Review by Booklist Review
For golf geeks, the matter of Ben Hogan's "secret" has been a tantalizing mystery for more than 50 years. Did Hogan--perhaps the game's greatest shotmaker--really figure out the secret to the golf swing, and if so, what the heck is it? There have been many secret-finders over the years: Hogan himself revealed part of it in his classic Five Lessons0 (1957); then, more recently, Jody Vasquez, in Afternoons with Mr. Hogan0 (2004), divulged that, when he was shagging balls for the master in the 1960s, Hogan spilled all 0 the beans: it's about the right knee and the left wrist. Yes, says Bertrand, who worked for years with Hogan protege John Schlee, knees and wrists play roles, but Hogan withheld the "missing link." Schlee knew it, though, and before succumbing to Alzheimer's, he passed it on to Bertrand: it's what the left elbow does on the downswing. Non-golfers will find this whole business incredibly silly, but the rest of us will be excused for looking at our left elbows with newfound respect. If you read golf instructionals, this one is a must. --Bill Ott Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Over the years Ben Hogan's swing secret has become the con artist's equivalent of the Brooklyn Bridge. In truth, Hogan may have played the Wizard of Oz the secret could be different things for different people. Bertrand, with the editorial help of Bowler (The Cosmic Laws of Golf), reveals the secret as conveyed to him by John Schlee, a Hogan prot?g?. The book is effectively an homage to Schlee. Bertrand admits that the secret may have been Hogan, the "wee Ice Mon," tweaking the world. Nonetheless, he reviews and explains what he believes the secret was, together with an overview of Schlee, his golf school and long putter business, and a lesson sequence with photographs. The question up for grabs is whether Bertrand's book is better than the original by Hogan, Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, or any of the others that have attempted to recapture his essence, such as David Leadbetter's The Fundamentals of Hogan, John Andrisani's The Hogan Way, Jim McLean's DVD, Ben Hogan: The Golf Swing, or Jim Hardy's book and DVD combination, The Plane Truth for Golfers. For those interested in "the secret," or Schlee's or Bertrand's method of instruction, this book is a decent investment. For instructional value, however, Hardy's book and DVD may be the best value of the lot. Steven Silkunas, North Wales, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
