The Work + Learn Strategy
Day 5 on “Ben Hogan's Five Lessons"
What if…?
How seriously do you take your golf lessons? Most of us aren’t as committed as we’d like to be. Life gets busy, we slack off, and progress slows down.
But what if Ben Hogan was your teacher?
Hogan’s teaching philosophy.
In the 1930s, Hogan tried to make a living on tour.
At most tournaments, only the top ten players received any money, and even that barely covered expenses. Gas cost 15 cents a gallon, a room was three bucks a night. Sometimes Hogan slept in the car.
To survive, he worked as a club pro and gave lessons.
He writes, “My general approach to teaching was this: don’t simply tell a player what he’s doing wrong. That’s not much help. Explain to him what he ought to be doing, why, and the result it produces—and work like blazes to get it across so he really understands.”
Learning wasn’t just about mechanics.
You had to understand how and why your swing worked the way it did. He called this the “ability to work and learn.”
Working wasn’t enough. Learning wasn’t enough. It had to be both.
Not everyone appreciated Hogan’s high standards. But for a guy named Fred Ehrman, it was exactly what he needed.
“He won the club championship.”
Fred loved golf. But he had two obstacles: he was young and he was a businessman.
As a young man, he wanted to have fun—and golf practice wasn’t always fun. As a businessman, he wanted to succeed—and golf practice wasn’t always a priority.
But Hogan held Fred accountable.
When Fred arrived for a lesson, he had to show Hogan what he had practiced and explain why it worked or didn’t work.
As Fred improved, he understood why he improved. He gained a sense of accomplishment and began holding himself accountable.
Hogan writes, “Fred had the ability to work and learn. He was a 90-shooter in April. Five months later, he was playing in the 70s and won the club championship.”
George Washington Carver said, “Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses.”
Fred’s story sounds like a fairy tale. Hogan doesn’t give us any details, but he shares one habit from his work-and-learn strategy. It’s a habit he himself practiced.
He writes, “It helps immensely to bring a notebook to the practice tee and write down, after each session, just what it was I had been working on, exactly how it was coming, and precisely where I should resume the next time.”
Hogan compares a golfer to a detective. Without a notebook, you can’t keep track of the clues, and solving the mystery will take a lot longer. So do yourself a favor. Get a notebook, adopt Hogan’s work-and-learn strategy, and get serious about chasing your golf dreams.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep imagining what’s possible.