Ben Hogan was well ahead of his time in understanding the golf swing. This year marks the 50th anniversary of his landmark book, Ben Hogan's Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. His pane-of-glass image from the book is still the most memorable illustration in golf instruction. Hogan did a fantastic job of taking a complex motion and simplifying it through imagery. In tribute to Hogan, here are a few more ways to use a pane of glass to improve your swing.

The best ball-strikers have the club on plane going back so they don't have to re-route it to get on plane coming down. To check your swing plane, imagine two panes of glass: one fitted around your midsection and the other around your shoulders. The space between those two panes creates a slot for your backswing. Notice how my left arm, shoulders and shaft are virtually on the same plane. I achieve this by avoiding the glass on either side. From this position, I'm set to make solid contact with the ball.

Keep it down the middle

Golf Digest December 2007