Keeping up with the Jones


The real Bobby Jones


Time for a change of outfit as we travel forwards a few decades to 1930. As Bobby Jones marched towards his Grand Slam he is quoted as saying: “I get the hip under way before my hands have made any effort to swing the head of the club...If the hands start the swing first there will be a tendency to leave the hip turn behind and therefore not to make a full body turn, which is one of the most common faults in golf.” Personally I subscribe to the Jones philosophy - that an initial turn of


the right hip promotes a slight lifting of the left heel as the left knee folds. Nothing illustrates this movement better than the immaculate swing of the winner of the 1956 Hoylake Open, Peter Thomson, and the legend that is Jack Nicklaus.


Right: Peter Thomson and Jack Nicklaus


Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: the Modern Fundamentals of Golf, a classic book still much admired today, describes the role of the left heel like this: “Let me caution you against lifting the left heel too high off the ground on the backswing. If the heel stays on the ground, fine. If it comes up an inch off the ground, fine. No higher than that though - it will only lead to faulty balance and other undesirable complications.” Whether you raise your left heel or not,


here’s a Top Tip that will help the turn as described by Bobby Jones. Holding your right hip pocket feel your


right hip move before the club moves away from the ball. Clearing your right side early will create


that vital space and allow your shoulders to turn much more freely.


Ben Hogan ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB 2019–2020 MAGAZINE 25


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