golfers share
this same fate. I can say today, I would still be in the same
predicament had I not picked up Ben Hogans book 5
Lessons and started studying Mister Hogans swing.
Today, Im proud to say I am very satisfied with my golf
game. In the past few years I have learned so much about
the mechanics of swinging a golf club that I am convinced I can help other golfers improve at what has been
a dastardly game for so many. Mister Hogan famously
said that any average golfer should be able to shoot in
the 70s, for he has all the physical equipment he needs to
hit fine shots. Today, I completely agree with this! There
are a finite number of fundamentals to master with the
8

Christo Garcia

full swing, and then one must spend some time learning the short game. If a person is willing to devote the
necessary amount of time in learning these skills, then
breaking 80 is indeed a realistic possibility for practically
anyone. And for most people that would mean, you can
be a happy golfer, too!

The Hogan Code

10

Christo Garcia

INTRODUCTION

When I decided to examine Hogans swing in early 2010

to revamp my own golf swing the main reason was to
correct errant driving. Who doesnt love the feel of a perfectly struck drive and the sight of the ball rocketing into
the distance? During my driving malaise over a threeyear span I bought seven new drivers and for some reason
none of them worked. I bought each one and imbued
them with so much hope and promise I convinced myself
they would deliver the magic elixir I needed to become a
great ball striker. Guess what? I was wrong.
I did think lessons would help and I had recently taken a
couple of lessons with two different local pros. Their approaches to solving my golfing woes were very different.
At the time, I was a golfer who had the potential to hit
11

The Hogan Code

the ball 280 yards if I did everything just right. Unfortunately, it rarely happened. Most of the time I would hit
a block slice about 230. I was always in other fairways
than my own, playing from the trees, and trying to hit
Seve Ballesteros-style miracle shots, which I had become
pretty good at by necessity.
This was my typical steep
golf swing in December 2009.
Notice the flipped over toe
(Bad Swing 1, 2, 3).

12

Christo Garcia

I heard Jack Nicklaus say on a telecast that you cant play

the game of golf properly if you cant get off the tee, so
I decided I needed help, professional help. I went to my
local golf course and found a pro that told me he knew
exactly what the problem was. I hit the ball to the right
because I was getting stuck before impact and I needed
some space for my arms to pass in front of my body. So,
he had me reach my arms and clubhead down the target
line away from the ball as far as my arms could go as I
started my takeaway. I hoped with all my heart that this
would be the answer to my problems. I hit some good
drives and thanked the pro profusely. I thought, mistakenly, that was all there was to it. And, for a while it
seemed like I was hitting the ball better, but it didnt last.
After a number of bad range sessions and poor rounds I
decided I needed another lesson. Now, I was really desperate. I went back to the golf course, and the pro I had
been working with was gone. There was a new pro that
was happy to give me a lesson and we stepped out onto
the range. He knew I was a poor driver of the ball and
had me take out a pitching wedge. He chose a bush as
a target about 100 yards away and had me hit a half a
dozen balls to it. Afterwards, he seemed impressed and
confident he could help me. Next, he had me take out
my driver and aim over the bush. Now, I want you to
hit that driver with the same swing speed and tempo you
just used for that pitching wedge. I took a swing and hit
it right over the bush. Great. Now, lets try it again. I
took another swing and it went over the bush, about 200
yards. The pro was happy with what he was seeing and
told me that was a drive I could keep in play. When I
13

The Hogan Code

told him that I would probably not be able to swing that

easy on the course, he told me that I would have to learn
to swing much easier. I left this lesson angry because I
knew it was nothing more than a band-aid on a swing
that wasnt working, and I did not want to hit a little baby
drive around the course.
I wanted to hit the golf ball like a professional golfer and I
had the inner belief that I could do it. My natural instinct

Another bad swing.

14

Christo Garcia

in regards to golf was to hit the ball with some gusto. I

was not going to go around golf courses hitting a 200yard bunt off the tee. To be honest, I felt rather insulted
by this teacher. I dont think he meant to insult me, but
I felt like a total hacker because he couldnt see in me the
determination to become a great ball striker. All he saw
was a 40 year-old loser and this seriously bothered me.
Two different pros, two different swing tips, and I was the
same lousy driver of the golf ball. As I ruminated over what
I considered wasted money on a lesson that only made me
feel like a chump, something occurred to me. I would have
to find a teacher with a swing philosophy I could agree
with. Driving tips werent going to do it. I wanted to learn
the best golf swing there was so my thoughts drifted to
the great Ben Hogan. I needed to find a golf teacher who
could teach me to swing just like the Hawk!
There is an old saying, The truth is one. The sages speak
of it by many names. Well, I soon found out that many
teaching pros claimed to know how to swing like Ben
Hogan, but at the same time it seemed like everyone had
a completely different take on the great masters swing.
I decided I would begin going to teachers specifically to
learn the Hogan swing and Id have to have the guts to
challenge them about what they would be teaching me.
I called my local course for a lesson, but this time I had
a plan for my swing project. I would call it My Swing
Evolution. I finally got the head pro on the phone and
told him that I wanted to learn how to swing like Ben
15

The Hogan Code

Hogan. The head pro chuckled at the proposition. I

asked him how much he knew about how the great master swung the golf club. He told me that his teacher knew
Ben Hogan personally. So, he was very familiar with that
school of instruction. He asked me what I shot, and I replied, mid-to-high 80s, and sometimes low 90s. Looking back, he must have thought I was crazy. He asked
if I had any video to send him and of course I did. It
was February 2010, and we booked a time for the coming
weekend and my Hogan adventure began.

My vertical shaft position and cupped left wrist before my evolution

(Dec. 2009).

16

Christo Garcia

17

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 1:
BUY LESSONS, NOT CLUBS

TIM TERWILLIGER

Tim Terwilliger is the head pro at Brookside Country

Club in Pasadena, California. I am so thankful he took
my call and was willing to give me a lesson. I had no idea
how much golf knowledge I was about to get. The one
thing I will say is beware of the teacher who gives you a
little tip to fix your swing. You just need to do this, the
snake oil salesman will say. And, the desperate golfer will
lap it up, and spend any amount of money hoping for it
to be true. Unfortunately, its a fairy tale. The golf swing
is an extremely complicated subject and teachers need to
have a comprehensive understanding of the swing and
need to be able to articulate the reasons they believe in
their certain swing philosophy.
19

The Hogan Code

Here I am meeting Tim Terwilliger for the first time in February 2010.

When I met Tim, he was modest about his knowledge

of Hogan. He didnt make any outrageous claims. Tim
spent a lot of time learning the swing with a teacher from
Texas who was personal friend of Ben Hogan and played
many times with the master. I am a great admirer of
how Tim hits the ball. He is a lefty who stays centered
over the ball and just creams it with tons of lag. Tim was
also an awesome baseball player who made it deep in the
game before becoming a pro golfer.
When we got to the practice tee, Tim had me warm up
hitting balls to a dark patch in the grass he said was 79
yards away. I was hitting the ball pretty well and hit a few
just a yard or two long of the target. Apparently, that told
him a lot because he seemed to intimate that he could see
some potential in me unlike the other teachers.
20

Christo Garcia

Then, Tim told me he had seen the video of my swing

that I sent him. In the video at the top of my swing I
was jamming my way into my wrist hinge and I was too
gouge-y. I told him I was trying to create lag (I had
always thought you created lag by float-loading the crap
out of the club and maintaining a crazy wrist angle into
the ball.). Tim told me I was overdoing it and suggested
I work more in the direction of Steve Stricker who had
recently found great success on tour with what looks like
no wrist hinge, or at least very little. Tim then said one of
the most profound things that I ever heard about the golf
swing when he made the following statement:
When the pros are on the range the two things they
are working on the most is their transition, and
their tempo.
Up until this moment in my golfing life I had never given any consideration to the importance of my transition.
Thirty years of golf and I never thought about the importance of the transition. I cant really say I even knew what
the transition was. I believed there was a backswing, and
a downswing. Sometimes I would hear the guys on TV
talk about this nebulous area of the swing called the transition, but I didnt know what was supposed to be happening then.
When I was a little kid and played fairly well in the 8th and
9th grade, I remember I tried to swing with a silky action. I
was imitating my older brother, Don, who was my golfing
idol and still has a beautiful classic swing. But then, as I hit
a growth spurt in my mid-teens I suddenly became much
21

The Hogan Code

stronger, and my transition changed. It got very fast. Now

I was all about hitting the ball as hard as I could, as fast as
I could. This destroyed my smooth transition and would
plague me on the tee for the next 25 years. The comment I
would get the most was I was swinging too fast, but I never
understood what that caused or why it was bad.
Tim obviously saw my bad tendencies and had me pull out
my driver. He told me when he was working on his game,
his mentor would make him hit the ball 100 yards with
his driver over and over again. You might think I would
rebel from this short driver practice drill but I didnt
because now I really understood that I needed to calm
down my transition and keep the club square through the
impact zone. And, this exercise was much harder than I
would have anticipated. Tim told me to do the Stricker
move with my wrists, make a smooth transition, and hit
the ball at my target just 100 yards out. I had zero accuracy and I bent the ball in both directions at first. That was
okay because Tim had given me a nugget of gold to carry
me on my way. One thing Ive learned through other
disciplines is you cant expect perfect results overnight.
This absolutely applies to golf and I believe it is one of
the things that makes the game worth trying to master.
A few days later after work I stopped by a driving range in
Studio City that has nightlights on a street called Whitsett. I tried to do Tims 100-yard drill with my driver
but it was not working out at all. The ball was going all
over the place. After awhile I just went ahead and started hitting drivers as I usually do as hard as I can, and I
ended up spraying them all over kingdom come. I had
22

Christo Garcia

zero control over the golf ball, and I remember thinking,

I have a good swing. This cant be happening! I literally
couldnt believe my eyes. I had done some good work on
my transition and I could not understand why I didnt hit
it straighter.
While I was hitting balls an older gentleman wearing all
khaki was walking up and down the range, pausing at
various stalls to watch the struggling golfers. I remember
his gaze falling upon me and I made a point to put on my
prettiest swing when he watched. My first ball was not
very solid. I did not grumble, but rather I patiently teed
up another ball and maintained my composure. The second ball was just as bad. Although I was steaming inside
I tried to stay calm as I bent down to tee up another ball
and before I could stand up an outstretched arm held a
card. And, the older gentleman spoke
Your heads in front of the ball. I can help you
with that. My name is Roger Dunn.

ROGER DUNN

Most golfers who are from Southern California are familiar with the name Roger Dunn because one of the largest
golf superstore chains in the Southwest is called Roger
Dunn Golf Shops. In addition to carrying all the latest
equipment, Roger Dunn stores have one of the widest
selections of quality pre-owned clubs out there. I have
bought more clubs from Roger Dunn than anywhere else
and here was the man, indeed the legend, handing me his
23

The Hogan Code

This was my first lesson with Roger Dunn in March 2010.

card! He told me the rate would be $45 and we set a time

to meet a couple of days later.
I met Roger after work one night, and he walked me inside where we both took a seat so we could talk about the
swing without distractions. [Note for teachers out there,
Roger talked to me about the swing for an hour and a half
before I even touched a club.] Roger had many photos
of great golfers cut out from magazines that were pasted onto white poster board to help him make his points
about the swing. He had some pictures of David Ledbetter demonstrating wrist cock and lag, so I mentioned that
I had taken some lessons with him as a youth. Mister
Dunn said he disagreed with Ledbetters thoughts about
lag and used some photographs of Vijay Singh to make
his point. Roger: You see here Vijay has thrown his
punch.
24

Christo Garcia

Roger went on to say martial artists make great golfers.

Of course, I had to tell him about my background in karate. Roger was happy to hear that I had been a karate
champion and told me I would have to learn to thrust in
golf the same way I thrust in martial arts. Roger said,
When they break those boards they dont think at the
board. They think through it! Truer words have never
been spoken.
Roger Dunn was a great admirer of Ben Hogan and referenced his swing throughout our lesson. He also told
me a story about defeating the great Paul Runyon in a
head to head match back in his heyday. Roger told me he
had shot a 62 at Brookside Country Club, which is one of
the toughest courses for me that I regularly play. I could
not imagine shooting such a low round with persimmon
and balata! When I asked Roger why he didnt play professional golf he chuckled and told me he did all right
with the golf stores.
When we went out to the range, Mister Dunn had me
hit a few golf balls for him. Right away he told me we
were going to need to flatten my swing. I wasnt sure how
to go about it and he said to reach into my right pocket
with my left hand! This was a very odd feeling at first but
it was one swing component that I would begin working
on in earnest. Little did I know at the time that Mister
Dunn was keeping me under Hogans Pane of Glass.
Mister Dunn took out a kids 7 iron and began hitting
balls with it. I was amazed that he could hit it so well at
78 years of age with only one arm! [Roger had some se25

The Hogan Code

vere arthritis and used only his right arm to demonstrate

the golf swing.] Next, he handed the club to me and had
me start hitting balls with it (I had no idea how important this right hand only drill was at the time.). He liked
to refer to other sports that utilized swinging a stick or
racket, like tennis. He said growing up in Iowa he had
to cut the grass by hand with a grass whip. He swung
flat and low, which gave him the best insight into how to
hit a golf ball because he had to develop a low flat swing
with maximum speed at the bottom of the arc. Once he
moved to California and picked up a golf club he knew
what to do with it.
When I asked Roger about the backswing he told me not
to move off of the ball. He talked about how in tennis
you dont move away from the ball as you take the racket

Roger demonstrating his takeaway, pushing into my hand with his left
hip (March 2010).

26

Christo Garcia

back. In fact, the way Roger demonstrated his move it

looked like he moved into the ball as he took the club
back! It seemed like he was expanding during the transition (I would not begin to understand the importance of
this hip opening stretch until much later from Kelvin Miyahira.). He opened his hips, and drew the club back to
the inside, and then snapped the club through the ball. It
was a beautiful move the way everything worked together.
Finally, Roger told me that there was a secret position he
and his friends would see that was common to great golfers of his era. Roger raised his right hand with his elbow
at his side and rotated his forearm externally away from
the ball and made a claw with his right hand. When
we saw that, we knew we were in trouble. Roger didnt
have a name for this position but from his demonstration I learned to imitate it. I would soon come to call it
The Claw, and I worked it into my swing immediately
(In order to find this position with two hands, it would
naturally bow the wrist in the left hand in order to cock
the wrist with the right.). Along with the flatter swing,
the bowed wrist position gave me a consistent draw that
I used quite effectively for months.
It would take three years before I fully understood The
Claw and realized it was a result of how you do the Hogan Roll into the perfect pre-impact position before the
wrists unhinge. This is what I now call Shangri-La.
Simply put, it squares the face of the club to the arc of
the swing before you reach the ball, not as you reach the
ball. Once I got a handle on The Claw, my scores began
dropping quickly. That spring I broke 80 for the first time
27

The Hogan Code

Roger showing me
the Claw for the first
time.

since 1989. I would do it 14 times in 2010 reaching a low

round of 74 in August. With The Claw most of the shots
I hit had a slight draw. I hit it solidly, not terribly far,
but I was keeping it in the fairway off the tee and giving
myself a chance to score.
At the end of our lesson, I realized Id been with Mister
Dunn for two hours and 40 minutes! It was an amazing lesson with an amazing man. Again, this was not a
tip-driven lesson but rather a seminar on the philosophy
of the entire golf swing. In my opinion, if more teachers
gave lessons the way Roger gave me my lesson, this game
would be more popular and there would be a lot better
golfers out there. Simply put, he helped me become a
28

Christo Garcia

much better golfer that day. I had a lot to work on for the
next few months and I would visit Roger two more times
in this period. In these subsequent sessions, there was not
any new information because Roger had given it all to me
during the first lesson. He just lent a watchful eye, and
encouraged my progress. He was happy to hear my stories about finally beginning to break 80. I wouldnt take
another lesson until August when Tim called me up to tell
me Steve Elkingtons swing coach was coming into town.

