What Ben Hogan and Moe Norman Had In Common, and How It Can Help Your Golf Swing

If you ask 100 people who they believe were the best ballstrikers of all time were, 90 of them are either going to say Ben Hogan or Moe Norman.  Did you know that they have one key similarity?  They both were dominant in their lead arms - their left arms.  

In Hogan’s book, Five Lessons, he says, “I was born left-handed - that was the normal way for me to do things… The boys in my hometown, Fort Worth, used to buy their golf clubs at a five and dime store, and there simply never was any left-handed equipment in the barrel where the clubs were stacked.”  And as for Moe, you can see him here saying that he is a natural left-hander.  

At first, this may seem to you like a passing coincidence, but it's much more than that.  It's not just the two greatest ball strikers of all time, it's also plenty more guys in the top ten or twenty who started off as lefties and were able to become some of the best golfers in the world swinging from the right side - Byron Nelson, Gary Middlecoff, David Graham, Johnny Miller, Nick Price, Greg Norman, Curtis Strange, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, and Jordan Spieth. They all had dominant lead arms.  

Then there are the natural righties who swing from the left side.  Check this out: Of the five lefty golfers who have won majors - Bob Charles, Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, and Brian Harmon - four of them are natural righties. Watson is the only one who’s fully left-handed.

Considering a dominant lead arm is something that is only seen in 1% of the population, it's kind of strange that the above golfers have won 13% of the majors played since 1937, don't you think?  

Actually it's not strange.  It makes complete sense, when you understand that having a dominant lead arm increases the likelihood of having a great swing.  The reason why is because when you are learning the swing, if your back arm is dominant, you are going to be much more likely to push and flip at the ball, and that, as you probably know, is not what you want.  

But not to worry.  Just because you didn't start out swinging with your dominant arm in front, doesn't mean you have to turn around and start all over from the other side.  There are ways to rewire your swing to be more "lead-arm dominant" with some simple drills.  Check out my book on the golf swing to learn more!

Also, check out my book on the golf swing.

 All the best,

Jaime