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Lore and Legends

A Memorable Moment with Ben Hogan
By Ernie Vossler

On a cold day in 1956 in Fort Worth, Texas, I was out playing golf with a friend who thought he could beat me! Ridin’ in the golf cart down a fairway at Colonial Country Club, I had my arms crossed to break the wind as we rode along. The golf cart was one of the old three-wheelers with a tiller bar. I looked up ahead and saw a golf ball out in front of us and thought to myself, “This guy drivin’ the cart is going to run right over that ball.” Before I could say anything, he swerved the golf cart, quick to the left. I slid out; my metal spikes stuck in the ground, and I broke my right leg.

I had been playing pretty well on the PGA Tour; needless to say, I was worried about what this would do to my game. A few days later, I was sitting in the grill room at Colonial with my leg propped up on a table. In walked Ben Hogan. He took one look at the cast up to my knee and asked, “What happened to you, Fella?” I’d been playing golf with Hogan for years; he always called me Fella.

I told him my story. He was quick to reply, “That’s the best thing that could have happened to you!” I was dismayed; I guess I wanted some sympathy from him. So I asked, “What do you mean by that?” I’ll never forget Hogan’s reply,” The problem with your golf swing is you never get off your right foot…you’ll learn to get off your right foot now.”

Hogan’s comment was a big help to me as a young touring professional. He helped me better understand the technical aspect of weight transfer, and this is one of the points I use when I coach the touring professionals I work with today:
To achieve maximum power in the golf swing, weight transfer must shift from equal weight distribution when addressing the ball, to the right side during the back swing and then to the left side as contact is made with the golf ball. The faster the transfer is to the left side, the more power and clubhead speed will be realized.