MARTIN AYERS

I remember the first time I saw Steve Elkington swing a

golf club. It was in the mid-90s when he stormed onto
the PGA scene. I remember seeing his swing and being
in awe of his action. I didnt know who he was but I stuck

Here I am taking my first lesson with Martin Ayers in August 2010.

29

The Hogan Code

around the TV that afternoon just to get more looks at

the swing and to make sure I learned his name. I was
literally awestruck.
When Tim told me that Elks swing coach was coming
into town I wasnt sure what to think. I didnt know if
Martin was a believer in the Hogan swing or not. Tim
assured me that it would be an experience to remember
and he was certainly right. I showed up at the course and
met Tim in the pro shop and we took a golf cart far down
range where I would meet Martin for the first time.
Martin is a cool dude. He is also fiercely intelligent in
addition to being a natural athlete. He had played some
tour golf but found his calling teaching the golf swing
and no one teaches the golf swing like Martin Ayers.
The first thing Martin had me do was pull out an 8 iron
and hit some balls for him. I obliged and dinked some
balls out there around 135 to 140 yards. He carefully observed my action and his first thoughts were that I needed
to get more power. After I could get my engine firing
properly, then we would worry about the direction it was
going.
Martin then took the time to tell me about how he views
the golf swing. Its amazing how Tim, Roger, and Martin all took the time to talk me through what they were
doing rather than just give me a couple of tips. Martin
talked to me about the role of the right arm in the swing
and told me I was using my right arm in a way that was
the opposite of what he wanted me to do.
30

Christo Garcia

[The best way for me to describe the basic motion Martin

wanted is it is like a reverse punch in karate. If you stretch
your arm in front of you like youve thrown a punch, the back
of the fist would be pointing up at the sky. To throw another
punch you pull the arm back, elbow close to your torso, the
palm side of the hand rotates skyward, and when you deliver the blow the palm side of the fist turns downward again
giving you maximum power. Martin would soon publish an
instructional video that is called The Most Powerful Move
that details the specifics of what he instructed me to do. Martin and Elk also refer to this move as The Twirl as well.
If you want to learn more about this move I suggest you go
straight to the source. Look up Martin Ayers on the web and
you can buy his DVD at secretinthedirt.com.]
After we had worked together for an hour and a half, and
we had some time to cool off I asked Martin why everyone
thinks Ben Hogans swing was so great (Granted, I love
Ben Hogans swing, but I just wanted to see what he would
say.). Martin told me that beyond the results that it produced, Ben Hogans swing was amazing the way it looked.
Nobody swung a club like Ben Hogan in regards to how
fluid, fast, and efficient it was. I was surprised that the
first thing Martin talked about was the overall aesthetics
of Hogans swing, which are obviously the by-product of
superior technique. I know Martin could surely talk for
hours about the technical aspects of Mister Hogans swing
and everything Martin taught me I have carefully tried to
work into my own Hogan-style action, but when we talked
that day it was about the beauty of what Mister Hogan
accomplished through years of hard work. It made me realize a great swing is literally a work of art.
31

The Hogan Code

After many years of working in the arts I have arrived at a

couple of definitions that have served me well in regards to
understanding Fine Arts versus Popular Arts. Simply put,
you can teach yourself to do a Popular Art. Examples I use
are break-dancing, rap, and playing the guitar. These are all
things that you can pretty much learn to do on your own.
However, you need a master to teach you a Fine Art. You
cannot teach yourself to dance ballet, sing opera, or play the
classical violin by yourself. Now, I consider golf to be a Fine
Art. Ultimately, you are your own most important teacher
but even pros that claim to be self-taught were not raised
in an instructional vacuum for sure. Someone introduced
them to the game and gave them some sound fundamentals
and they probably played with fine golfers regularly. Even
if someone never stands on a practice tee with a teacher, just
being amongst scratch players for many years you will pick
up things that you didnt learn on your own.
Learning The
Twirl from Martin
(September 2010).

32

Christo Garcia

One of the most important concepts that Martin left me

with during my two lessons with him was the idea that
the golf swing was not a backswing, and then a forward
swing in two separate motions. He sees the golf swing as
one swing. To say Martin blew my mind would be an understatement. There is no backswing in a tennis serve, or
in a tennis forehand. They both look like a single action.
There is no backswing in a baseball swing, either. Not to
mention, pitchers dont have a quick stop and change of
direction as they throw the ball. Its called a wind up.
Now, I know why. Thats how your golf swing should feel.
You are winding up, and by the time you blast free of your
physical constraints, the ball is long gone.
Curiously, Roger Dunn also made this point to me
when he hit a golf ball with a looping swing like
that of a polo player. The club stays in constant motion in a loop rather than stopping and restarting.
One common trait that these three great teachers gave
me was respect for my game and they gave me the necessary time to explain why they believed the things they
did about the golf swing. Be wary of instructors who just
want to give you a quick fix. If you are not a scratch player, there are no quick fixes. Rebuilding your golf swing
is going to take time, but it will be well worth the effort.

33

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 2:
THE BIRTH OF MY HOGAN SWING

As the year 2010 drew to a close I had carefully logged

all of my scores and I was able to play 44 thrilling rounds
of golf. I broke 80 for the first time in over 20 years in
February and would do it 14 times through the course of
the year. I had carded a low score of 74 and dropped my
handicap to 5.6! In late December I knew I would have
only one more chance to go lower. My last round of the
year was set for the day after Christmas.
It turns out too much Christmas revelry left me somewhat inebriated at the end of the holiday, and my dear
wife asked me to take my heavy snoring to the couch. I
slept on my left side the entire night. When I woke up, I
could not raise my left arm literally. It was almost unusable and I was in a lot of pain. After taking a hot shower
35

The Hogan Code

Handicap Chart, November 2010

and some aspirin, I could still barely lift it. I was not sure
if I would be able to play at all. Knowing this was my last
day to play golf for the year, I wasnt going to stay home.
I decided to drive one-handed all the way to Simi Valley
for one last round.
It is important to note that at this point I was not trying
to look like Ben Hogan in 2010. I was trying to use Mister
Hogans technique as a model in order to improve my contact
along the lines of the classic swing. But, I never expected to
actually look like Ben Hogan. For the entire first year of My
Swing Evolution, looking like Ben Hogan was never my goal.
When I got to the course I could only use my right arm.
I started to chip and pitch some balls with just my right
36

Christo Garcia

arm because my left arm was worthless at this point.

More importantly, I found that if I used my right arm
too early, I would hit a chunk. So, I had to rely on the
rotation of my body and delay the release of my right arm
and keep it totally passive until impact. I was using my
right arm and elbow merely as a connection point for the
club to my body. Once I got the blood flowing I was able
to put my left hand on the club for show but I really felt
like I was swinging with only my body and my right arm.
Discovering how to
play with my right
arm, and swing
around my body
(Dec 26, 2010).

Much to my surprise, once I got onto the course I was

able to make contact with the ball. With each swing I
hit the ball better and better. I remember feeling like
Trevino as I dipped and cleared my left side out of the
way so my right hand could hit the ball. Soon, I was even
hitting straight drives around 260 yards with a funky kind
37

The Hogan Code

of block hit. Of course I had my trusty little video camera

with me and when I got home I was surprised.
Taking the right arm
swing to the course.

My swing looked more controlled than I had ever seen it!

It just had a different look from the transition to the release. My right elbow stayed connected to my right side
longer. I was using my body much better. I stayed down
in my posture longer and I was being more patient. For
the first time in my life, I could see a little bit of Hogan
in my swing as my arms came along for the ride, and
especially in the follow-through. I had never been able
to get even close to Ben Hogan in this regard because I
was still a hardcore chopper that relied on my arms and
hands too much.
38

Christo Garcia

My first Shangri-La!

What I discovered the day my left arm was useless was

Hogans three right hands concept and the importance
of his elbow exercise. I had successfully flattened my arc
by this time so these concepts came to immediate fruition when they were implemented properly. Sometimes
adversity opens doors that would never have been opened
otherwise.
39

The Hogan Code

The next day on December 27, 2010, I shot a video that

I would call Finding Ben Hogan. I shuddered at the
thought of naming a video something so cocky, but I felt
like I had really found something. I hit the ball with a purity that I had never experienced before. I even bragged to
my wife that I had discovered Ben Hogans secret! Little
did I know I had over three more years of research to do
before I would bring my work to the public. But, Finding
Ben Hogan would be the video that launched my YouTube Channel and would introduce me to thousands of
golfers around the world. Slowly things were beginning
to come together, and I started to entertain thoughts of
looking more like Mister Hogan himself. If I had learned
to imitate Bruce Lee and Mikhail Baryshnikov, why not
try Ben Hogan? My new adventure was on!
This was the day I
discovered I could
swing like Ben Hogan
(December 27, 2010).

40

Christo Garcia

41

The Hogan Code

42

Christo starring in Bravo & Company, a TV pilot

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 3:
MY BACKGROUND

After I won my flight in a junior golf tournament when

I was 14, my dad decided it was time to bring me to a
real golf teacher. In central Florida in the early 1980s,
a young golf instructor from Africa was making waves
among the top golfers in the state. My dad and I jumped
in the car and I had the fantastic opportunity to study the
golf swing with one of the greatest teachers in the gameDavid Ledbetter. I went to him with a classic swing that I
learned from my dad and my older brother, but he taught
me the modern swing and changed a lot about the way I
swung a golf club for the next 25 years.
After David watched me hit a few balls with my casual
classic swing, the first thing David told me was I would
have to gain more distance. He said I would have a hard
43

The Hogan Code

time making it to the higher levels of the game unless

I became more aggressive. As he explained it to me, I
would be at a disadvantage if Im hitting 4- and 5 irons
into greens that other guys are hitting 8- and 9 irons
into. It made sense. Next, he wanted me to keep my
left heel planted on the ground, keep my right knee bent,
and minimize the amount of movement coming from my
lower body- less moving parts. I worked hard at adopting these changes that day on the range. David took a
photo of me with a Polaroid camera in the waiters tray
position at the top of my backswing, and told me any pro
would be happy with that position.

My swing as a sophomore, 1985.

44

Christo Garcia

At first I did quite well with the modern swing. I had

a very flexible body that could hit all the positions with
precision. I wanted very much to make David and my
father proud. Within a few months, I had the chance
to play the number one position on my high school golf
team against the best team in our district- Kathleen. I
played head-to-head against their number one player
named Paul, who hit it 300 yards with persimmon! I
remember it like it was yesterday. I was just a freshman
and he was a senior! My opponent opened with a birdie
on the first hole draining a 20-footer. I matched him at
1-under after sinking a birdie chip on the 3rd. We battled for nine holes and we both walked off the last green
1-under-par. We each shot 35. My coach and my dad
were in shock! I dont think I ever felt so proud and I still
remember every shot I played to this day.
As I got bigger and stronger over the next year I finally
got what I wished for distance! I began to hit the ball a
lot farther, and soon my control swing gave way to a wild
lash. I was all about distance and I became a pretty long
hitter although my accuracy was going out the window. I
took a couple more lessons from David Ledbetter, but he
was pretty busy all of a sudden. David had become quite
a hot commodity during the early 1980s and Id see Nick
Faldo, Dennis Watson, and many other pros hitting balls
on the range with me. One Saturday I remember starting
a lesson with David and he got a phone call. David came
back and said, Chris, Im sorry Im going to have to cut
this lesson short. I have to make a trip to Ohio. I was
totally cool with that since Nick Price was leading the
World Series of Golf at Firestone. He went on to win the
45

The Hogan Code

next day and I remember watching it all and looking for

David in the crowd on TV.
With David making it big with many tour pros, at this age
I didnt really have a mentor in the game of golf. Being a
teenager, I unfortunately didnt want to listen to my dad
anymore, and my older brother was off at college. Meanwhile, I kept trying to swing harder and harder. Soon, I
became burned out and frustrated as my scores got higher
and higher. The modern swing had produced good results
for me at first and when you are young is when it works best
because of your natural flexibility. But, after my sophomore
year breaking 40 became impossible. During this period of
extreme frustration, my love of karate began to take precedence as I began racking up wins on the junior circuit
and found much more satisfaction in taking home trophies
rather than being just an average golfer. I still loved golf
and I would play often but I became a mid-80s to -100s
player and thats where I would stay for the next 25 years.
The belief that I could learn the Hogan swing didnt come
from some fantasy world. I have followed in the footsteps
of two other great masters of movement. When I was a
boy I became a huge fan of Bruce Lee and I began formally learning the martial arts at the age of eight (This
was the same year I played my first round of golf.). I was
obsessed. I studied every detail of his movement on videotape for hours. I read any magazines or books I could
get my hands on cover to cover and then started over once
I was finished. I even practiced the facial expressions! I
took karate lessons anywhere someone was teaching and
watched every martial arts movie I could get my hands
46

Christo Garcia

on. My mother considered taking me to a shrink because

I had started reading every book in the library on Asian
culture (even though I am half-Filipino).
By the time I was in high school, I was teaching out of
my parents garage with a ragtag bunch of gritty fighters
I had assembled. I became the #1-ranked young adult
fighter in the state of Florida after I won first place in
the Gasparilla Karate Championship in 1987. I actually
bested one of my own students in the finals after we both
defeated the top fighters from the USA Junior Karate
Team as well as many others. Two short years later as a
19 year-old, I became the state champion in my weight
division after winning the Florida Open Karate Cham-

Christo throwing a flying sidekick at the age of 17 (Photo by Jill Pernicano).

47

The Hogan Code

This is a still from Action Movie- a short film by Christo Garcia (2001).

pionship by defeating one of my boyhood idols! Karate

really seemed to suit my quickness and courage.
After winning the Florida Open, I was offered a small part
in a karate movie called No Retreat, No Surrender III
Blood Brothers. It seems like yesterday when I was on
set. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and right then
I decided I wanted to become a martial arts movie star.
So, I changed my major from Biology to Theater and I had
a new goal in my life. I wanted to make karate movies!
As a new theater major, I had to take electives in both voice
classes and dance. Two months before my 21st birthday
I entered a Ballet Fundamentals class. I immediately got
the attention of my dance teacher. Gretchen Ward Warren is renowned in the ballet world for the books she has
written on the art of teaching ballet. She asked me to do
48

Christo Garcia

a few basic positions and poses. She laughed and told

me I had the facility to do ballet at a level that only 1 in
10,000 could do. I didnt know if I should take her seriously but I was fascinated by the art. It was unlike any
sport I had ever seen. In most sports its great if you have
natural talent, but even if you have zero natural talent,
anyone can still shoot a basketball or swing a baseball bat.
However in ballet, if you cannot do the basic steps properly none of the more advanced steps are ever going to be
available to you. Ballet is very complicated and its built
upon a foundation that takes years to acquire. Advanced
steps are out of the question until you have had years of
Christo performing a
saut from the ballet
Don Quixote (2006).

