Common causes of a hook?

[Kieran123]

Hi guys,

My driver had been great for the longest time with a very slight draw, but the last 4 rounds I have been hooking my driver pretty bad.

Can you guys give me any ideas of what could cause this so I can head to the range and work on it.

My irons have been great as well as my putting, but I keep hitting it OB or into places where I have to use a stroke just top get it back on the fairway....and my game is suffering.

For instance, this weekend I played 36 holes and only hit 10 fairways.

[brgolf]

For me it seemed that lack of wrist hinge was the problem but I am sure there are many.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Many different things. But for me, the ball goes left when i get too quick. In general, I hate seeing the ball turn left. It just doenst conjure good feelings for me. So i make tempo a big priority in my swing to avoid hitting hooks and draws.

[Kieran123]

So would it be my arms beating my hips or vica versa?

[DavidFehertysBike]

So would it be my arms beating my hips or vica versa?

Could be. there are a hundread different reasons that you could be hooking the ball. I was just explaining why i do it and thought maybe it was relevant. If you were to ask most common, i would guess a closed clubface throughout most of the swing to be the culprit.

[hymansays]

Your club face is closed at impact or your swing is too inside - out

[MikeLowry5]

Your club face is closed at impact or your swing is too inside - out

Well one of the two are out of whack for sure. I suffer from hooks as well.

If you look on here or wait someone will explain that the theory is that a closed clubface to the path of the swing (not necessarily the target) imparts the hook spin on a ball. You may be shutting down the face which would result in shots that look like duck hooks or swing too far in to out. If the hips have not came through that could force you to swing too far out. Might want to check that. If you draw the ball you are already swinging out.

[kennay92]

So would it be my arms beating my hips or vica versa?

could be, because the opposite of that, getting your hips to quick before your upperbody will usually cause slices... so that sounds probable.

[NCSU_MSE]

Could be a variety of things. I know the hooks creep into my drives when I get too quick or when I get too handsy on the downswing.

[saevel25]

does it start left and go left, or does it start right and just curve alot sharper left?

If you have a draw i suspec the second, which would mean you probably are comming to far from the inside, decreasing the angle between the clubface and the swing pat, which would impart more side spin on the ball.

[iacas]

Please tell us where the ball starts in relation to your target and how much of a hook we're talking about from there. For example, "10 yards right, hooks 30 yards to end up 20 yards left" is a different shot than "starts at the target, hooks 20 yards left."

If it's NOT the clubface being too closed at impact, then what I see from a lot of amateurs is that they swing well out to the right. They come out of their inclination on the downswing and lose all connection under their left arm and just throw the clubhead out to the right. A down-the-line video is great at showing this.

An alternative is that your upper body is really pushing forward too much on the downswing. Moving that upper swing center forward can get you swinging quite a bit from the inside as well. Face-on video would show us this.

Got the video?

[Kieran123]

I will get a video this week when i go out for twilight.

My ball starts straight down the line then goes left, it may start slightly down the right as my normal draw.....but it hooks, up to 60 yards sometimes. Distance is fine, it never dives off sharp and dies at 100 yards. It will be nearly as far as my normal drive, just hooked left.

I will try going less in to out and see what happens

[delav]

Are you hitting the ball and different with the rest of the clubs in your bag? Swing getting stronger perhaps? I notice your irons and hybrids are Stiff and your driver is a Regular flex. The extra right to left on your driver could be a smaller timing thing in your swing that is being exaggerated by the longer, softer shaft in the driver.

[Kieran123]

Irons are good, NEVER hook them. Hybrids I do sometimes, but not near as much as I have been with my driver, and not as bad if it does happen.

I will practice with some tempo at the range this week, maybe a slower back swing and see if ti helps.

[saevel25]

Hmm... Well if it starts off right or straight then hooks, you are comming way to much from the inside. This tells me your clubface is square to the target line or slightly open to, but its very closed to the swing path

[Deryck Griffith]

I will get a video this week when i go out for twilight.

If the ball is starting down the line, then, based on your handicap, you probably have a slight over the top move with the driver. Being that you are a good player, your body is good enough to react and square it up resulting in an over the top hook DTL and then turning left. Try focusing on shifting you weight forward (laterally) and hitting the ball to right field (that should get you to come from the inside with a push draw). Good luck.

[delav]

If the ball is starting down the line, then, based on your handicap, you probably have a slight over the top move with the driver. Being that you are a good player, your body is good enough to react and square it up resulting in an over the top hook DTL and then turning left. Try focusing on shifting you weight forward (laterally) and hitting the ball to right field (that should get you to come from the inside with a push draw). Good luck.

A shot that starts on the target line and hooks cannot result from an over the top move.

A shot toward the target initially usually means a clubface that is relatively in line with the target. The hook afterwards is caused by the relationship between the swing path and clubface. In this case, his clubface is square and his swing path is in to out (to what degree, we don't know).

[iacas]

If the ball is starting down the line, then, based on your handicap, you probably have a slight over the top move with the driver. Being that you are a good player, your body is good enough to react and square it up resulting in an over the top hook DTL and then turning left. Try focusing on shifting you weight forward (laterally) and hitting the ball to right field (that should get you to come from the inside with a push draw). Good luck.

Warning to anyone who reads this post: the poster seems to be completely unaware of the actual ball flight laws. I apologize if that's harsh, but there's no longer any excuse to get this type of thing wrong, and it may be the single biggest cause of bad instruction and bad information over the past 30+ years of golf instruction. If this player were to swing MORE to the right he'd just get BIGGER duck hooks. http://thesandtrap.com/playing_tips/ball_flight_laws