Ernie Els swing close up

The distinction highlighted (hands vs body rotation) is relevant. Ernie's core slows in its rotation and the right hand then needs to release hard to square the blade. Someone like Zach Johnson can't release his hands as hard because of his strong grip. Hogan wasn't originally part of the discussion. However, his body rotation was phenomenal and he got his shoulders so open at impact it's scary.

So wrong. Look here, for instance, at impact ("at," not "past"), at about :30 (add the youtube stem before it):

/watch?v=rZvxZvLKGEw

Hips clearing, shoulders squarish to slightly open, right forearm under left (DTL). Coming into the ball, the shoulders are even more dramatically closed (go back a frame). Varies a bit if he's trying to hit a bigger fade than usual.

Truth is, every great swing is a blend of arm swing, hand release, body rotation, and other factors. Hogan released the hell out of his hands, and he certainly felt it (because he said so). His plane was so good from chest-high to chest-high, though, that releasing the hands didn't take on that slapping appearance. Same for Ernie in this swing here.

I agree that Ernie's gotten in a bad habit of having his right forearm and hand a bit "out" or off-plane in the approach to impact, followed by a quick little "over" or twist that has about the same effect as a little flip (inconsistency, mostly).

Still...I agree that his core slows down a bit, but the alternative way to look at that (a la Ernest Jones, for instance--"all these other body moves are the result of a true swinging motion, not the cause of it") is that the hit impulse (represented by the right hand and forearm forcing) stops the rotation. Rotation tends to happen well in a free and on-plane swing without undue tension. But mere rotation will not swing the arms, hands, and club.

I think Hogan's swing is used in a number of poor ways to illustrate often mis-guided instruction. In reality he swung the club accordingly for the shot he was attempting. This is where the technical freaks go wrong. Charles Howell, for example, can hit a 150 yrd 9 iron inside 10 foot a ridiculous number of times. Get him to cut in a choked-down 6 iron and it's a different matter!

This is my favorite video of any pro golf swings. I could watch this shot all day, amazing.

Wow what a beautiful swing.

Hogan definitely does not "lay emphasis on body turn only." He even talks repeatedly about how much he feels his hands releasing. There is so much crap out there misinterpreting Hogan, it's not even funny.

Also, terms like "creates power from" or "governs" or "drives" are almost always wrong in the golf swing. Els does release his hands strongly, but so does almost every good player.

By dynamic he means the efficient, effective or athletic method of movement. By transition he means that whilst the centrifugal force of the backswing is taking the club to the end of the backswing, the lower body instinctively moves the other way, toward the target. These opposing forces create a naturally athletic movement seen in many sports (e.g. baseball), where energy is made elastic in this way, stored and then released with minimal added effort.