49

The Hogan Code

training. It was in my early 20s that I became obsessed

with my new master of movement: Mikhail Baryshnikov.
In a few short years at the age of 23, I was dancing with a
professional ballet company. At my best, I could do seven
pirouettes, triple tours, and soar through the air with the
effortlessness of a superhero. Over the next few years I
would work with some of the greatest ballet dancers in the
world, and my skill level would continue to grow. By the
age of 26, I had the opportunity do dance as a soloist for
the first time with a new company, and I had learned to
Morristown- a feature film about ballet
by Christo Garcia.
Christo was awarded
Best Director at the
Movieville International Film Festival
in 2012.

50

Christo Garcia

do almost every step that Baryshnikov could do (although

not with the same level of consistency). I knew what it felt
like to be in control of every limb of my body in arguably
the most complex movement system ever devised. Ballet
is a one-of-a-kind system that has been passed down from
master to student over hundreds and hundreds of years (It
would seem that golf could have been passed down the
same way for hundreds of years, right? Even in todays
digital world I wonder how there is still not a dominant
system of instruction with clear syllabus.).
I spent a great deal of time on stage through my 20s doing
ballets, Shakespeare, and musical theater. Eventually, the
rigorous demands of ballet became too much to maintain
as I still had dreams of being a martial arts action star. I
eventually left Florida and moved to Los Angeles. I got
my big break where I was slated to star in a pilot for a new
martial arts action TV series as a half-Asian, half-American detective in San Francisco. I even took a meeting
with the president of the network and one of the biggest action producers in Hollywood! But, alas this dream
would not come true and I settled into a new life behind
the camera. This suited me just fine over time and I have
found it very rewarding to work as a producer and director in Los Angeles. So, at the age of 40 my glory days in
karate tournaments and performing on stages in front of
thousands of people were long gone. What was I to do?
My body was simply no longer capable of doing martial
arts or ballet at any reasonably high level. I had achieved
so much in the world of movement but sadly I felt like I
had no more dragons to slay. That was until I decided to
try and learn how to swing a golf club like Ben Hogan.
51

The Hogan Code

52

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 4:
MY APPROACH TO STUDYING HOGAN

Mister Hogan left us much to ponder. He gave us two

fantastic books: Power Golf and 5 Lessons. He may have
had a secret. He may have had many secrets, but to say
he didnt give us enough to work on wouldnt be fair. The
one missing element that probably allowed his wonderful
golf swing to get replaced by the modern golf swing was
the lack of film available to the public until the rise of
the Internet. I remember looking at a Ben Hogan swing
sequence in a golf magazine (which compared Hogan,
Nicklaus, and Watson in 1982) but that was about all I
had to go on as a boy. That was it. One magazine foldout
with some sepia-toned pictures was all I ever saw of the
great Hogan swing. I did not get to see him in action,
only in still shots. I respected him out of legend, but not
out of first-hand observation.
53

The Hogan Code

Christo working on
his Hogan-esque
swing.

Today, we have YouTube and the Internet. We can search

through hundreds of photos of Hogan. We no longer
have to rely on second-hand accounts from old timers
that saw him decades earlier. We can deconstruct the
great masters swing, frame by frame, and in slow motion
a million times if we like.
There are also many bonafide experts on YouTube that offer tremendous insight into what the great master left us
in regards to the golf swing. My first YouTube inspiration
was Mike Maves, who is also known by the handle Sevam1. Mikes channel electrified YouTube when he started
explaining in simple videos his take on Ben Hogans swing
54

Christo Garcia

mechanics. These were some of the first golf videos I ever

watched online. Next, I started watching Hogan videos
from Wayne DeFrancesco who has played professional
golf on tour. Wayne has done wonders to dispel pervasive myths about the golf swing, even showing the courage
to take on famous TV commentators when their analysis
is questionable. Waynes groundbreaking research along
with his pivot/compression philosophy has had a profound
impact on my course of study. A couple of years ago I discovered the brilliant work of Bradley Hughes, a two-time
Australian Masters champion. Bradley is not only a master ball striker, but he has a keen sense of intuition when
it comes to golf swings from the classical era that I adore
Hogan, Snead, and many others. Lastly, I am thrilled say
that Ive become a proponent of Kelvin Miyahiras work.
Kelvins biomechanical background, along with his skill at
Christo exhibiting
good extension postimpact.

55

The Hogan Code

video analysis is nothing short of genius. Kelvin has given

me my most recent clues to unlocking the Hogan Code.
I am forever grateful to these gentlemen for inspiring my
swing reconstruction, not to mention giving me the idea
to start my own YouTube channel called My Swing Evolution. Indeed, I would call these the New Masters of
golf instruction and I am honored to have corresponded
and spoken with them all.
Today we are experiencing a genuine revolution in golf.
Even as the magazines stay focused on new clubs that
promise to hit the ball farther and straighter, and tips that
utterly confound the average golfer, we can all still improve our swings. You just have to get online, film your
swing, and compare.
My methodology is based mostly on observation. By being able to analyze dozens of swings from Hogan on YouTube and being able to search photographs of the master
online, it is possible to finally see what he did. The trick is
in trying to figure out how he did it. How did he get the
club so open at the top? How did he get it into the slot
after the transition? How did he get his body so open at
impact? These are all mysteries that have taken me years
to decode. I have arrived at my own conclusions and Ive
built my own Hogan Style swing, but every golfers evolution will be a unique adventure. And, what a thrilling
adventure it is! I personally enjoy tinkering and trying to
master Ben Hogans swing. It has been extremely enjoyable from a movement perspective, but I know at the end
of the day Id have just as much luck trying to perfectly
duplicate a painting by Van Gogh. Its simply impossible.
56

Christo Garcia
A good golf swing
should be free of
restrictions.

No one will ever duplicate Hogan exactly. But, its what

he gave us that inspires.
To be fair, I think Hogan probably left out as much as he
passed on. As a relentless tinkerer, Im sure he found things
that worked one day and didnt work the next day. However, the sum total of his swing worked well enough that he
was the tours leading money winner in the early 1940s, a
multiple major champion in the late 40s, and a living legend by the 1950s, despite a near fatal car crash in 1949!
One of the reasons I wanted to write this book was to
come at the swing from the viewpoint of a movement
professional, not from the viewpoint of a professional
golfer, which obviously I am not. Im fortunate to have
57

The Hogan Code

other modern tools at my disposal besides the Internet.

Since the advent of Trackman, many of the old myths of
the golf swing have been proven false or misleading at
best. I find it astonishing that so much of what has been
taught about the swing historically can now be deposited in the dustbin of bad teaching. One example of bad
advice is the lesson of aggressively rolling over the wrists
and forearms with a flipping action to stop a slice. Ive
seen this lesson in every golf magazine, and on television
coming from a number of very famous instructors. But,
it is bad advice no matter whose mouth it came out of.
So, in my opinion all bets are off, and I want to take a
fresh look at what we are trying to accomplish with a golf
swing. Im not going to just take someones word for it
because they are on TV or because they are famous.
I believe if youve had the luxury of time, the money to play,
and mentors to guide you all the way to professional golf, you
will likely have ingrained keen fundamentals without ever
Top of the backswing.

58

Christo Garcia

having to go through careful analysis, and intention-driven

development. If you grew up playing with great swingers
of the club, it is likely you could pick up some of their best
traits by observation and osmosis. But, when a golfer learns
his whole game by feel, when the wheels come off it can become very ugly because there is no road that can bring you
back home. I have been baffled by stories from professional
golfers who decided they needed something extra in their
game, and they made the mistake of going to a teacher who
destroys all the good things they had going for them in the
first place. Can you imagine being a proven tour-winner
and then completely losing your ability to compete against
the best because you trusted someone with your swing that
did not really know what they were talking about?
Ive met many golf teachers in my lifetime, and in my
estimation very few were really capable of teaching someone else how to swing in the true Hogan style, which
to me is the perfect blend of athleticism and technique.
Here is one of my favorite quotes from Bruce Lee about
the challenge of blending instinct (natural athleticism)
with superior technique (control).
Here is natural instinct and here is control. You are
to combine the two in harmony, now if you have one
to the extreme, you will be very unscientific. If you
have another to the extreme, you will all of a sudden
be a mechanical man, no longer a human being. It is
a successful combination of both. Therefore, it is not
naturalness or unnaturalness. The ideal is unnatural, naturalness or natural, unnaturalness.
59

The Hogan Code

Christo Garcia
exhibiting a full
release.

This book is also coming from the viewpoint of someone

who couldnt keep a golf ball in the fairway to save my life
a few years ago. I really needed help! In a way, I want this
book to be a primer for the amateur golfer who is reading
the Hogan books for the first time. Mister Hogans books
are filled with genius, but you have to almost be a genius
to see the big picture he is painting.
When I first read 5 Lessons it made some sense, but the
things I didnt comprehend went in one ear and out the
other. Remember the old saying, When the student is
ready, the master will appear? In the beginning of my
evolution, I was not experienced enough to understand
60

Christo Garcia

what Hogan was saying in most of his book. As a student, I was not ready for the master. Now, it all makes a
lot of sense, but it took me four years of assiduous study
and Im not done, yet. As Hogan said, nothing about
the golf swing is natural. And when you start trying to
dissect the greatest swing of all time, it is going to become very confusing. I only hope to clear up some of the
confusion in order to help golfers improve their overall
motion to achieve better contact with the ball and more
satisfaction from the game.
There is a lot that I understand about the golf swing now
that never would have occurred to me just a few years ago.
Like ballet, the complexity is hidden by the effortlessness
of the professionals we admire. The amateurs painful effort is obvious after every fruitless swipe on the range as
their balance is rocked, the emotional tirades burst out,
and disappointment hangs on their shoulders. The flight
of the golf ball reflects what we just did to it. Nothing
more, nothing less. However, it amazes me how I used to
feel as if nothing I could have done could possibly have
resulted in the horror of what I was seeing from the ball.
Today, I know watching the flight of the ball is so important because the ball is speaking to me. Its telling me
what I did right or what I did wrong. Now, I am thrilled
by this conversation with my ball flight. In the past it
often led to complete despair.
At this point, I believe it should be stressed that it is
important to be honest with yourself about your game.
Some golfers are, and some golfers are not. We all know
who they are. The first tool I incorporated into my pro61

The Hogan Code

cess outside of my video camera was a scorecard. I would

write down my score, fairways hit, greens in regulation,
and my number of putts. I also had to learn to play the
ball down. Jackie Burke, Jr. famously said, Improving
your lie will never improve your score. Truer words have
never been spoken. I had to get rid of mulligans, and putt
the ball in the hole every time.
Bruce Lee said every kick was a tool to kill the ego. Likewise, every stroke is a tool to kill the ego. But, most golfers
cant relate to the game this way because their entire sense
Christo watches his
ball flight with pride.

62

Christo Garcia

of self-worth is wrapped up in their game. Ive seen it up

close and its ugly. To be honest, I feel sorry for people
who cant play by the rules and keep a legit score because
they are only lying to themselves. There is nothing wrong
with just fooling around with your friends sometimes and
playing with some mulligans, but if you are going to play
in tournaments or establish a handicap you have to be
honest. There is nothing to fear from your game. It just is
what it is and it can get better. But, you will not get better
if you dont even know what you score! You cant cheat
your way to a better golf game, just like you cant cheat
your way to a better swing. It is something you have to
face, and put in the necessary time to make it better.
If you create an idea in your mind that you are a much
better golfer than you really are, every shot will wind up
being a torment because it proves your ego-driven fantasy
completely wrong with every wretched swing. Therefore,
it is with humility that I believe you should approach your
swing reconstruction. The approach I take with my swing
is the Zen approach. One of my favorite quotes is, A
Zen mind is a beginners mind. In other words, I accept
that I will always be a beginner. I will always be learning.
And, I know I will never arrive at perfection. However, I
will still aspire to perfect my swing. Ben Hogan said he
tried to perfect it, and came pretty close. Mister Hogan
was clearly a Zen master who succeeded in the end despite years of torment.

63

The Hogan Code

64

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 5:
BEN HOGANS FUNDAMENTALS

So, what are the fundamentals of the Hogan swing and

why are they important? I think Mister Hogan gave us
these primary fundamentals, but they dont jump out at
us when we open up his books. And, if we understand
the building blocks that these fundamentals represent,
we can each build our own, consistent, repeatable swing.
But, I think there has to be a simpler way of explaining
these extremely important concepts.

THE BODY SWING AND THE PANE OF GLASS

Mister Hogan essentially lets us know that we are supposed to swing the club around our body, and not over our
shoulder when he gave us the famous pane of glass reference. By dividing the body into two planes, one above
65

The Hogan Code

Christo under the
Pane of Glass.

the shoulder and one under the shoulder, Mister Hogan

gave us a fantastic visual reference to make his point. I
would simply like to try and add to this concept with an
easy explanation of what he was possibly trying to say.
If you break the Pane of Glass, you are taking the club
over the shoulder setting up a chopping motion, which is
a no-no for the body swing recommended by Ben Hogan.
To me, I believe that the downswing is where this paneof-glass advice is best adhered to. I have seen many examples of fantastic golfers who took the club away from the
ball high and broke the Pane of Glass on the backswing.
However, when they came back down towards the ball,
their rear elbow almost always stays nicely tucked beside
66

Christo Garcia

their body, thus keeping the club under the Pane of Glass
for a powerful delivery into the ball from the inside.

THE LOWER BODY INITIATES, CREATING LAG IN THE SWING

When Mister Hogan appeared on Shells Wonderful

World of Golf and gave us the famous lesson where he
talked about the importance of the lower body being used
first in the golf swing, I believe he was talking about lag
in the golf swing. Basically, he says that the lower body
leads the downswing.
Here, Im
demonstrating lag in
the golf swing, or the
delayed hit.

67

The Hogan Code

At the top of the swing you move the lower part of your
body first, not the shoulders. You move the lower body
letting the arms and hands follow, bringing you into position to hit.
In other words, the upper body lags behind the lower
body. I believe our modern definition of lag is wrong.
I was taught 30 years ago that lag has to do only with
the angle of the club in relation to our lead forearm and
our wrists. Ive heard this repeated in magazines and on
videos ever since. However, when I took a lesson with
Roger Dunn he referred to this concept more correctly as
the delayed hit. The angle in the wrists is actually the
byproduct of an efficient golf swing with all the swing
levers working in tandem. The last place we see evidence
of the delayed hit is in the final swing lever (the wrists),
and thus the misconception was born.

