Ben Hogan Helps Me Learn the Vardon Overlapping Grip
A Rainy Day of No Golf Got My Game Going From a Hacker to a Golfer With Hope
The following is an excerpt from my book titled, “Golf Champions of Olden Time Lesson Tee – The Grip”:
I grew up in Ohio and as a kid my main thing was playing baseball. I was not very good at it, I kept the bench warm. Somewhere in there I started hitting golf balls in the front yard using a wedge from my dad’s set of golf clubs. Dad noticed that, so he got his baseball-inept son a beginner’s set of golf clubs. Man, was I happy to have a set of golf clubs for my own. Thanks dad! The set was made up of a driver, 3 wood, the 3, 5, 7, and 9 irons, and a weird J. C. Goosie putter. I couldn’t hit the driver at all, I could hit the 3 wood off a tee, but not off the ground. The 3 and 5 irons never came out of the bag because they were impossible for me, I used the 7 and 9 irons for all the shots after the 3 wood tee shot. The J. C. Goosie putter usually hit the ball at least three times on each green. I loved that first set of golf clubs. Dad encouraged me to play, explaining that golf takes time to learn. He would take me out often to play nine-hole rounds at the nearest public golf course and we had a lot of fun. I couldn’t imagine ever hitting a tee shot as far as my dad could. I was terrible at golf and my dad tried to help me, but I couldn’t hit a good shot. I loved golf, but I was having no success at it.
I’d swat the ball as hard as I could, trying to hit a shot as far as my dad, but usually spraying my shots wildly into the rough, woods, pond or creek, and then I’d try not to step on a snake as I stomped off to track down the wayward pellet. I’d keep giving the golf ball more and more swats until it eventually ended up on the green where my overused J. C. Goosie putter would go to work. After I holed out, I’d try to remember all my stokes on the hole. There were a lot of strokes to count. It was fun, but also frustrating. I had no idea at all of the fundamentals of golf, no idea of what a good golf swing does or looks like.
My Dad.
When I was 14, my dad took me on a golf trip to Pompano Beach, Florida. Now I was a bit older, taller, and stronger. I was at least hitting the ball in the air most of the time and getting more distance, but I was still hitting my golf shots all over creation. The places my golf ball ended up had me watching out for snakes. I learned that Florida snakes might be poisonous, I never had to worry about venomous vipers in Ohio! I decided that I wanted to make the high school golf team during that Florida trip. But there was a problem, my scores were not good enough to get me on the golf team. On the plus side, I had another year before I was eligible to try out for the golf team, I had time to get better.
I was inconsistent. A good round… then a bad round… another bad round… then a so-so round. I was lost at golf, I didn’t have an understanding of what I had to do to hit good shots time and time again. My scores were usually in the mid 90s, my absolute best score was an 89. My high school had a good golf team. The best player shot in the 70s, he could sometimes shoot in the 60s! To make the high school golf team, I needed to regularly shoot in the low 80s. That seemed like a far-fetched dream and I needed to improve. I was trying everything I could to keep my scores in the low 90s. My “thrash and flail” golf swing was not exactly what works on the golf course. It did work well for hammering nasty snakes. After many golf rounds of our Florida golf trip, my scores were getting worse instead of better. My dream of making the high school golf team was fading away. Then, one day it rained so hard that playing golf was impossible. That frustrated me because I wanted to get better at golf by playing as much as I could. Sitting on the couch in the vacation condo watching the Three Stooges on TV was not going to help.
That day of all rain and no golf was the best thing for my golf game. My improvement at golf began that day, a day when I did not hit a single golf ball.
Ben Hogan Five Lessons
My dad had brought along a golf instruction book on the trip. It was a book that he liked to refer to, and it was an excellent golf instruction book. The book was: “Five Lessons – The Modern Fundamentals of Golf ” by Ben Hogan. The book was there on the coffee table in front of the couch as I watched the Three Stooges. During a commercial, curiosity got the best of me. I picked up Hogan’s book and began to look at the illustrations, then I started to read the text. Hmm… this looks like good stuff. Who is this Hogan guy anyways? I turned the TV off. Goodbye Moe, Larry, and Curly. Hello, Ben Hogan.
My understanding of what makes up a good golf swing, as Ben Hogan wrote, “A CORRECT, POWERFUL, REPEATING SWING” began at the moment I opened Hogan’s book. Reading Ben Hogan’s book taught me what the fundamentals of a good golf swing were. I understood then what makes up a good golf swing, even if I couldn’t make a good swing. Specifically, the grip, stance and posture, backswing, and downswing parts of a golf swing had to be correctly learned. I had to practice so I could build a correct, powerful, and repeating golf swing the best I could. My golf education and my golf game both began when I opened Ben Hogan’s book that rainy day in Florida.
Ben Hogan’s first lesson in his book was about the grip and he explained it beautifully. There were wonderful drawings by Anthony Ravielli which left no doubt about what a good golf grip looks like. Hogan’s opening sentence in the first chapter was, “GOOD GOLF BEGINS WITH A GOOD GRIP.” Later in the chapter Hogan spoke about how Harry Vardon, a golf champion of olden times, popularized an overlapping grip that became the standard. Ben Hogan used the Vardon Overlapping Grip and it is the most common grip used by amateur and professional golfers. As I read that first lesson, I knew it was time to throw away the golf grip I’d devised for myself and instead learn to have a good and correct golf grip.
