Driver Draw

[wrx_junki]

My alignment is straight but the shot is a push with a draw coming back to center fairway then rolling a bit off to the left, sometimes into the rough. I play my ball just a little forward of middle. If I play it more forward it's a pull hook. These are swings at 90-95%, when I swing 75-80%, it becomes a slice. I've been playing with grip, ball position, and other variables to try to gain some consistency in my driver. My results were hitting a fairly big draw which might be a quick fix but will allow me to keep the driver in the bag.

[opie]

When I start hitting a bad hook with the long clubs it's because I'm too flat at the top of my swing. I was working on that yesterday as a matter of fact. Maybe it's something to think about.

[sirshanksalot]

I occasionally battle big draws when I lean back a little at impact. I blame this on old baseball habits that sometimes creeps into my swing.

[Dub]

Ah.....the dreaded hook.....hated more than even the dreaded slice.

I'm reading this post carefully as I'm hoping to gain some insight. My last round on Wednesday was an excercise in humility. My strength has been my driver these past two months....up until Wednesday.

First hole I hooked my first tee shot OB. I swiftly went to the pockect and teed up another ball which I promply hooked, too....but in play.

Second hole is a par 5...straightaway affair....hooked my tee shot here....death move on this hole.

I posted a big score on the front nine.......a freaking 49. Tee shots were so ugly as the hooks continued.

I stepped up to the tenth tee taking a several huge breaths......enough of this bullcrap I was thinking. Slow down and smooth things out...play the "old reliable" cut shots. I pulled out my 3 wood and hit a nice smooth cut that played nicely....par resulted.

Next few holes I did really well....swinging smooth and trusting the cut. Many pars a couple of boggies and even a birdie in the mix(tough par 4 with bunker running entire left length of hole...I nailed a huge drive that peaked over the bunker and then softly cut right of it....had 105 yds left....hit a rainbow UW that stopped 3 ft....tapped in. The 3hcp, 6hcp and 14hcp I was playing with didn't even par).

Everything was going along beautifully until I reached 16...short par 4 but I wanted a huge 3 wood...high draw....that would run to the absolute end of the fairway....leaving me only a smooth SW to the pin....very tough pin placement...I wanted to be able to hit the shortest possible club into it. Big draw didn't come but big numbers did.

I did get a tip from one of my playing partners during the round....he said that he noticed on my hooks that my swing seemed to come around my body with a low-and-around finish (he said like Justin Leonard) and he said that my better shots had a high-and-upright finish (he said like Monty)....his words...not mine.....I would never piss off the golfing gods by comparing my swing to the great ones.

I'm heading out to play in a few minutes and hope to erase the poor round from memory....going to my home course and sort things out.

Swing keys will be light grip pressure....solid stance/rotatation/no sway....smooth backswing and transition.

[wrx_junki]

8 of 11 fairways today!!! Best driving performance in a long time. Although my putting was horrendous... 37 putts. Couldn't sink one for the life of me.

[CalBoomer]

Ah.....the dreaded hook.....hated more than even the dreaded slice.

No mystery here. The flat swing plane (like Leonard) favors a draw or hook. The more upright swing plane (like Montgomery) favors a fade, cut, or slice. Your answer is right there. Get a copy of Hank Haney's book. He says straight out that the swing plane is a major determinant of ball flight. The flat swing facilitates wrist rotation, the vertical swing inhibits it, hence the tendency to different ball flights.

[Parker0065]

My alignment is straight but the shot is a push with a draw coming back to center fairway then rolling a bit off to the left, sometimes into the rough. I play my ball just a little forward of middle. If I play it more forward it's a pull hook. These are swings at 90-95%, when I swing 75-80%, it becomes a slice. I've been playing with grip, ball position, and other variables to try to gain some consistency in my driver. My results were hitting a fairly big draw which might be a quick fix but will allow me to keep the driver in the bag.

If the problem is pull hooking I believe it comes from a "Over the Top/Early Release" move. I have had this problem in the past and I will not go into a big explanation about coming over the top but here is something that may help you. Basically if your body rotation and hands stay ahead of your clubhead you will not hit a pull hook! If you don't turn your body enough through impact your hands will race ahead of your body turn and add in your forearms rotating and you have a pull-hook. If you maintain your "Lag" properly with your hands ahead of the clubhead through impact you will not snap hook it. The concept is if your hands are leading the clubhead, even if your forearms try to turn over, they won't have enough time to shutdown the clubface by the time they reach impact. If you are coming over the top as well then this may lead to just a pull, instead of a pull-hook. If thats the case you'll have to work on getting rid of the OTT move. The big advantage to this is you will gain yardage on all your shots if you maintain the proper lag. In my game if I lead with my hands I will have a tendancy to go right instead of left, eliminating the left side of the golf course.

[Dr. Slice]

what fixed my hook was a little change on my grip and not rotating my upper body on my backswing... but now im slicing :)