HOGANS ELBOWS AND THE SHORT LEFT THUMB

Mister Hogan told us on The Ed Sullivan Show that we

should imagine the club being connected to our body at
the elbows, rather than at the shoulders. This, I believe,
keeps the club connected to our center of mass while we
swing it around our body.
In order for the club to work in a direct line into our center of mass as we rotate, we must grip the club in a way
that allows the forearms to work essentially as an extension of the club itself. The wrists then are the final swing
lever that transfers the massive amount of force that has
been stored during the swing into the club just before it
68

Christo Garcia
Here, I am
demonstrating where
the club should be
connected to the body
during the swing
as shown on The Ed
Sullivan Show.

impacts the ball. So, the short left thumb allows the wrist
to arch sufficiently to create a straight line from the club
head through our elbow, into our center of mass.
A photo of my left
hand grip.

69

The Hogan Code

ROTATION IS EVERYTHING

One of the most exhilarating things Hogan left us with

is the knowledge that you can swing hard and still hit
the ball straight, which was always my dream. We know
Hogan often swung all out, and yet he never looked out
of balance or like he was muscling the ball.
The way Hogan hit the ball straight and hard required
both speed, and rotation. Everything in the golf swing
literally hinges on the rotation because it is our rotation that will determine what our ultimate delivery speed
will be at impact. The central engine of the swing is the
coiling spine. The pelvis and shoulders are connected via
Working on my
rotation is the final
and most important
aspect of my Hogan
study. This photo
shows how a complete
rotation leads to
a nice high-finish
position.

70

Christo Garcia

the spine, and what the spine provides the golf swing is
rotation. Great golf swings allow for efficient rotation at
the highest speed, and poor golf swings restrict rotation,
thereby inhibiting high speed where it counts the most
at impact.

A great rotation pulls you onto your lead leg.

71

The Hogan Code

72

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 6:
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HOGAN SWING

Upon re-dedicating myself to the game of golf at the age

of 40, I decided to wipe the slate clean and start from
scratch. This radical approach of changing my whole
swing made all the difference with my game, and its even
changing my life! As a result I have a new golf swing and
a new philosophy. For over 25 years I was intensely frustrated with the game, but now its a joy. Of course, Im
far from perfect and Im not a pro. But, I never thought I
would be able to break 80! Now I can flush the ball long
and straight, and shooting in the 70s is common for me.
I even shot two under par on the back side at the hardest
course I play in town. Since I was able to make it this
far I decided to share in depth what I have learned up to
this point about the Hogan-style golf swing. My hope is
that it might make the game easier for others who have
73

The Hogan Code

struggled with their swing and been tormented by this

frustrating game.
The biggest problem I have experienced in learning the
game from various teachers is that very few of them have
a clear cut vision of what their swing philosophy is exactly, or they lack the ability to explain what it is. Usually,
they just tell you how they hit it. I remember we used to
make fun of the head pro at my home course when I was
in high school because wed be practicing on the range
when he would give his afternoon lessons. He had one
answer for every ill, Its your weight shift. You didnt
shift your weight. It didnt matter what type of swing
a person had. To him their problem was always their
weight shift. So, articulating what we want to happen is
of paramount importance. I could tell you the golf swing
is multiple circular actions in shifting planes performed
at high speed with leverage, but Id rather show you how

Here I am holding the very first clinic for My Swing Evolution patrons.

74

Christo Garcia
Here I am throwing
my arms off of my
body when I was an
arm swinger ( Jan.
2010).

I do it. Personally, I am a visual learner and a picture is

worth a thousand words.
The swing that I have concentrated on has a number of
things that must be done correctly in order for the swing
to function efficiently. Therefore, I believe its crucial that
we all understand what it is we are trying to do in regards
to the big picture.
The major tenets of the Hogan swing that I have attempted to reconstruct are:
Mister Hogan was a body swinger, not an arm swinger
Mister Hogan hit an inside trap shot
Mister Hogan had very little slack in his swing
Mister Hogan swung on a shallow plane that was deep
rather than high
The unwinding of the lower body leads the unwinding
of the upper body
75

The Hogan Code

The clubface is squared to the arc of the swing well before impact
The arms are passive until the wrists begin to unhinge
The right elbow stays connected to the midsection
during the hit
The swing relies on centripetal force to create clubhead
speed around the bodys center of gravity
The clubhead should be accelerating through impact
The body is opening to the target at impact
The left elbow stays connected to the midsection after
the hit
The proper grip is essential to keep the clubface square
to the arc
A high finish should be the full expression of an efficient golf swing
These are all things that are easy to see when you watch
Hogans swing in slow motion, however they are not that
easy to incorporate. I understand Mister Hogan sometimes gave lessons, but his one-of-a-kind golf swing will
look different for anyone who attempts to master it because of our own unique physical limitations. However,
by using the legs, body, and arms correctly in the proper
sequence we can feel something that will be close to what
the great master felt at impact.
Golf is deceptively simple. You just swing the club and
hit the ball, right? Well, we all know how incredibly difficult golf can be. If it could just be a little bit simpler.
Before we get started in my breakdown on the golf swing,
I think that there are some general concepts about golf
that need to be clearly understood before we get into the
76

Christo Garcia

Putting for birdie on my home course, Eaton Canyon, in Pasadena,

California.

minutiae of all the different parts that make up the fantastic Hogan-like golf swing.
I do think that its important to remember that we are
swinging a club, not a stick. The waggles and the caddie
drag (a handle-first takeaway) help the golfer to sense the
weight of the clubhead that is going to be swung around
the body, not over the shoulder as in a chop swing. Jack
Nicklaus took the club very high but always emphasizes
feeling the weight of the clubhead and said he felt the
gravity drop when the clubhead loads into the slot so he
could come into the ball from the inside.
If you wanted to swing a bowling ball on a rope, in order
to initiate momentum into the system you would have
77

The Hogan Code

Christo demonstrating
a waggle.

to start swinging the bowling ball in one direction, and

then back the other way. This gathering of momentum
is evident in how the great classic swingers got into their
motion. They werent static like many of todays robots
you see on the range. They were always moving their feet
and hands, and sensing the weight in the clubhead as they
got ready to pull the trigger.
NOTE: All the directional references in my book apply to
the right-handed golfer and should be reversed in order to be
applied for a left-handed golfer. All clock references are to be
seen as if you were in front of the golfer (caddy view) and if
their back were on a clock.
78

Christo Garcia

79

The Hogan Code

80

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 7:
HOGAN SWING CONCEPTS

THE BODY SWING

Even though I spoke about Ben Hogans famous lessons

in Chapter 5, I would like to reiterate. The two lessons
on film that Mister Hogan left us are in my opinion the
two most important instructional videos of all time. In
one film from Shells Wonderful World of Golf, Mister
Hogan tells us:
The most important thing in the golf swing to
me is the movement of the lower body from the
top of the swing You start down below with your
knees and hips. At the top of the swing you move
the lower part of your body first, not the shoulders.
You move the lower body letting the arms and
hands follow, bringing you into position to hit.
81

The Hogan Code

Hips clearing before
the shoulders (Feb.
2014).

I think this instruction is extremely important because

it demonstrates how important it is to create a stretch
between the lower and upper body (what I call the Power Stretch). It also demonstrates how important lower
body action was to Hogan. By not using the shoulders
and arms right away, they are given the necessary separation that will be needed as the body begins to rotate into
its lateral side bend before impact, while additional power
is produced from the snapping of the hips.
It was the outstanding use of the entire body that characterized the great golf swings from the past. In todays
modern swing, the action of the lower body is minimized.
I believe this modern style is inferior to the body-driven
82

Christo Garcia

Allowing the left heel to rise frees my hips.

swing of yesteryear. I was taught in 1983 to keep my left

heel down and I did that for nearly 30 years. But, when I
grew older and less flexible I realized I needed more freedom, especially with the driver so I began experimenting
with letting my left heel rise with great success, which in
turn freed my hips to open up.
We can see virtually every great player before the 1980s
had dynamite lower body action. Perhaps the three
greatest ball strikers in history all had exceptional lower body movement Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Jack
Nicklaus. I could go on and on with other examples of
amazing body swingers from the past. Thats not to say
you cant play great golf with the modern swing. But, you
cannot claim the masters from the past were ineffective
ball strikers.
83

The Hogan Code

I have found the work from Kelvin Miyahira to be very

important in regards to the lower body engine in the
swing. In order to create the most power from our lower body, the pelvis and legs should not just spin together at the same time towards the target. The first crucial
stretch in the swing occurs when the left leg moves towards the target and externally rotates at the beginning
of the downswing, opening the left knee. The mistake
I made for years was letting my right leg go right along
with it and begin inward rotation early in the transition.
This is what gave me what I call the Michael Jackson
where my right heel would immediately pop off of the
turf. Now, I try to hold my right knee back as my left
thigh externally rotates and opens my pelvis, much like
a ballet dancer does in preparation for a pirouette, which
is a purely rotational action. This pelvic stretch is what
people are describing when they are talking about Sam
Sneads squat.
This is how Sam
Snead opened his
pelvis with his squat.

84

Christo Garcia
Ben Hogan opened his
pelvis a bit differently
than Snead.

Hogan also resisted letting his right leg turn in early, which is clearly seen as he begins his famous lateral
move. Hogans back leg had a tendency to be straighter
than Sneads, but the opening of the pelvis is essentially
the same move.
This allows for the full transfer of energy from the legs
up because once the right leg can no longer resist the
rotation from the pelvis, everything fires together with
maximum power like a giant rubber band snapping back
together.
The second video that I would like to describe was from
Mister Hogans appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. In
the video Mister Hogan describes how the arms should
be connected to the body during the swing.

85

The Hogan Code

Swing levers releasing in the correct order is always a blast.

Clutch your sides with your elbows and visualize your elbows being attached to your body at
the arms instead of at the shoulders. And, just
start moving your body from right to left around
in a circle holding your elbows to your sides.
Again, this instruction from the master is telling us that
we are going to want to hit the ball by utilizing our bodies rather than just our arms and hands. This is the great
mistake that has plagued golfers for centuries. The natural instinct is to utilize the arms and hands to immediately hit down on the golf ball with the club. This is
very apparent in golfers who pick up the game as adults
because they try to overpower the club. To a child the
golf club is much heavier and they tend to use their bodies more efficiently in an effort to move the club. We
want to subdue this instinctual use of the arms and hands
86

Christo Garcia

This is my nephew, Elijah, exhibiting excellent compression, and rotation.

until just before impact. This is the free ride down that
Mister Hogan famously described. Once we are ready to
unhinge our wrists, and thrust with our lower bodies we
will want to hit the ball hard with three right hands, but
it will spell disaster if we use our arms and hands too early
in the swing since this will eliminate the Power Stretch
weve worked hard to create.

Here I am demonstrating a right hook. Followed by an over hand right.

Notice the position of the right elbow.

87

The Hogan Code

To me the great difference between the body hit of Mister Hogan and the arm hit of a chopper can be seen in
two blows that are performed by boxers. The body swing
is very similar to a right hook to the body. The chopper
swing is similar to an overhand right.
You can create a lot of power with both styles of swings,
but I have come to believe the right hook translates to
greater control. For most people since the overhand right
basically mimics an overhand throwing motion, it is more
natural to do than a hook. The hook is a little more difficult to learn but once you get comfortable with it, you
can create a ton of force with a compact swing. The elbow
stays tied to the sides, and the rotational force of the body
creates the power. Again, the right hook is very similar to
the Hogan swing that I use.

My impact line is very close to the position it was in at address.

88

Christo Garcia

You will see from a down-the-line view of impact that

Mister Hogans shaft angle at impact runs directly in line
with his right forearm and into his center of mass. As
Mister Hogans body rotated with full speed, the elbows
kept the club tied into his center. The right elbow passes the club off to the left elbow after the ball has been
struck. This keeps the arms from flying off of the body.
Thats why Mister Hogans action looked so freewheeling,
and yet he was extremely consistent. His elbow connection kept the club at a measured distance from his center
so he could rotate at full speed without fear of losing control of the clubhead.
Hitting a Hoganstyle trap shot.

89

The Hogan Code

THE HOGAN TRAP

Ben Hogan basically hit a trap shot, and this concept

forms a major part of the foundation of this book. He
had tons of lag and when he describes the wrist bone
being forward at impact, this creates forward shaft lean.
The shot that Hogan relied on day-in and day-out was a
form of a trap cut. It is very common in todays golf parlance to hear someone say they hit a trap draw. However, I have never heard anyone say they hit a trap cut.
In the modern golf game it is easy to produce a trap draw.
Because the modern swing employs a strong left-hand
grip and the toe of the club turns over rapidly, all you
have to do to hit a trap draw is place the ball back in your
stance and hit down the ball with a slightly steeper angle
of attack. Because the ball is a few inches behind the true
bottom of the arc, it is easy to catch it coming slightly
from the inside. The ball will take off lower than usual
and as it begins to rise it will also begin to turn over and
curve to the left.
The way Hogan hit his trap shot is much different than
that. The Hogan Trap can produce a straight ball, a draw,
or a fade depending on the path of the clubhead in relation
to the ball and target line because the face is square to its
path. There is plenty of forward shaft lean with the Hogan
Trap. When Mister Hogan stared down an important shot
I believe he would go with the inside trap with a square
face, and produce his desired trajectory and curvature.
It is crucial to understand that this is the shot we are
going to try to create with the Hogan golf swing. This
90

Christo Garcia

A Here I am working on my trap

at impact.

B Trap Follow Through

trap shot can produce low shots, but you can also produce
high shots as well. It is said that there are nine shots you
have to learn to hit in golf low straight, middle straight,
high straight, low fade, middle fade, high fade, low draw,
middle draw, and high draw. You can hit all nine of those
shots with the Hogan trap. All that is needed to change
the flight of the ball is a slight adjustment to the angle
of the shoulders, and path of the swing. I believe Hogan
would preview his path line with his waggle to determine
how much he wanted the ball to curve and in which direction. And, it was Hogans Secret that made the Inside
Trap a possibility.
91

The Hogan Code

THE SUPERLOCK GRIP

I have one funny anecdote to mention about my grip. A

few years ago I had a dream that Mr. Hogan came to me
and said, Son, you need to weaken your grip. Its kind
of funny because I took it out to the course the next day
and I tried it. I shot a 78, which was pretty good for me
at the time and I played well despite the fact that it felt
extremely odd at first. But, my grip always creeps back
to being a little bit strong because I have had to fight the
urge to be a chopper.
Many would say that with a strong grip you can hit the
ball harder. There is likely some truth to this because
Handle across the
palm, not in the
fingers.

