Hogan, Palmer and Me

One of my correspondents asked me the following questions:

GRIP:

1. How do you grip the club at address?
2. How would you describe Hogan's grip at address?
3. How would you describe Palmer's grip at address?

Some more background on the grip can be found here and here.

TOP OF THE BACKSWING:

1. Your left wrist at the top of the backswing: cupped? flat? bowed?
2. Hogan's left wrist at the top of the backswing: cupped? flat? bowed?
3. Palmer's wrist at the top of the backswing: cupped? flat? bowed?

More background on the flat left wrist can be found here and here.

These are great questions and open up a wide range of considerations, arguments and controversies in golf instruction. Here in pictures and commentary are my answers starting with Palmer.

You can view Palmer's early swing sequence here and his current swing here. Obviously, Palmer's swing has changed over the years. His left wrist looks like it has become a little flatter over the years and his grip seems to have become a little weaker.



At the top of Hogan's backswing, we can see that his wrist is very flat and from the driver setup on the right we can (somewhat) see that his grip is weaker than Palmer's (Hogan did use a weaker grip in order to hit a fade).

There is some argument about whether or not Hogan's wrist was slightly cupped at the top of his backswing or flat. The picture above was staged and seems to suggest a slight cupping of his wrist. You can see an analysis of Hogan's swing here.

In the top panel above, my swing was being video taped while hitting a sand wedge into a garage net (here). I seem to be keeping my left wrist pretty flat. My grip in the lower right frame is a little stronger than either Hogan or Palmer (I prefer at all times to hit a draw). The right bottom staged swing shows a slight cupping in my left wrist at the top with the driver. The club face is square.

In the images above, my swing at the top is compared to Mark Bemowski (see the complete swing analysis with video here). Our left wrists seem very slightly cupped (not as flat as Hogan's iron swing above). You can see my full swing sequence here and here.

An obvious question is whether I should make changes in my swing to make it look more like Palmer, Hogan or even Mark Bemowski, all of whom are much better golfers than I am. One thing I am working on is to get a more athletic golf posture and get my left shoulder down and under. Maybe I'll never get there and, even if I did, maybe it wouldn't improve my game that much at my age. Even Palmer (had to?) flattened his shoulder turn out as he aged (which Palmer swing should I copy?). Hogan's swing changed after the car accident (which Hogan swing should I copy?).

Golf instructors who have seen my swing would like me to shift my weight more to my right foot (or to start out with my weight on my right foot) and flatten out my shoulder turn (here). Grip changes have typically not been suggested aside from possibly lightening my grip pressure. I have not had any feedback about wrist position at the top of my backswing.