Grip Issue?!?

[carpediem4300]

Hi All,

I recently got back into golf after a 5 year lay off (Covid and life issue related) and what started out as a really great return to the game has very quickly gone to pot!

I have developed a very extreme duck hook with all my irons, I'm hitting fat, and at some points I hit it so bad the shooting pain in the back of my hand is excruciating. 

My question is, I have noticed that after taking my grip, with the face aligned to target, I take a practice swing, but I appear to re-grip the club and when taking my address position again it is very hooded. To make it even more complicated when I tense/straighten my arms in the setup position it squares slightly, and when I relax my arms it hoods again.

If I twizzle the club round in my grip from hooded to square again it feels strange and I hit the worse feeling shots of my life

Randomly the more I weaken my grip the more it hooks

Has anyone experienced this before or can understand what is going on?

 

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 4/4/2025 at 2:31 PM, carpediem4300 said:

Hi All,

I recently got back into golf after a 5 year lay off (Covid and life issue related) and what started out as a really great return to the game has very quickly gone to pot!

I have developed a very extreme duck hook with all my irons, I'm hitting fat, and at some points I hit it so bad the shooting pain in the back of my hand is excruciating. 

My question is, I have noticed that after taking my grip, with the face aligned to target, I take a practice swing, but I appear to re-grip the club and when taking my address position again it is very hooded. To make it even more complicated when I tense/straighten my arms in the setup position it squares slightly, and when I relax my arms it hoods again.

If I twizzle the club round in my grip from hooded to square again it feels strange and I hit the worse feeling shots of my life

Randomly the more I weaken my grip the more it hooks

Has anyone experienced this before or can understand what is going on?

 

Expand  

So, I've been there before. 

Grip changes always feel wonky. 

First things first. Getting a swing coach is always a good idea. 

Having said that, if you need a quick fix to get you through the round and it feels way too wonky to switch your grip to a less hooded grip, one thing you can do is hit the ball with your club shaft more vertical. That tends to eliminate the extreme duck hook. (Please note this should be a temporary fix to get you through. I'm not a swing coach and you should get one.) But, if you swing with your club shaft more vertical you can counteract the hooks. This can be accomplished either by moving a bit closer to the ball, or what I like to do is literally swinging with an effort to get your hands just a bit farther from your body. (A little goes a long way here.) 

Once again, I'm not a swing coach. I'm also not recommending making a compensation to compensate for a compensation. That leads down a road to despair. But sometimes you just need to get through a round. 

I've used this method to get me through a round and it works for me when I'm suffering from iron hooks. By the same token the opposite can work. If your fading the irons too much drop the butt of the club a little lower and it will automatically make you hit it with more draw.

BTW - I don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm not a swing coach and you should get one. 

[carpediem4300]

  On 4/4/2025 at 3:05 PM, ChetlovesMer said:

So, I've been there before. 

Grip changes always feel wonky. 

First things first. Getting a swing coach is always a good idea. 

Having said that, if you need a quick fix to get you through the round and it feels way too wonky to switch your grip to a less hooded grip, one thing you can do is hit the ball with your club shaft more vertical. That tends to eliminate the extreme duck hook. (Please note this should be a temporary fix to get you through. I'm not a swing coach and you should get one.) But, if you swing with your club shaft more vertical you can counteract the hooks. This can be accomplished either by moving a bit closer to the ball, or what I like to do is literally swinging with an effort to get your hands just a bit farther from your body. (A little goes a long way here.) 

Once again, I'm not a swing coach. I'm also not recommending making a compensation to compensate for a compensation. That leads down a road to despair. But sometimes you just need to get through a round. 

I've used this method to get me through a round and it works for me when I'm suffering from iron hooks. By the same token the opposite can work. If your fading the irons too much drop the butt of the club a little lower and it will automatically make you hit it with more draw.

BTW - I don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm not a swing coach and you should get one. 

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Yeah I only managed to get round by trying to play a proper "upright and cut across fade" kinda shot, was hit and miss, still left the course with a 95 and verging on tears 😄

I have a lesson booked this coming Tuesday, I have had one with the same instructor recently but it was our first lesson so didn't get much from it really, I've put below a video's from the lesson but I'm not sure what I can garner from it 😄 

 

 

 

Edited April 4 by carpediem4300

[GolfLug]

 

  On 4/4/2025 at 2:31 PM, carpediem4300 said:

My question is, I have noticed that after taking my grip, with the face aligned to target, I take a practice swing, but I appear to re-grip the club and when taking my address position again it is very hooded. To make it even more complicated when I tense/straighten my arms in the setup position it squares slightly, and when I relax my arms it hoods again.