92

Christo Garcia

most of the long-drive guys do use a strong grip and even

most of the guys on tour, which might help prevent injuries when swinging at speeds over 120 mph. But I have
had fun working with the weaker grip. Ive heard that
before the 1980s if a player showed up on the PGA Tour
with a strong grip they would be told, Youll never win
with that grip. But, in the age of power golf this advice
has gone to the wayside. Nonetheless, after reading Power Golf and 5 Lessons many times and experimenting
with the grip on my own, I have come up with a way to
hold the club that I call the Superlock.
The major element of the Superlock is not how strong or
weak the grip is, but how the club rests across the palm of
the left hand. For example, I think of Freddy Couples as
using the Superlock rotated on the strong side, whereas
Mister Hogan generally had it more on the weak side.
For myself, the amount of twist in the grip varies between
really weak and strong depending on what Im trying to
do with the face of the club. But, the main element is the
short left thumb.
I believe the weaker grip allows your left elbow to stay
pinned on the follow through better than the strong grip.
I believe its important to have the short left thumb as
this allows the latissimus dorsi to lock into the upper arm
on the impact and lines everything up correctly so the
entire body is reinforcing the clubhead at the strike.
When you see Ben Hogan at impact he talks about having a bowed position with the wrist bone of the left hand
pointing at the target. If you think about it, what that is
93

The Hogan Code

doing is it is de-lofting the face. If you have a really strong

left hand grip, and you try to de-loft the face by supinating and pressing the wrist forward, the head of the club is
going to twist shut. So, one way you could de-loft the face
is by pushing the wrist bone forward with a really weak
grip and short left thumb. Now that Ive allowed myself
to go with the weak grip and see the new position that it
puts my body in at impact, I can trap the ball and I also
control my trajectory better. I do sometimes get a sore
wrist if Im not keeping my body moving the club because
the left hand should not try and handle all the force from
the swing in this position. Ill continue to evolve with this
grip, and I often strengthen my grip for added power, but
I do not think Ill ever return to a long left thumb.
Ben Hogan used the Vardon grip. He had experimented
with many types of grips over the years but he finally arrived at the Vardon grip with some slight modifications.
[The Vardon grip is also known as the overlapping grip.]
The significant feature of the Vardon grip is the pinkie of
the right hand slides between the knuckle of the first and
second finger on the left hand with the three fingers of
the right hand going on to the grip.
Hogan said he held the grip in the palm of his left hand.
This is important to understand- the club running across
the lifeline from the heel of the left hand to the beginning of the index finger- this is crucial to holding the
club properly. This way the club becomes an extension
of the left forearm, which is connected to the body at
the elbow, closest to the center of gravity. As the body
rotates and creates massive centripetal force, the club is
94

Christo Garcia

swung around the bodys center of gravity, which creates

maximum stability.
What Hogan did that was remarkable with this grip is
he gradually made his left thumb shorter which means
he pulled it away from the clubhead letting the grip fall
across the palm with the callus ridges of the last three
fingers folded underneath the club. I used to press the
callus ridge into the grip on the club and I would get very
hard calluses that needed to be filed down or snipped over
time. Now that I hold the club properly, I dont have any
calluses on my left hand and I dont even use a glove!
As Mister Hogans left thumb became shorter and shorter over the years this became absolutely crucial to creating the Hogan trap. Ben Hogan hit a fantastic trap shot
by supinating the forearms, squaring the clubhead early,
and rotating as hard as he could through the ball. Mister
Hogan had the problem of hitting a hook early in his
career. When his grip was stronger, and his thumb was
longer, the hook is what ailed him because as he applied
more power to the swing it caused the clubface to flip
shut more quickly, therefore imparting the right-to-left
spin that is associated with a wild hook. This caused major problems. As Lee Trevino said, You can talk to a
fade, but a hook wont listen.
However, in his quest for perfection Hogan gradually shortened that left thumb and weakened the left hand grip into
an extreme position that forced him to roll the clubhead
under as hard as possible to get back to square. Its almost
like he dared himself to supinate as hard as he could, which
95

The Hogan Code

Another shot at
impact.

would at its maximum application result in a straight ball

flight or a ball that only fell off slightly to the right. When
he wanted to pour on the gas, he rolled that left hand down
hard. This is often called Harleying it by Hoganites today
because of its similarity to gassing a motorcycle.
By using the extremely weak left hand grip and rolling
the club under pre-impact, Mister Hogan achieved a way
to trap the ball and maintain a square clubface while approaching impact. This is really crucial because he was
always described as having the greatest control over his
balls flight trajectory. I have heard Jack Nicklaus say
during his career that he adopted a weaker and weaker left hand position as well, and as we all know he was
96

Christo Garcia

probably the greatest driver of the golf ball ever- very

long with a slight fade.
I believe the grip that Ben Hogan used (that he also
taught Tommy Bolt) is what Jack Nicklaus described by
making the left hand so weak Jack could eliminate the
left side of the golf course. This allows you to release
the club with full power and know that theres a limiter
on how much the face is going to rotate closed. Granted, all of this requires that the player have a consistent,
powerful, inside delivery. The reverse of this extreme position can be seen in the grip of Zach Johnson, who has a
very strong grip with both hands, and works the ball from
right to left. For him he has eliminated the right side of
the course with great success.
The extreme hand position is something that many great
golfers have used through the years to give them the ability to know that a really, really bad shot in one direction
isnt going to occur. This is why the two-way miss is the
most dreaded thing in golf for better players. Just think
about it. You do not want to lose the ball under pressure
in either direction. That would be a terribly unsettling
feeling when you are needing confidence coming down
the stretch of a tournament. Thats why using an extreme
grip that eliminates one side of the golf course can be very
important. And, I think its important to note that Hogan and Nicklaus were both among the longest drivers
of their eras who were notoriously accurate. I think they
gave themselves the green light to swing with their whole
bodies knowing full well the ball would not do something
crazy. Ive also heard that hitting a fade is much more pre97

The Hogan Code

dictable than a draw at top speed. Since Ive adopted the

Superlock and the Hogan Trap, I rarely hit a snap hook
and when I do I know its because I stalled on my bodys
rotation and the arms took over. I will still sometimes hit
a few balls left because I came over the top slightly and
pulled them, but still the ball usually flies pretty straight
and isnt hooking hard to the left, thank goodness.
Using a super-weak left hand feels very unnatural at first,
but the more that youre willing to work at it, the greater
the fruits of this practice become. Also, the shorter the
left thumb becomes, the more play you have in that wrist.
Now, this grip is ultimately setting up an impact position that is going to allow the entire body to reinforce
the club at impact. This is very important because most
golfers have a weak connection to the club as they come
through the impact zone.
Here I am keeping my
upper arms connected
to my torso.

98

Christo Garcia

Rolling the club up into the cupped position.

If you can keep your upper arms connected to your torso and have your body and hips open to the target so
that youre trapping the ball with the clubhead being the
very last thing to come around the corner, as youre slinging the club around your body it imparts a tremendous
amount of force into the ball thats completely reinforced
by the hands, arms, and body. Ive always liked hitting
golf balls, but with this technique I can honestly say that
I understand what Mister Hogan meant when he described the golf swing as a physical pleasure. So much
speed is created, the ball and the turf are no match for the
sword-like slicing that happens when the clubface cuts
through the sod.
I believe Mister Hogan rolled his wrists up into the
cupped position and then unrolled them down into the
99

The Hogan Code

bowed position at impact so the club rolled in a circular

clockwise motion while it was in his hands. If you are
using Ben Hogan as a model, the incorrect way to use
the wrist is like that of a hammer. When you use the
wrists like you are hammering a nail it causes the face of
the club to turn over much too quickly and this is what
makes the ball less controllable. Place the palms of your
hands together as in prayer, and press the palms back and
forth creating a cup in one wrist and then the other. This
is closer to how I use my wrists in the golf swing.

SLACK IN THE SWING

One of the biggest problems that weekend golfers have

is they have too much slack in their swings. This is why
their contact with the ball is so inconsistent. One of the
Here I am trying
to recreate the static
impact position of
Mister Hogan sans
slack.

100

Christo Garcia

most remarkable things that I see when I look at Mister

Hogan at impact is there is virtually no slack in his swing
when he arrives at Shangri-La, before his wrists unhinge.
What I mean by this is his rotation and mechanical technique have left almost zero looseness between his hands,
arms, shoulders, pelvis and legs. Everything is locked
into place before it all snaps through impact and all of his
energy is imparted into the ball. This gave Hogan maximum power combined with maximum accuracy because
the sequence is always repeated the same with everything
from his hips to his hands finding their home in the rotation before releasing the clubhead into the ball.
When we watch Mister Hogan in slow motion we see
first the tremendous coil that he creates. He actually begins his transition with his lower body before the upper
body is completely coiled. His body becomes like a giant
Shoulders waiting to
fire.

101

The Hogan Code

spring as he unwinds from the ground up. This great unwinding is what removes the slack in his swing and tightens up any looseness between his swing levers.
As Mister Hogan clears the lower body, the slack in between the upper and lower body is eliminated. When no
slack is left, the lower body pulls the shoulders around.
Therefore, the shoulders must be held back and wait their
turn before firing.
Once the shoulders begin to rotate, the slack is then removed from between the arms and the torso. Hogan closes the distance between his upper left arm and his chest
as his right elbow drops into the slot so all the slack is
removed in the arm system. At this point there is no slack
Energy at impact
close up.

102

Christo Garcia

between the upper and lower body, or between the upper

body and the arms. During the slotting phase, Hogan
rolls his wrists into the pre-impact position, which removes the remaining slack from his last swing lever (the
wrists), and imparts great tension into the shaft. This
whole time (which is only a fraction of a second in reality)
Hogan is waiting patiently for each lever to firm up before
their eventual release. Finally, Hogan is ready to impart
the delayed hit as his entire system of levers springs into
action when gravity forces the club to unhinge.
By delaying the release of each lever, Hogan preserves
his ability to create speed until the last second. This is
what the old timers referred to as the delayed hit. Many
instructors today refer to lag incorrectly. They say that
The first move down
begins removing slack
from the levers.

103

The Hogan Code

lag is only the wrist angle coming into impact, but lag is
much more than that and it involves the entire body and
all of its levers, not just the wrists. The reason I feel this
misdiagnosis of lag needs to be understood is because you
could have tons of slack in your swing, and yet still have
the acute wrist angle that many people describe as lag.
The wrists alone will not create power in the swing.
Slack is the opposite of lag. It is by creating lag in the
kinematic sequence that we store our energy, which will
be saved for the hit. We create this dynamic tension
between all of our swing levers, and after this tension is
released, slack is introduced into the system. This is the
same with our upper and lower bodies as well as our wrists
and hands. Maximum power is achieved when all of the
separate parts of the swing work in unison to release this
dynamic tension into the shaft of the club as it approaches
impact. Finally, the shaft releases its stored dynamic tension, which sends the clubhead speeding through impact
compressing the ball and sending it on its way. So, we
have to learn to spring the shaft at impact like its a bow.

HOGANS ELBOWS

Its crucial that youre able to keep one of your elbows

connected to your body during the primary part of the
golf swing 9 oclock to 3 oclock. This is important because it anchors the club to the body at a location that
is closest to your center of gravity (COG is roughly just
below the navel) as opposed to the shoulders. I believe
if you are connecting the club to your body through your
armpits and shoulders, you are going to lose a lot of control
104

Christo Garcia
Elbow in on
downswing.

over the golf club. Swinging the club this way does make
a longer lever between the arms and body but I do not
believe you will benefit much in terms of manufacturing
additional speed. Also, it will require exceptional timing
and rhythm to make this type of swing work day-in and
day-out. Therefore, I prefer to use the elbow connection
for the greatest combination of speed and power.
As you whip the club around the body through the impact zone youre going to create a tremendous amount of
centripetal force. By pulling the elbows in, you can create more speed and maintain the greatest control over the
clubhead. I imagine the elbows pulling into the body to
be very similar to the way an ice skater uses their arms to
increase their rotational speed as theyre doing a spin on
105

The Hogan Code

the ice or the way a ballet dancer uses their arms when they
are doing pirouettes. It increases our speed as we rotate
through impact so it is very important to understand this
elbow connection to the midsection. The force of the golf
swing is maintained through the impact zone by passing
the right elbow connection to the left elbow post-impact.
If you were holding onto a bucket of water and began to
turn in a circle as fast as you could, I imagine it would be
easier to control the bucket if your elbows were clutching the sides of your body rather than with the arms outstretched. When I apply this logic to the swinging club,
it makes perfect sense to me. Also, when I am in the gym
doing a seated row, I can move much more weight if I pull
my elbows in by my sides and use my latissimus dorsi rather
than lifting my elbows off of my body and only using my
rear deltoids. This action combined with a fast rotation will
give you the greatest combination of both speed and power.
Another part of the swing that I think is very important to
understand is the way the shoulders and arms dont tense
up until the wrists begin to unhinge. It is crucial that we
dont begin the swing with a tense upper body. We want
to be able to create whip/lag in the club so our bodies need
to feel loose. The arms, shoulders, chest, and back need
to feel alert but relaxed in order to create the maximum
amount of speed during the course of the golf swing.

THE SECRET

As many times as I have discovered the Secret to Ben

Hogans golf swing, just as many times I have shaken
106

Christo Garcia

my head when the newfound secret gave way to an even

newer secret. One secret always seemed to beget another mind-blowing discovery! Gradually, the secrets I was
discovering became more and more rare as my swing became more Hogan-esque.
In the spring of 2013 I finally had the guts to start doing teaching segments on my YouTube channel because I
felt like I had gotten really close to the basics of Hogans
swing and wanted to share my ideas with my subscribers.
Then, a young pro from the desert named Victor Rodriguez blew my mind and passed on to me what I really
believe was Ben Hogans secret move. No one will ever
know for sure what the secret was, but this secret move
has made my golf game absolutely thrilling and it has

This is my friend Victor Rodriguez showing me the Secret

(February 2014).

107

The Hogan Code

taken my ball-striking to another level. I had been working on my release when Victor contacted me. He told
me I was very close to Mister Hogans action but I was
missing a crucial element through the impact zone.
Victor had me set up in a pre-impact position with the
club just above parallel to the ground. At this point, Victor turned the face of my club down so it was not fanned
open. The clubface was facing the ball early. To some
people this might not seem like a big deal, but when Victor showed this to me I knew he was on to something. It
was very easy to see in Victors swing once he showed it
to me. In fact, it reminded me of the Claw that Roger
Dunn told me about.
Victor can flat destroy a golf ball and hit it on a laser-straight line to his target with any club in his bag.
He plays his stock 7-iron from 200 yards out and is a
long drive competitor who can hit the ball over 400 yards.
Even though Victors swing doesnt perfectly mimic Ben
Hogans, you can see almost every important detail from
Hogans books present in Victors swing from the fantastic lower body action to the massive lag and trap.
Ben Hogans secret in my opinion can all be seen at impact, notably in the bowed left wrist, short left thumb,
and forward shaft lean. What he wanted to be able to
do was trap the ball with full power and not be afraid of
hooking the ball to the left. When he finally figured out
how to do it and his competitors noticed his hook had
disappeared, he said to the other pros that he had a secret. What he did reveal about the Secret that we know
108

Christo Garcia

has to do with the cupping of the left wrist at the top of

the backswing, the short left thumb, and a weak left hand
grip. These are parts of the Secret that are very, very important because with the proper grip and wrist action the
Secret is much easier to get a proper feel for but impact is
where the Secret is delivered.
Ultimately, the Secret is that Mister Hogan allowed the
club to roll under plane as his elbow dropped into the slot
so that the left wrist was supinated far earlier than before
when he hooked the ball. His forearm roll is maxed out
early so the clubface is squared to the arc long before impact. Then, he simply drove this square position all the
way home through impact. This is crazy to me because I

This is the action of a rollover, flip release.