Ben Hogan in New York City after he won the Triple Crown.
I began making and practicing the Vardon Overlapping Grip that Ben Hogan taught in his book. I practiced all the fundamentals of the golf swing as explained by Ben Hogan in “Five Lessons – The Modern Fundamentals of Golf .” The new grip made a world of difference. With my hands making a good grip on the golf club, I was able to swing the golf club a lot closer to the way it is supposed to be swung. My hands worked together in unison as one, but each hand was able to perform its own unique role in the swing. I was now releasing the clubhead through the ball with the correct cocking and uncocking of my wrists, I gained power and accuracy.
It took time and effort, but over the next year my golf scores began to lower. They went from the 90s to the high and mid 80s, then as I sharpened my golf game more by following Ben Hogan’s lessons, my scores were consistently in the mid and low 80s. I was even threatening to shoot in the 70s, but I wasn’t quite there yet. My golf scores weren’t falling as fast as I wanted, but I was making progress. I was becoming a golfer who could swing a golf club with authority, and not look like a madman trying to pound a snake into the ground. Golf was becoming a whole lot more fun. I was looking forward to trying out for my high school’s golf team.
During try-outs for the high school golf team I caught fire one day and shot a one over par 37 for 9 holes, and my other scores were in the low 40s. I made my high school’s golf team! I became a starter my sophomore year after I defeated a senior in a match for the #4 man position, then I worked my way up to #2 man. I averaged 40 strokes a round in our 9 hole matches and would sometimes shoot in the high 30s in a match.
My junior year I was the #2 man on the high school golf team. I played behind a senior who shot regularly in the 70s and sometimes in the 60s for 18 holes. He later played in amateur tournaments with success, and then became a PGA club professional. He was the better golfer, but when I was on my game and he was a bit off his, I could give him a scare with my scores. I averaged 38 for 9 holes this season.
My senior year I was #1 man on the golf team from beginning to end and I captained the team to a 24-4 record. I averaged 37 strokes a round this year and I advanced to District competition in my state after shooting a 76 (+4) in Sectional competition.
That isn’t an amazing story of golf accomplishment or ability, but for me, a guy who once couldn’t find a fairway or a green, it was like I had won the United States Open. I had learned to play golf like I’d dreamed of, and I enjoyed three years of being a starter on my high school golf team.
My point is that I improved my golf game and it began with learning a good golf grip. You can learn a good golf grip and improve your golf game too.
Golf has provided me with great enjoyment and satisfaction as I have continued to learn, practice, play, and improve the best I can. My grip has not changed since I made it a habit after learning the Vardon Overlapping Grip from Ben Hogan’s book when I was 14. I have a good golf grip thanks to Harry Vardon and Ben Hogan. How do I know that I have a good golf grip? I know this because I was fortunate enough to have an unexpected and impromptu lesson from Herman Keiser at his driving range in Copley, Ohio.
You may not be familiar with Herman Keiser, but he played on the PGA Tour and competed against Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, and other golfers of their era. Keiser was a good player on the PGA tour, he won tournaments and a highlight of his career was when he was a member of the 1947 United States Ryder Cup Team.
One hot and humid summer day I was the only one beating balls at Keiser’s Driving Range. Mr. Keiser must have been very bored because he wandered out of the pro shop to watch me. I was surprised, maybe he only wanted to see how many more golf balls I had left to hit before he could close up and go home. After some time, during which I felt the weight of his stare and was becoming more and more nervous, and developing all kinds of strange and odd moves and twitches in my swing, he strolls over and says, “Young fella, you have a good swing, but hey, let me show you something.”
Mr. Keiser said my divots were too deep because I was breaking my wrists too soon on the backswing, then he got me to make shallower divots after some tips. My shots were flying farther and straighter after my unexpected and impromptu golf lesson from Herman Keiser.
During the lesson, Mr. Keiser looked at my grip and he said I had a good grip, that I should never change it. He asked where I learned my grip and I told him from Hogan’s book. Herman then said, “That’s good, Hogan beat everybody.” By my logic, I figure that through Herman Keiser’s approval of my grip, I have Ben Hogan’s approval of my golf grip since they were friends and fellow competitors. Then, maybe through Hogan, Harry Vardon himself would say I have a good golf grip since Hogan used Vardon’s grip. I have never changed my golf grip.
Oh, earlier when I wrote about Herman Keiser’s PGA golf career I forgot to mention something. You see, Herman Keiser had this green jacket. The green jacket Herman Keiser had fit him perfectly and it was the exact kind of green jacket given to the winner of The Masters tournament.
Sometimes Ben Hogan did not beat everybody.
Herman Keiser won The Masters in 1946. Ben Hogan finished second.
Mr. Keiser has left us now. I am forever grateful to him for the memory of that golf lesson.
In my book, “Golf Champions of Olden Time Lesson Tee – The Grip”, you’ll learn a good golf grip from golf champions of olden times. A grip that Herman Keiser, Ben Hogan, and Harry Vardon would approve of.
