Hooking with my Irons

[nkjordan2323]

I want to try and post a video of my swing eventually, but for the time being, I was looking to get some suggestions on why i may be hooking with my irons. With a driver, I hit it straight nearly every time with a slight draw (not much at all though). When I grab an iron though, I feel like i never get a clean shot, and if by some chance I do, it hooks pretty bad.

My first assumption was maybe I was turning my wrists causing the club head to turn inwards towards my body. I tried opening the head a little prior to my swing just to see if this would help. I dont like overcompensating because its not really fixing the problem.

Another thing i might mention is I can swing a pitching wedge and hit the ball straight as well. It seems to only be affecting my 3-8 irons.

Could my swing really be changing with only these clubs? Or is it my stance and distance from the ball that is affecting me? I have also read that the angle at which the swing is brought back over the head makes a big difference.

I am really just looking for a list of suggestions that I can take with me to the range to try out. Eventually I will try to get a video of me swinging so you guys can see whats really happening. Thanks in advance.

[wolverine318]

how is the ball flight. Does it start right and hook back. Start straight and hook left. Or start left and hook?

[wolverine318]

you say you hit driver and wedge pretty straight. It sounds like probably just closing the face more than anything. Or its set up closed from the start. Anyways, this is all assumption on the info that was given. Too strong a grip? So even though you opened the face at address you are still closing it.

[nkjordan2323]

It is almost always from straight to left. I honestly just don't know what to do to fix this. I have spent many dollars at the range, but nothing seems to consistently fix the problem and the things that do fix it are doing so are bad ideas. I'd rather correct the problem the right way and figure out whats going on.

[nkjordan2323]

you say you hit driver and wedge pretty straight. It sounds like probably just closing the face more than anything. Or its set up closed from the start. Anyways, this is all assumption on the info that was given. Too strong a grip? So even though you opened the face at address you are still closing it.

Yes, I tried swinging slower and paying attention to the head and at the point of contact, the head is closing. When I open the head a little and over-compensate for the closing of the head when addressing my stance and such, the shot works out okay. However, there has been times where this has come to bite me in in the butt and the club head doesnt close causing me to hit the ball to the right completely away from the target.

Maybe my question should be this: When addressing my stance and position of my hands when I am standing infront of the ball, should my hands be offset and located infront of the inner part of my left thigh (right handed)? Or should be they be directly centered to my body? My grip on the club is fairly loose and I consistently check my grip with the molded club at the range. The position of my hands would most likely affect the direction of my back swing and the angle I am approaching the ball at right? Sorry for rambling on and on...just wanted to get to the range today with some ideas. Thanks for all the help.

[wolverine318]

Most have the hands slightly forward, a couple pics for reference:

[twotacosfor99cents]

Sometimes if you don't take a divot, due to the turf being hard at a not-so-well-maintained golf course, and your club is angled upwards, a hooking problem may present because the bottom of the hosel is striking the ground and flipping the face of the iron over.

Something to think about - I have this problem at tees and on hard pan and I adjust for it by moving farther away from the ball. I lose distance, but it gets the shot done.

[Warik]

Your problem sounds *exactly* like the issue I've been having lately. I've ALWAYS been a slicer/fatter/topper/thinner and the concept of hitting the ball left was totally foreign to me, but after reading Hogan's 5 lessons and changing my grip, my consistent mishit has been a straight-to-left hook.

One point Hogan makes in his book is to keep the grip from being too tight in the right hand, which activates the muscles in the arms and up to the shoulders, which is bad for your swing... so what I tried doing was completely relaxing my right arm/shoulder prior to my backswing. More often than not, this resulted in me seemingly effortlessly hitting the ball straight and taking tour-quality divots.

What I did to accomplish this was the following: I'd go through my normal setup routine and stand over the ball ready to hit it. Before initiating my backswing, I would death-grip the club with my right hand letting me feel the muscles tense up in my forearms, biceps, and shoulder. When I knew I was gripping the club so hard that there's no way I'd be able to pull off a correct swing with so much pressure, I would let the whole right side relax. The instant I felt the right side relaxed, I'd start the backswing and would generally not have enough time to put any tension back in there before the club was already on its way down the correct path.

Hoping to try this out again tomorrow and see if it really did fix my issues.

[nkjordan2323]

Your problem sounds *exactly* like the issue I've been having lately. I've ALWAYS been a slicer/fatter/topper/thinner and the concept of hitting the ball left was totally foreign to me, but after reading Hogan's 5 lessons and changing my grip, my consistent mishit has been a straight-to-left hook.

Wow! Thanks for the idea. I will definitely take the opportunity to try this out tonight at the range. It sounds quite possible that my grip could be affecting my swing. At this point, I am willing to try anything! Thank you again for your input. Its nice to know I am not alone with this issue. I'll let you know what happened later on tonight when I finally get a chance to test this thought. Thanks again.

[804golfer]

yea relaxing the bottom hand should help

[nkjordan2323]

Well...it seems I have somewhat fixed this issue. However, it wasn't the most comfortable adjustment and I am guessing it probably isnt the best way to fix the issue either. I tried tightening my grib with my right hand while keeping the grip in my left somewhat loose. I also payed more attention to the angle of my backswing so it is more straight back and straight forward. I feel like this is incorrect, but i had some nice iron shots the other day doing this. I guess I will keep working on it until I get some more consistency. Thanks to everyone for their input along the way.

[donkba]

a friend of mine had this problem and a pro told him to strengthen his grip (turn left hand to the right) and he was also hooking the ball. he was also aiming well right so it may be that your grip is fine and your alignment is off