This is the action of a squared-early, stable release.

109

The Hogan Code

was getting close to figuring it out when I first described

the position I call Shangri-La, which is where the club has
been rolled under plane and the club aligns with the right
forearm from the down the line view just before the wrists
unhinge. It effectively sets up a trapping motion with the
hands leading the clubhead, yet the clubs face is not aggressively turning over as with a conventional trap draw.
The club has to be allowed to roll under plane if were
going to find this trapping position. Almost every golfer
in the world keeps the club above the shaft plane because
its a very unnatural move to go under. With the Shangri-La position, the clubface is already rolled over and
squared up to the swing arc. So, theres nothing left to do
except choose how much power you want to apply to the
ball. So, in summation Mister Hogan got the club into
Victor hitting a 7
iron.

110

Christo Garcia

the squared position early, and then drove this position

through the impact zone.

LASER/POWER STRETCH

I use the acronym Laser to describe the Load, Stretch,

and Release. The golf swing has always been looked at
as a two-part action a backswing and a downswing. I
have learned to look at the swing with a different point
of view. Martin Ayers taught me to see the swing as one
fluid motion, as opposed to two smaller motions broken
down into a backswing and a downswing with a pause in
the middle. Upon further inspection I began to realize
this single motion is actually comprised of three distinct
separate actions. The first part of the swing is the Load.
This is the initial coiling of the body where all of the relevant parts are moving in a clockwise motion away from

Loading the body turns away without separation.

111

The Hogan Code

the ball. I start this action with a one-piece takeaway.

As the Load begins the right hip moves to the rear away
from the target line and the head remains steady. Although I do not mind a slight straightening of the right
leg, it should never be locked out as the hips open to the
rear. Also, as I am keeping my head steady it will move
slightly off of the ball, especially with the longer clubs like
the driver. I want my head to stay centered over my mass
so it naturally moves with my body as it coils. If I kept
my head in exactly the same place it was at address I feel
that I would have to manipulate my body. We can see the
more Hogan wound up, the more his head would move off
the ball as well. So, if I flow with my swing it will move
slightly even though I do not consciously want to move.
At address, the left elbow will be hanging very close to
the left hip. I call this home base for the elbow. As we
swing, the left elbow will move away from the left hip
gradually initiating a stretch through the latissimus dorsi
and the left triceps. The lower body and the upper body
are turning away from the target in unison as the left arm
separates from the body and the right elbow is tucked by
the side before rising up off of the body on a full swing.
Once everything is fully loaded, we can begin the next
phase of the swing.
The second part of the swing is the Stretch. The Stretch
occurs when the lower body begins to turn counter-clockwise back towards the target. This will begin to build
a stretch between all the swing levers. This action will
maximize the stretch between the left elbow and left hip
112

Christo Garcia

Lower body uncoils first creating the Power Stretch.

and soon begin to pull the shoulders back around towards

the ball. I often refer to this as the Power Stretch because
this removes slack and it is the foundation of lag, which
is the source of power in the golf swing. What Im de-

This is the last moment before the release of the clubhead.

113

The Hogan Code

scribing is the upper body lagging behind the lower body

as everything begins to unwind. The relative distance between the left elbow and the left hip is maximized as first
the lower body and then the upper body begin to turn
back towards the target.
The final stage of the swing is the Release where the all
of the swing levers unload in rapid succession. The upper
body rapidly catches up to the lower body, the left elbow
catches back up with the left hip, and the wrists unhinge.
During the Release, the hips have turned the corner and
begin to reach the end of their rotation so the upper body
can fire with full power. The left leg drives backwards away
from the target line pushing the left hip back as the right
leg and hip begin to thrust forward. Now, the power stretch
is relinquished as the shoulders whip around the corner,
followed by the arms, hands, and finally the club itself.

Gravity will force the release of the clubhead.

114

Christo Garcia

SHAFT PLANE SHOULDER PLANE SHAFT PLANE

Through the years I have found myself very confused

by the different descriptions of the planes in the swing.
Some people talk about the one plane swing versus the
two-plane swing. Hogan is often described as having a
one-plane swing and Jack Nicklaus is described as having a two-plane swing because he has a more vertical
takeaway. I find these descriptions to be inaccurate. To
my eyes, the golf club starts on the shaft plane, or where it
is set up at address, and then it rises to a higher plane that
I generally refer to as the shoulder plane. The shoulder
plane is where you create your leverage in the swing. It
can be lower such as Mister Hogan or a Matt Kuchar, or
it can be higher like Jack Nicklaus or Bubba Watson. But
regardless, Mister Hogan and Mister Nicklaus each have
two plane swings by my estimation because there is the

Shaft plane at address.

Shoulder plane at the top.

115

The Hogan Code

plane that the club starts on, and the plane where you derive your leverage, which is more in line with your shoulders. Hence, I simply refer to it as the shoulder plane.
On full swings the club has to travel from the shaft plane
upwards onto the shoulder plane at its highest peak, and
then back down onto the shaft plane to deliver a matched
strike where the club was aimed at address. This down
swing adjustment is often referred to as slotting the
club. But, the impact position does NOT resemble the
address position because the lower body must clear out
of the way and the shaft should have some forward lean
when it meets the ball.

ACCELERATION

The number one problem that the average golfer faces

is premature acceleration. When your club reaches top
speed before impact, it can do nothing but slow down
the rest of the way to the ball, which causes the shaft
to kick early and the clubface to meet the ball inconsistently. If the clubhead is accelerating though impact,
the speed reinforces and stabilizes the face of the club
and consistent compression can be achieved through the
strike. Therefore, the things we are doing with the swing
are to keep the club accelerating through the ball. This is
why I dont apply force with my arms until my left arm
reaches 9 oclock and the wrists begin to unhinge. I then
want to speed up the force from the arms and hands all
the way through 1 oclock, long after the ball has left for
its target.
116

Christo Garcia

This is an example of premature acceleration. Notice how the toe of my

driver has completely flipped over ( January 2010).

I have heard conflicting information on whether it is possible to keep accelerating all the way to the ball, and that
it is extremely difficult if it is possible at all. Nonetheless,
constant acceleration is a goal to be striven for because
premature acceleration is a big mistake in the golf swing.
A golfers natural instinct is to hit the ball from the top
with the arms rather than save the leverage they have acquired. When the club reaches the top of the backswing
the opportunity for maximum leverage is available to the
golfer. However, if this maximum leverage is applied
early, your maximum speed will be reached well before
impact. This max speed obviously cannot be maintained
because once maximum speed is reached, it dissipates.
117

The Hogan Code

The high finish
Hogan was known
for demonstrates the
absence of premature
acceleration.

Therefore, you must learn to save the leverage you have

created. As the arms begin to fall, they are getting the
free ride down. Once the elbow has dropped into place
and the hips are opening, thats when you can finally apply three right hands and blast through the ball with
all of your saved energy. You should strive to keep the
clubhead from reaching maximum speed too early on the
downswing so the shaft does not kick before impact.

THE KARATE CHOP/LATERAL SIDE BEND

When I look at photos of Mister Hogan at impact, the

thing that I marvel at is how open his body is to the target. The hips are clear and the right shoulder is low be118

Christo Garcia

fore the club comes into the ball. It demonstrates power

with control. When Im coming into the ball correctly,
the action has always reminded me of a sideways karate
chop, which requires lateral side bend.
I have had a difficult time trying to emulate this open
body position because I was told as a youngster to keep
my belt buckle at the ball and I should try to make impact
resemble my address position. I would never recommend
this today because it is completely wrong, just like wrist
rolling, and cupped lag in the wrists.
Now, Im working hard on my Lateral Side Bend which
helps clear the body. The ball is hit to the side of you
much more like a baseball player with the hips completely
cleared. Baseball players have their bodies open to where
The Karate Chop
position.

119

The Hogan Code

they want the ball to go. Poor golfers often have their
bodies facing the ball at impact with hunched shoulders,
straight arms, and hips thrusting at the ball.
In order to maintain acceleration I think it is important
to clear the hips first, and then the shoulders as you come
into the impact zone. I sometimes call this the Limbo
Move where I try to keep my right elbow driving in front
of my right hip. I do a limbo move underneath where my
spine was at the top and karate chop the ball.

BALL FLIGHT

Perhaps, the most remarkable thing that Ive discovered

about working through all of the Hogan books is that Im
Playing a straight
ball after years of
hitting hooks and
slices.

120

Christo Garcia

hitting a ball that basically flies straight. I used to believe that a straight ball was impossible to hit as a choice.
It was just something that happened by accident sometimes. The great thrill that I have experienced with my
game today is that I can take dead aim at the target. I
used to think Harvey Penicks advice was wishful thinking, but now it makes total sense!
Taking dead aim is something thats rather remarkable
because it just started to creep into my game more and
more. I just started to hit the ball straighter, and straighter. And then, one day I realized I was no longer aiming to
the left or right of my target the way I did for decades. I
aim right at the target and expect the ball to fly straight.
Its a very fun and exciting way to play the game of golf
and it gives you the feeling that low, low scores are just
around the corner.
Of course, the game is very complex and there are many
elements in the game of golf besides just ball striking.
But, I find the greatest physical pleasure comes from being able to hit a very solid, long, straight ball thats similar to how the pros hit it. This was always my great desire and I never experienced it until my mid-40s. I often
wonder what my life would be like if I knew how to hit
the ball like this in my teens!

YOUR OWN SWING

Your swing is your own swing and its going to look absolutely unique. Even if you do every single thing perfectly
that I have described here, due to the fact that we all have
121

The Hogan Code

Here I am taking a lesson with the great Doug Sanders, 20-time PGA
Tour winner. Dougs classic swing is unique, very compact, and completely
his own.

different body types and different degrees of flexibility we

all look different. Ultimately, no two swings are exactly
alike. Ive obviously been trying to use Mister Hogans
principles to get a better golf swing and Ive even tried
to look as close to Hogan as possible. I understand I will
never be a carbon copy, but Ive learned so much about
my own action by simply imitating Hogan. You could try
to create a painting like Van Gogh but its never going to
happen, but that doesnt mean it wont be an important
learning experience.
I think of the golf swing as a work of art. At the end of
the day your art is going to be unique to your own body
122

Christo Garcia

and experiences. So thats one of the things that I think

make the classic swings of the past so much fun to look at
because they werent robotic, cookie cutter swings like so
many of the swings that we see on the tour today. I look
at most of the swings on the tour and wonder how they
could all look so similar. Then, if you watch the Champions Tour comprised of golfers from the previous generation youll never mistake one golfer for another. The
swing you create with these principles is completely your
own. It does not have to look any certain way, but if you
apply the principles of the Code, certain constants will be
obvious to the trained observer.

123

The Hogan Code

124

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 8:
THE HOGAN SWING IN ACTION

THE WALK UP

Hogan seemed to almost sneak up on the ball. I really enjoy watching the slow motion practice that Mister
Hogan demonstrated on many occasions. In my videos I
often go through the shape of the swing in slow motion.
[Im asked very often why my slow motion swing doesnt
look like my real swing at full speed, and the reason the
two swings look so different is because I havent added
any momentum into the swing. Once you do, the oppositional forces created by the swing contort the shape of the
body and the club.] I highly recommend incorporating
slow motion practice in order to help ingrain what you
are working on at the moment. At full speed, it is very
difficult to get a strong sense of micro-movements that
you will be working on.
125

The Hogan Code

Hogan set the club
in his hands before
taking his stance.

In the Coleman video, we see Ben Hogan go through his

practice routine and demonstrate his full swing in slow
motion.
This is an excerpt from my friend Mike Maves (aka SEVAM1) Blog about this video.
In 1977, at age 65, Ben Hogan made one final trip to
Florida to enjoy time with his good friend George
Coleman and to play a little bit of golf at Seminole
where for many years he had loved to practice in
the winter months leading up to the Masters.
126

Christo Garcia

In the slow motion sequences that Hogan demonstrates (what had been demonstrated in past Hogan
clinics as The Concentration Drill), we see Hogan
illustrating what he felt during the swing as opposed
to what he actually did. This demonstration is so
important because it shows how clearly Hogan understood that no matter what action he performed
with the body, the hands could always keep up.
As Mister Hogan approached the ball he chose the position of his right foot relative to the ball very carefully and
delicately. Next, he settles into position with his right
foot and measures out his left. At this point what becomes apparent to me is how much emphasis and weight
he puts into his right leg as he settles into his stance. His
weight is clearly behind the ball and it seems to me that
if there is going to be any weight shift in his swing, it
will be minimized on the backswing so there is little or
no backward sway, but rather a more circular transfer of
weight into the right foot. His action was very rotary but
there was a clear forward drive of the hips as he began to
unwind his coil that came out of his right leg.

THE HOGAN STANCE

Most people dont think too much about the stance and
to be honest, Hogans stance is one of the last elements of
his swing that I began to tackle. But, my goodness, what
an amazing stance mister Hogan had!
Hogan stood like no other. He stood tall with his lower
back straight. His shoulders and arms hung softly. His
127

The Hogan Code

Here I am addressing
a 2 iron.

body was electric. He was like a rattlesnake ready to strike.

His arms reached slightly away from his body from the elbows and didnt hang straight down (Hogan had long arms,
and his wingspan exceeded his height by several inches.).
His right foot would draw back off the target line, the longer the club was. It was this stance that allowed all the
other aspects of his swing to occur uninhibited.
Mister Hogan described having his weight more on the
heels of his feet than on the balls of his feet, so you could
lift your toes in your shoes. He was not falling forward.
I believe the action of swinging the club around the body
benefits from your weight being pinned in your heels.
128

Christo Garcia

The body needs to fight the centripetal forces created in

the swing that want to pull the body towards the ball, so
planting your heels is a wise move. This is a very, very
crucial part of the golf swing that Ben Hogan had discovered that many modern golf teachers do not understand.
A lot of teachers talk about the athletic setup with the
weight over the balls of the feet. Ive chosen to follow
Mister Hogans advice. I believe this set up with the
weight in the heels works better for the rotation-based
type of swing.
Hogan used a fairly wide stance with his feet slightly
wider than his shoulders for his driver. He felt his weight
on the insides of his feet and towards the heels as well as
tension on the insides of his legs. Hogans hands were
several inches from his thighs even though he kept his
elbows in the neighborhood of his stomach. His elbows
are not locked out. No athletic motions can be initiated
from locked joints. Hogan also cocked his right hand
down at the ball as if he were going to shoot it with a pistol (more on that later). His short right thumb position
that he adopted after the war certainly had something to
do with this.
Mister Hogan would often set up with his right arm riding higher than his left. This contradicts a picture of him
in the Power Golf book. I believe he made various adjustments with his setup for different shots he wanted to
hit. I do believe he managed his trajectory by adjusting
the tilt in his shoulders and hips as he addressed the ball.
He would tilt downward and trap the ball more for a lower trajectory.
129

The Hogan Code

Hogan tilted his chin to the right just prior to takeaway.