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Can't tell 100% from your videos but if your right hand is too far underneath the grip the tendency for most folks is to roll it close through impact little too early.

  On 4/4/2025 at 2:31 PM, carpediem4300 said:

If I twizzle the club round in my grip from hooded to square again it feels strange and I hit the worse feeling shots of my life

Expand  

Try putting your right (trail) hand more on the side of the grip instead of underneath at address for a simple enough adjustment. This might help. In general match-ups matter greatly and you might have to make corresponding changes. I wouldn't even begin to suggest whatever those might be. Best to get a good pro to help. Self-diagnosis/experimentation can work for some but for most it's a rabbit hole.  

[carpediem4300]

  On 4/4/2025 at 7:48 PM, GolfLug said:

 

Can't tell 100% from your videos but if your right hand is too far underneath the grip the tendency for most folks is to roll it close through impact little too early.

Try putting your right (trail) hand more on the side of the grip instead of underneath at address for a simple enough adjustment. This might help. In general match-ups matter greatly and you might have to make corresponding changes. I wouldn't even begin to suggest whatever those might be. Best to get a good pro to help. Self-diagnosis/experimentation can work for some but for most it's a rabbit hole.  

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Yeah I really want to avoid the rabbit hole if I can  🤣

I'm not sure I'm going to make my lesson Tuesday though, whatever I did to the back of my hand at the range is getting worse, but that's a whole separate issue 🤣

 

[HitemHard]

I used to have a re-gripping issue that caused hooks. The re-gripping happens at the top of the backswing usually in an attempt to get the shaft more horizontal. The solution is simple though. The last three fingers of your lead hand must grip the club firmly through the backswing and at the top. You cannot "relax them" or let them loosen at the top. If you're trying to get to parallel you need to do it with more rotation and not loosening the grip. Anytime you loosen those three fingers at the top, you will ALWAYS regrip the club into a hooded position. Sometimes that's the only fix you need. I would at least try that before trying to rehab your swing.

[saevel25]

  On 4/4/2025 at 2:31 PM, carpediem4300 said:

My question is, I have noticed that after taking my grip, with the face aligned to target, I take a practice swing, but I appear to re-grip the club and when taking my address position again it is very hooded. To make it even more complicated when I tense/straighten my arms in the setup position it squares slightly, and when I relax my arms it hoods again.

Expand  

Could also be how you align your wrists and rotate your forearms. Not sure you are re-gripping the club. There is nothing noticeable in the videos. I do agree with the grip being very strong in the right hand. Also, maybe too much in the palm of the left hand. 

[carpediem4300]

  On 4/7/2025 at 3:50 PM, saevel25 said:

Could also be how you align your wrists and rotate your forearms. Not sure you are re-gripping the club. There is nothing noticeable in the videos. I do agree with the grip being very strong in the right hand. Also, maybe too much in the palm of the left hand. 

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Possibly, deffo trying to weaken my right hand somewhat. Left hand I believe is fine as I'm mostly fingers there with grip under the fat pad. But my lesson tomorrow will hopefully shed some light

[carpediem4300]

Update:

 

From my lesson I mentioned to the coach the regrip and he spotted me doing it as I placed my right hand on the grip of all places 🤣 we worked to maintain the left hand and weaken the right, slightly weaker face angle at parallel and holding the face open through impact, nice straight fades, some small some big but a big departure from the duck hooks. Now just need to slowly dial it back to either a manageable fade or straight-ish

[HitemHard]

  On 4/8/2025 at 3:40 PM, carpediem4300 said:

Update:

 

From my lesson I mentioned to the coach the regrip and he spotted me doing it as I placed my right hand on the grip of all places 🤣 we worked to maintain the left hand and weaken the right, slightly weaker face angle at parallel and holding the face open through impact, nice straight fades, some small some big but a big departure from the duck hooks. Now just need to slowly dial it back to either a manageable fade or straight-ish

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Funny story...i was at the range today and hooked a shot. Started to set-up for the next shot and felt myself do the exact same thing...re-grip my left hand as i put my right hand on the grip. I probably wouldn't have even noticed that i did that if not for this thread so...thanks!

[carpediem4300]

  On 4/11/2025 at 4:00 AM, HitemHard said:

Funny story...i was at the range today and hooked a shot. Started to set-up for the next shot and felt myself do the exact same thing...re-grip my left hand as i put my right hand on the grip. I probably wouldn't have even noticed that i did that if not for this thread so...thanks!

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Glad it helped!

 

I had a range session last night and it has really taken the left side of the course out of play for me which is nice.

 

Maybe fading them a little too much but that's less devastating on the course than a snapper for sure