This was a common move for all the old-timers all the
way through Jack Nicklaus. After that, it just faded away.
I dont really practice it and find it a bit disorienting. Perhaps, it will be the final key that unlocks an enormous
puzzle for me. As of yet, I have not been able to incorporate it naturally into all of my shots. I have heard that
Mister Hogan and Jack Nicklaus were left-eye dominant,
whereas, I am right-eye dominant. This could have something to do with why it feels unnatural for me.
This is my version of
the Hogan address.

130

Christo Garcia

When we look at pictures of Ben Hogans stance I think

one of the things that stands out to me right away is that
he stands rather tall at address. Since Hogan was going to
compress down through the shot, it was important that he
was not too close to the ball so he didnt catch the ball on
the heel of the club. I always feel that he is very connected
to where he wants the ball to go. All of these things are
very important for how he was able to drive the ball on a
straight line to his target and create such a straight shot.
Mister Hogan said that when he pointed the clubhead it
was virtually the same feeling as holding a .45 caliber pistol in his right hand as if you were going to shoot a bullet
right through the golf ball. And, what this setup did was
put the club closer in line to his forearms. Since he kept
the club connected to his body by the elbows it allowed
him to swing the club at full speed while maintaining a
measured distance from the ball.
When he struck the ball he was coming from the inside,
and delivered the club onto the original shaft plane with
extreme consistency. This is one of the many things that
gave Hogan the ability to hit the golf ball with such precision over and over again. People have said he looked
like he was stamping out bottle caps the way he hit a golf
ball, perfect precision over and over again. But, the golf
ball was not where the clubhead was being delivered. The
clubhead was being whipped in a circular arc around past
the target and the ball simply got in the way.
As we take our address position with the clubhead behind
the ball, Hogan talked about having the shoulders slightly
131

The Hogan Code

open at address and this is accomplished by a slight bend

in the right knee. And what you will notice in your stance
at address is if you just bend that right knee a touch its
going to lower that side and open that left shoulder.
One of the things that I see that Hogan did when he addressed the golf ball was he seems to torque his setup a bit,
and what I mean by that is we know his front leg was rotated slightly open, so this puts a little torque into that left
leg, and even though the hips are square they are wanting
to move in the direction of the target. The right leg was
torqued in with his knee slightly bent inwards and he said
he felt muscular tension in his right groin. He held his
shoulders slightly open to the target and it looks from his
elbows and his wrists that his wrists are just waiting to roll
into the impact position. So this torqueing of every limb is
apparent when you look at the way he appears at address.
It looks like electrical energy is pulsing through every limb
of his body, as he gets ready to pull the trigger. He looks
more alert than most, almost like a baseball player in the
batters box waiting for a pitch. Hes not standing without
a purpose, and many said he hit the ball with his stance
because it just looked like nothing could go wrong.
I first heard of this torque concept listening to Steve
Elkington and Mike Maves talking about a golfer from
the turn of the last century named Abe Froman who was
believed to be the longest driver of his day. Martin Ayers
has talked about this as well. Is it possible that entire
volumes of swing technique have been lost or forgotten
through the years? Sometimes I feel like Indiana Jones
trying to dig up lost treasures from the past. One thing
132

Christo Garcia

is for certain, the great golfers from the past could still
shoot amazing scores with equipment that was by todays
standards, close to the Stone Age.
So, the feeling of this torqued setup can really be felt as
we turn our body towards the target. [The following directions are for right-handed golfers if they were standing on a clock with 12 oclock in front of the belt buckle.]
We can rotate our left arm counterclockwise and rotate
our right arm counterclockwise, so the feeling in our upper torso is to turn it towards the target, our left leg we
can turn counterclockwise and our right foot we can turn
counterclockwise so everything is turned towards the target. Everything is torqued a quarter turn towards the target, but we roll it back into our address position. And this
is whats going to give us that electrifying feeling before

133

The Hogan Code

Address

Forward Press

Caddy Drag

we take the club back- it is that everything is going to

want to return to this central position, which is post-impact. By the time the body springs back into this torqued
position, the ball will be long gone.

THE TAKEAWAY

As we initiate the swing, Hogan liked to do a very small

forward press with his hands and right knee as a trigger
move. Its barely perceptible to the naked eye but he certainly felt it, he described it, and you can see it in various
videos on the web. Granted, its not very exaggerated but
we have to introduce some momentum into the system.
And, this is why I like to use the caddy drag.
The caddy drag is accomplished by essentially moving the
handle of the club back before the head of the club. Then,
we can begin to lightly swing the clubhead away from the
ball and take that little bit of momentum and create an
early wrist cock that will cup our left wrist.
134

Christo Garcia

After a very slight forward press you can drag the club
handle butt end first towards your right hip. This allows
you to slightly cup the left hand wrist as the right hand
rolls under the handle to support the club as you roll the
club up and cock the wrists halfway up the backswing.
The caddy drag was very prevalent in the early part of the
20th century. When you look at many of the older golfers
from Harry Vardon to Bobby Jones, they would drag the
handle back first and carefully roll the club up into the
cupped position at the top of the backswing. I believe
this is a holdover from when they had very whippy hickory shafts. They had to be very careful about the weight
in the clubhead and they could not let it get loose or run
away from them because with a wooden shaft it will never
90 degrees at left arm
parallel.

135

The Hogan Code

catch back up. So the caddy drag helped them to keep the
clubhead in control as their bodies generated momentum
very gradually. Even though the stiff shafts and lighter
clubs of today dont require a caddy drag, I still think its
helpful to control the momentum of the clubhead and get
the feeling of it whipping it around your body.
This is very crucial because Hogan liked to cock his wrists
very early in the backswing. When his left arm reached
parallel to the ground the club was at a 90-degree angle
to the left arm, and from this point on it makes the clubhead feel very light. Once you get that club up into the
vertical position then you have Captured the Clubhead
as you gather all of your forces to strike the golf ball.
The deep takeaway.
Notice the right elbow
connection as the
weight in the clubhead is gathered.

136

Christo Garcia

THE DEEP TAKEAWAY

An important aspect of the takeaway that is not talked

about very much anymore is what I refer to as the deep
takeaway. Deep is the direction away from the target line
behind you.
High is the position that is relative to the target line
above you. Most players today try and reach very high
with the club but this limits your ability to go deep. I believe in order to create leverage you want to get the club
handle as far away from the ball as you can. You can do
this by either taking the club high or taking it deep or a
combination in between the two (Sam Snead went high
and deep!). When Roger Dunn told me to reach into my
right pocket with my left hand, it really gave me the sense
of what a deep takeaway felt like. But, we do not want to
lose the weight of the clubhead to our rear.
An easy way to maintain a deep takeaway is to keep the
right elbow connected to your body as you take the clubhead away to the inside using the caddy drag and the
rolling the club to the vertical. We want to open our hips
along with our shoulders all together in one piece as we
bring the clubhead to the top of the backswing.
This is a big difference between the classic swing and the
modern swing. The modern swing teaches you to restrict
your lower body motion in order to create immediate
torque against it. And, you are taught to make a big arc,
often by pushing the clubhead away from you down the
target line. I do not agree with this approach anymore
mostly because of the fact that a real golf swing does not
137

The Hogan Code

mimic a perfect wheel, not to mention that Im over 40

years old and my flexibility is not what it used to be.
As we keep our right elbow connected and roll the club
up into the vertical position and stretch the club back
upwards and behind us we are building pressure on the
inside of the right leg. To me its important that we brace
the right leg so that we do not sway to the right as we are
loading into the golf swing.
Many people feel the natural tendency to slide to the
right because they think they are going to get more power that they can then deliver into the ball when they slide
back left into the ball. I do not believe this creates any
Hogans A.

138

Christo Garcia

extra power, but instead it makes it more difficult to consistently find the true bottom of the swing arc at impact.
It is true that you may move just a touch to your right on
the backswing because of the turning of the body and the
weight going into the right leg but its a minimal amount if
at all. And it is more likely to happen with the longer clubs
than the short clubs. With a short iron from an 8 iron
through sand wedge, I try not to move my head at all. That
right leg needs to stay braced and I need to keep my head
positioned in one spot. I even feel much of my weight in
my left side with short irons ready to fall through impact.
As I move into the mid- and long irons and my spine
angle increases very slightly, there may be a little bit of
movement off the ball. Again, it should be minimized.
And, with a driver swing there is probably a small amount
that is measurable, but this isnt on purpose and its simply because of the energy of the swing thats taking me
around. This is what I call building pressure inside the
A. If you put a capital A up to your body and the two
bottom legs of the A are where your feet are, your head
would rest on top of the letter A.
Were going to build pressure inside this letter A as we
prepare to strike the golf ball. In the backswing we want
to build that pressure and feel it on the inside of the
braced right leg. The converse would be true on the follow-through. We are going to need to feel the left leg
braced in supporting the body as we whip the clubhead
through the impact zone at maximum speed.
As were pressuring inside the A we want to feel our
139

The Hogan Code

The transition should be delicate and should not disturb the clubhead.

weight ride into our right heel and it should feel very,
very secure in the ground as we move our weight into
our right side. Were going to be using this pressure very
much as we build ground forces through the transition
bringing the club down into Slotsville and eventually
through Shangri-La and impact. This force should flow
around us and we should feel our weight in our left heel
by the end of the swing.

THE TRANSITION

The Transition is the least talked about and perhaps the

most important part of the golf swing. Its the second
phase of what I call the Three-Part Swing. The backswing is setting up the transition, which is going to allow
140

Christo Garcia

us enough stored energy to hit the ball with great authority. If you dont manage your transition properly, youll
inevitably waste all of this stored up energy that your body
has created. This is what frustrates the average golfer.
Since the swing takes place in three parts (the load,
stretch, and release), the transition is the beginning of the
second phase, which is the stretch. In the first part of the
swing, everything moves away together- the knees, hips,
the shoulders- the arms turn to the right. But for the first
time in the course of the swing, during the transition the
lower body (specifically the left knee and hip) begins to
move to the left, with the right leg holding back to open
the pelvis. Meanwhile, the rest of the upper body is still
Beginning my
transition with
a 3 iron.

141

The Hogan Code

coiling and creating the fullest stretch possible between

the upper and lower body.
This is what I call the Power Stretch, which is a rubber
band-like tension that is created by the left elbow being
stretched as far away from the left hip as possible. At
address, the left elbow is close to the left hip. During
the back swing the left elbow and the left hip are gradually separating as the club is drawn back high and away
from the lower body. This stretch between the left elbow
and the left hip is maximized during the transition. This
maximum stretch should then be held for as long as possible. As the upper body begins to unwind, the soft left
arm should lie across the chest maintaining the power
stretch until it is time to engage the arms just before impact. As the upper body eventually gives way to the pulling action from the lower body bringing it back around in
the direction of the ball, the arms and hands will engage
to deliver the clubhead into the ball when gravity begins
to take over. It may be difficult at first to try and remove
tension in the arms, but you will find the arms cannot resist springing into action when the time is right. As long
as your head is steady and your feet dont move, the club
will find its home on the back of the ball.
One of the greatest secrets of the transition is that the arms,
shoulders, and upper body must remain relaxed. Its a very
common urge to feel like you want to hit the ball using the
arms at the top of the swing. We want to resist allowing
the arms to get involved at this point. Its normal to want
to chop down on the ball, but you should stay tension-free
as the lower body builds the tension into the upper body.
142

Christo Garcia

The wrists, arms, and shoulders are soaking up momentum during the
transition, waiting to spring into action.

The upper and lower body will instinctively snap together

like a rubber band if you can allow the proper sequencing
to work in your favor. By keeping your upper body supple
as you are going to the second phase of the swing, gravity
should be your friend as you allow the weight of the clubhead to settle and drop in behind the upper body. This is
what keeps you from coming over the top. The amateurs
instinct is to fully power the arms at this point and chop
down on the ball like an ax. This is what causes so much
grief to recreational golfers every day.
If you could learn to keep your arms, shoulders, and chest
relaxed as the transition occurs, gravity will do the first
part of the job by helping to pull the club down into the
143

The Hogan Code

slot as momentum is gradually increased. It doesnt need

to be forced. You dont have to do anything physically
with your wrists, hands or arms. All you have to do is
simply let gravity take control of the clubhead. This is
what begins to flatten the swing arc and its a crucial part
of transition.
Once the lower body begins to pull the upper body back
down into the ball a tremendous amount of force will be
created that must be managed by compressing the weight
of the body into the ground. If you stand up, you will
leak the energy that you worked so hard to store. These
valuable ground forces will give you the leverage you need
to strike the ball with full power.
When we look at Mister Hogans golf swing, you can see
very visibly that he lowers once on the backswing, and
he lowers again as he strikes the ball. His head does not
rise until the ball is long gone. The club whips around his
body with his elbows connecting the club to his core at
nearly a 90-degree angle to his spine.
If you look at a weightlifter that is going to hoist a heavy
barbell, where does the weightlifter get his leverage?
Its not from his arms. Its not even from his back. The
weightlifter uses his leverage against the ground to lift
the object. This is the same way that a golfer builds power. You need to harness the ground forces underneath you
and build your power from the ground up.
As you begin the center of gravity should feel as if its
gently falling to the left, and sinking into the earth as the
144

Christo Garcia
I try to keep the
clubhead behind me
as I drop my Atomic
Elbow into the slot.

unwinding begins to occur and then it circles around to

the rear. Lee Trevino describes his weight transfer as a
slide/turn. Id say Hogan was close to this description.
Your chest should feel like its pressing into the ball and
not rising. Gradually as the speed increases the arms will
come into play. This is all easier said than done at the beginning, but as you begin to work on these concepts they
will become second nature.

THE ATOMIC ELBOW

I feel like most of the strength in my arms is used for keeping the club from flying away from the body as it rotates.
We keep our elbows connected because it is the strongest
145

The Hogan Code

position that the body can maintain with the club. Not
with the arms completely outstretched, but rather, with
the elbows tied into the body so we can rotate at maximum speed and have maximum control over the club.
As the body compresses towards the ground, and our
shoulders begin to rotate around, our right elbow is going
to drive down in front of our right hip as we are rolling
down into impact. Hogan was able to get his elbow way
in front of his right hip. This is one of the important parts
of the swing that completes the transition and gives us
stored power. The right elbow, which has gradually risen
up and away from the body, is going to return in front of
the hip as we rotate our body towards the target. This is
going to keep the clubhead from getting stuck too far behind us while giving us the essential delayed hit. This will
give us a repeatable position so the clubhead can fall onto
the back of the ball with maximum speed and consistency.
When I really want to attack the ball, I open up my chest as far
as possible on the backswing and stretch my arms up keeping
the hands in front of my chest. Then, as I begin my transition
I pull both of my elbows down in front of my stomach while
levering my torso down onto the ball with lateral side bend.
This gives me tons of lag and maximum power.

SLOTSVILLE

By keeping our upper body relaxed while building our

ground forces during the transition were going to arrive
at a position that I refer to as Slotsville once our elbow
finds its home. Slotsville is a lot of fun because once you
146

Christo Garcia
Waiting for the Bullet
Train in Slotsville.

can get the club into this position regularly you will begin
to feel the free ride down that Hogan talked about. The
arms and the club are not being forced. They are simply
coming along for the ride that gravity, ground forces, and
this unwinding of the body have created.
Theres very little we have to do at this point in order to strike
the ball purely and have the ball fly straight and far towards
its target. Its very important to keep the right elbow connected to the body and we want to feel our left is arm pulling
down across our chest as the club rolls into Shangri-La.
This is going to allow the clubhead to fall behind us on
a shallower plane than our backswing as we begin to un147

The Hogan Code

wind into the ball. From the front view the body has
already come around, belt buckle towards the target, and
the viewer wonders, Wheres the clubhead? Well the
clubhead is coming around too; its just going to be a
fraction of a second behind the upper body. When you
create this delayed hit or lag, youre going to be able to
whip into the golf ball with maximum force.
This delayed hit is what creates the extreme whipping action and the crack that you hear when you see a fantastic
golfer strike a golf ball. As the right elbow comes into
Slotsville, its very similar to the way a shortstop would
throw a sidearm or underhand ball to second base. Another example is of a person throwing a Frisbee with the
underhand throwing motion palm up, or the way a black
belt would throw a karate chop snapping a board in half
from the side, or a boxer throwing a right hook into the
body. It involves a feeling of the right side rolling under
the left. I call this the Limbo Move, which begins to
create our secondary axis tilt. Its as if we are going to do
the limbo under our own spine angle.
Slotsville is very crucial because it is the very last piece of
the puzzle that comes directly before we actively use the
arms, release the hands, and ready the club for impact.
This is the heavenly position that I refer to as Shangri-La.

SHANGRI-LA

Once the ground forces are employed and the body begins to unwind, the club falls into Slotsville. As the elbow
drops, with only a flick of the wrist that I call the Hogan
148

Christo Garcia
It took a little over
three years to find
what I was looking
for Shangri-La.

Roll the clubface is squared early to the swing arc, the

left wrist begins to supinate, and youre ready to strike the
ball with accuracy and 100 percent of your power. This is
where I have found my Shangri-La!
It is this moment of Shangri-La when the clubface begins rolling over to face the ball squarely well before the
clubface makes contact. Once this becomes ingrained,
solid contact with the ball will become the norm. Knowing that perfect contact is coming produces the feeling
of greatness that Moe Norman described. Mister Hogan said the golf swing is a physical pleasure. A lot of
people call me a range rat, but if they knew what I was
feeling out there theyd probably be hitting balls right
next to me.
149

The Hogan Code

Shangri-La presages
the crack at impact.

I remember seeing photos of Mister Hogan where the

club was riding along his right forearm coming into the
ball and I was confused. With my chop swing, I was
under the impression your club should be above the right
forearm across the right bicep coming down. But, then I
noticed Sergio Garcia also had the club riding low along
his forearm with the hands rolling the club under plane.
To be honest, I didnt even know if this was possible for
me to do! Then I started seeing a lot of great ball strikers
finding Shangri-La Trevino, Jordan Spieth, and JJ Henry just to name a few! They are all trappers, not choppers!
Im an athletic person. Ive played many sports with a high
150

Christo Garcia

Here I am adding a little thrust from my hips towards the target.

degree of skill. And, Ive even played some decent golf for
stretches here and there. But, for the first time, what Ive
discovered since studying Ben Hogans technique is the
feeling of Shangri-La with the clubface screaming at the
ball perfectly square. Its a feeling that nothing can go
wrong. Its a feeling devoid of anxiety and only hopeful
anticipation. Shangri-La is that moment just before you
know something wonderful is going to happen.

HIP THRUST

One day while I was observing Hogan I saw something

that Ive seen a million times before but it didnt click.
151

The Hogan Code

This journey is so bizarre how one door leads to a whole

new hallway with ten more doors, but this is Hogans hip
thrust. I was watching a down-the-line view and I noticed something peculiar when I was looking at the way
his right hip was working. It looks like Mister Hogans
hips are rotating really hard, then they seem to stop rotating, then theres a thrusting action through the ball with
the right side that pulls him up and off of the letter A. It
was not until I learned to clear my hips completely that
this thrust was beneficial. When my hips didnt completely clear and I tried to thrust, it was too far towards
the ball rather than towards the target. Now, my thrust
adds an extra power gear when I execute it properly.
Roger Dunn urged me to use my martial arts background
and learn to thrust through the ball. At the time I didnt
quite understand what he meant. To be honest most of
the things he taught me would take on greater significance months and years later as my understanding of Ben
Hogans technique increased.
I have read a lot of instructors who say you should post
up on the left leg through impact. Although I get their
point, I disagree with this idea. I do believe there should
be resistance in the left leg and it should straighten, but
I do not believe it should straighten vertically like a post.
Rather, it should straighten away from the target line
at a slight angle, thereby forcing the left hip to the rear.
It should also straighten inside the Hogan A. Baseball
players do a great job of creating power this way. This
move also clears the lower body efficiently so there is
plenty of space for the arms, hands, and club. When the
152

Christo Garcia

left leg is posted vertically it tends to create a bunched

up follow-through, a hunched back, and a more vertical
spine angle. This is due to the lack of space for the arms
to efficiently apply the clubhead, and it stalls the rotation.
One of the techniques Im fooling around with is having
the hips unwind until impact and then make the left leg
drive the hip to the rear. At this same time the right
side thrusts through the impact zone adding a great deal
of power. Because there is plenty of space between the
golfer and the ball, the head should not have to rise, if at
all, through the impact zone. But, instead the spine angle
is maintained as demonstrated by Mister Hogan or even
lowered in some cases like Lee Trevino.

The low-left, rotation-driven release.

153

The Hogan Code

THE RELEASE

The release is the essential component of the golf swing

that should be a reaction to everything that has led up
to this point in the swing. The club doesnt flip over
as in when the natural instinct is to chop down on the
ball. What youll notice about Hogan is when the club
comes into impact, his elbows stay tied to his body and
he doesnt lose control of the clubface. Mister Hogan
maintains control of the club through the impact zone
and from the down-the-line view youll always notice
that there is this nice little L-shape between his arms and
the club. This is largely because the butt of the club is
still pointing towards Mister Hogans center of mass as
he rotates through the ball.
One of the elements from the Hogan swing that I find
remarkable is how the club drops down onto the ball. The
club comes to square and it stays square to the target line
for a long time. I sometimes refer to this as falling into
the pocket. I hear some people talking about chasing the
ball down the line or hitting out to right field, but I personally disagree with this. The clubhead cannot make a
straight line at any point during the golf swing and trying
to keep the face square down the target line will require
unnecessary manipulation.
One of the things Ive fooled around with is releasing the
club around my body low and to the left. The more Ive
improved my hip action and overall rotation, the more
naturally the low-left release has become and I dont have
to manipulate it anymore. The reason why thats important is it maintains this connection with your upper
154

Christo Garcia

left arm and your chest so you dont lose control over the
clubhead. The clubhead comes at the ball from the inside
and leaves the strike going back to the inside on a square
path. The ball is contacted just before it reaches the furthest point away from the golfer, which is the bottom of
the arc after contact. The club should not come from the
inside, hit the ball and continue flying uncontrollably out
to the right. Remember, we are creating speed by whipping the club in a circular path around us. So post-impact, the club comes back to the inside.
One good way to practice this move is with a standard
pitch shot. Since there isnt the need to create much
leverage, the club is kept very much on the shaft plane.
As you work on pitch shots, try to keep the butt end of
the club pointing at your belly button and use your rotation to create power. Its an easy way to ingrain that
feeling of not letting the arms fly off the body.
The full expression of energy
transferred into the ball exemplified by
a high extension through the finish.

155

The Hogan Code

156

Christo Garcia

CHAPTER 9:
SWING DRILLS

RIGHT ARM ONLY/BELT DRILL

As I mentioned earlier, it was when I tried to play golf

with a useless left arm that I began to get a better elbow
connection in my swing. One thing I still practice that I
learned that day is right arm swings. Im sure left arms
swings will be good in the future, but right now I actively
practice hitting balls with just my right arm.
I start with chip shots around the green. Im really focusing on just making solid contact. If you can do that you
will find that you can actually hit good chips. For me the
key is to maintain my right elbow connection. As I make
longer swings I try to make sure my right hand is leading
the clubhead through impact. This makes me try to clear
my body before my arm comes through. Its hard to do at
first, but its a very good drill.
157

The Hogan Code

Belt Drill.

Another variation on the right arm only swing is to use a

belt tied around the elbow of the right arm. This guarantees the right arm will stay connected through the hit. At
first its a little tricky to do, but as you get used to it you
will find its not so unnatural for a good golf swing.

SLOW MOTION SWINGS

Slow Motion swings are a great way to practice what I

call the Laser- the Load Stretch Release concept. I look
at the swing as one motion with three parts. Most people look at the swing as a backswing and a downswing.
I believe the first part of the swing is the Load where
158

Christo Garcia
Slow Motion Drill.

everything turns away from the ball together. The second phase is the Stretch where the lower body begins to
turn back to the ball maximizing the stretch between the
upper and lower body, and the club head drops behind.
The release occurs when the upper body relinquishes its
stretch away from the lower body and the arms allow the
club to hit the ball.

LEFT SIDE PULL

I find it helpful to have a friend hold my club head waist

high along my toe line behind me down the line. From
this position I can work on my left side pull. I want to
159

The Hogan Code

Left Side Club Pull

feel like my hips have already turned the corner. They

are leading my shoulders that are just about to turn the
corner. I want to try and pull the club from my friends
hands with my body and my hips, not with my arms. You
can work club head pulls from different angles, which Ive
found to be helpful.

BASEBALL SWINGS

For some reason, practicing baseball-style swings with

the club a couple of feet above the ground makes it easier
for me to feel my body opening up before the club comes
through the impact zone. Im reminded of Mister Hogans demonstration of the lower body sequencing where
he keeps his elbow tucked and he practices his lower body
160

Christo Garcia

Baseball Swings 1-4.

opening up to the target. Then, when Mister Hogan rolls

his wrists downward, suddenly the club takes a different
path, diving down towards the ball ready for the crush.

THE CLAW

When I learned the Claw from Roger Dunn, I began to

incorporate it by doing pitch shots first (the same goes
for the Twirl). I would draw the club up halfway with the
face shut the whole way. Upon reaching the top I try to
Working on the claw
with Roger Dunn.

161

The Hogan Code

keep my arms in place and then turn my body towards the

target while keeping my head steady. This reminds me of
how Dustin Johnson hits the ball. I have used the Claw
to play some really good golf and I still use it sometimes,
mostly when I wish to hit a draw.

162

Christo Garcia

163

The Hogan Code

164

Michael and Lance, two of my best students and patrons.

Christo Garcia

MySwingEvolution Patronage

Thank you very much to all of my Patrons for making this

book a possibility. It would not have been possible if not
for your generous support. It is my honor to share with
you what I have learned over the past four years and I
hope to continue on my journey of discovery.
Id like to thank my father, Dr. Fausto Garcia, for teaching me the game, and my older brother, Donald Garcia,
for being the perfect model for an older brother and gentleman golfer. Id also like to thank the rest of my family,
and especially my dear wife, Bridget, for supporting me as
Ive undergone my Don Quixote-type journey.
165

The Hogan Code

This is my father, Dr. Fausto Garcia, and my lovely wife Bridget, along
with our two beautiful children, Avery and Evelyn.

Id like to say a special thank you to Jose Hernandez

for giving me unwavering support and encouragement.
Without your help this book would have been next to
impossible.

Here I am with Jose Hernandez at Doug Sanders 80th birthday tournament.

166

Christo Garcia

Co-hosting Eddie Bravos podcast a few days before his rematch with
Royler Gracie, with guest, Emmy-winning reporter, Amber Lyon.

And, Id also like to give a special shout out to my main

man, Eddie Bravo, whose revolutionary system of 10th
Planet Jiu-Jitsu served as a major inspiration for the
structure of My Swing Evolution.
And, thank you to the the Golf Club at Terra Lago for
providing such a spectacular backdrop for the principle
photography.
And, thank you to all of my subscribers and viewers on
YouTube. You have made my golf dream become a reality. Without your constant encouragement, this would
never have turned out as well as it has. Hit em long, and
hit em straight.

167

The Hogan Code

PLATINUM PATRONS
Jose F. Hernandez
Donald Reid
Gary Gisclair
Jason Vasquez
Vincent Broring
Todd Hibbert
Min Matsumoto
Ralph Caccese
Mario Canal
David Cash
Ryan Kastern
Karan Rai
Sam Patrick
Robert Haley
Francios Canches
Chris Peterich
Jerry York
Dr. J. Terry Aford
Dr. Andrew Lee
Jan Willem Helms
Ramesh Srinivasan
Vincent Dugan
Kevin Alas
Jong Suk Jin
Clyde Bass

Paul Kim
Thomas Sultana
Steve Huerth
Rob Graessle
Hakan Olander
Jan Hans Pieters
Keiichiro Miyazaki
Joshua Hay
Aaron Heafield
Chris Maye
Eric McCall
Stephan Imbach
George Supol
Thomas Santiago
Gerald Thomas
Roger Haag
Christophe Tchoun You Alvin Voon
Andre Sjoberg
Thung Lee
Troy Tinnes
Bob Kaylor
William Dayton
Roger Haag
David Cordero
Santeri Huvinen
Mark Lewin
William Manser
Richard McKinnes
Bauyrzan Sarkytbayev Edward Herman
Alex Simanovski
Dan Petchell

168

Christo Garcia

Christo Garcia is a director/producer whose television shows have been

awarded both an Emmy, and a Peabody Award. Christo is also a martial
artist, ballet dancer, and nationally certified personal trainer.

169

Mr. Garcia has distilled 60 years of supposition concerning Ben Hogan's

work into a simple and easy to follow progression. The Hogan code is a
must read for the do it yourself golfer.
-Zack Axelton
I had never learned the proper fundamentals of golf despite playing this
game for 13 years. I was without proper educational materials until I
stumbled upon Christo's "My Swing Evolution" series. This series takes you
through a journey to learn and master the basic fundamentals the great Ben
Hogan implemented in his swing and transfers that knowledge onto us.
-Anthony Beltran
Christo Garcia set off on a golfing journey, one that many of us followed
via his regular YouTube updates. This book is certainly his map, a path
that others may follow and also enjoy the secrets of the iconic Ben Hogan.
-Greg Patmore
Cutting my handicap by 12 strokes within an year was a direct consequence of learning to take charge of my own development. My Swing
Evolution has been a great example to follow.
-Krasimir Ivanov
Reading and hearing what Hogan said was never the same as understanding what he meant. Thanks for breaking the Hogan Code" and
translating his genius into game lowering lessons for all of our swing
evolutions.
-Don Raymundo De Monterey