Irons -- Any low-handicap former iron hookers here? -- how did you beat your hook?

[McGolf-Doggie]

Until I can afford my next round of lessons, I've got to work it out a bit more by myself.

Any low-handicap former iron hookers, here -- how did you beat your iron hook? For me this is mostly happening with my 8 iron, 7 iron, 6 iron, not so much the driver or 3 wood. (Sometimes I can slice the driver overswinging, so the length of the club exaggerates it.)

I was taught with a 7pm to 1 pm (inside-out draw swing), but the extreme hook spin I'm generating also feels like it has a lot to do with a hooded clubface at impact. I'm not sure why since I feel I am doing all I can to I try to get my grip neutral as possible.

Weak doesn't feel right at all to me, and yes, when I take my grip, then at address it feels a bit closed.

My irons also seem to have ovalized grip handles, so they fit in the hand in a particular way.

It's maddening -- it's consistent, but it's maddening.

Yes a few times I hit a nice straight ones, but my 8 iron, 7 iron, 6 iron are my worst enemies at the moment. They weren't always, but the hook has gotten more pronounced, not less.

OPen stances produce inconsistent contact, as does swinging outside in. My next step is to try Hogan's quarter turn left foot, and perpendicular right foot more consistently ( i have a tendency to splay the right foot out.).

Anyway -- former hookers, please chime in.

[Brant17]

I struggled with a hook or almost a pull for about 6 months. I went from an 7 handicap to a 3 once I fixed it. I have always been told that swinging inside out is the correct swing. However, there is a thing called coming to inside and getting flat. Make sure the shaft of the club is completely inline with with your arms and in front of your body on the take back. Going too inside with your club on the take back can get you caught in "no mans land" which causes pulls with the short irons and blocks right with the longer stuff.

What helped me was backing up against a wall and attempting to swing the club on a backswing without hitting the wall. Yes, that is a little exageration but it will give you the general idea.

[TourSpoon]

I had a tendency to "flip" my hands over at impact which would produce the dreaded duck hook. To fix this I tried to keep the angle of the right hand cupped through impact (or keep the left hand wrist from breaking down) as opposed to throwing that right hand at the ball. It helped to maintain the angle starting with chips and pitches then progressing to punches, half shots and full swings. I hope this helps as a nasty hook can just be devastating.

[senorchipotle]

try sweeping the ball and hitting through it instead of at it.

[TinCupTampa]

Keep the takeaway from going inside... and try putting the ball a little further back in your stance.

[brgolf]

More wrist hinge and a slight cupping of the wrist at the top of the back swing instead of neutral/bowing tended to get rid of my hooks with the driver. I've never really hooked the irons, touch wood.

[Late4ttime]

I'm near the end of my fight with a pull-hook with my mid-short iron and a pull slice with my woods.

I always gripped my club prior to address- which I noticed pre-set the club face closed to my target line. Easy enough- I set the club first then take my grip. But I was still pulling the ball left of my target line.

For years I have had my feet open to my target line- particularly my left foot- conventional wisdom, says that with slightly open feet- your hips have more freedom to turn. Well that extra freedom allowed my hips to rotate through and left of my target line bringing my club with them. I play my irons back in my stance, so I made contact prior to my hips firing past- with my woods- I play them towards the front of my stance- so I was making contact with them during or slightly after my hips went left- I now set my left foot perpendicular to my target line- hindering my hips from rotating past. My ball is still drawing with my irons- but it starts at or slightly right of the target and moves 1yd- 10yds right to left. My driver is now a pull hook- so I still need to work that out but I think I'm close to turning another corner with my game.

Late-

[saevel25]

Duck hook is from an excessive inside swing path.

[zdoor]

Until I can afford my next round of lessons, I've got to work it out a bit more by myself.

Dealing with pretty much the exact same thing. I have a pretty compact swing that is in to out and occasionally turns from a draw to a nasty hook with everything except driver. Driver will occasionally slice on me and so will me 3 wood. My swing is also pretty similar sounding to yours in that it is pretty compact. Been taking lessons for about a month now and after initial feeling pretty frustrated with slow progress I'm starting to get some consistency and confidence going. My main issue was that I would roll my wrists early at impact and close the clubface. It tended to get worse as I got a little fatigued. I also had a tendency to close the face slightly at address and exxaggerate the problem. So between working on establishing a a good routine a setup and learning how to hit a fade I've started to get rid of the tendency to close the club through impact which has made a hue difference for me. I was always told that "hey at least a hook is easy to cure", to me it was hell and is still something I have to continue to work on but I'm finally feeling seeing some light.

Good luck.

[acegolfer]

I'm also fighting with hook due to excessive inside out swing path. Here are major breakthroughs.

1. About 4 months ago, a playing partner (who turns out to be an instructor) said that my left wrist is bowed at top. I needed to cup it.
2. 6 weeks ago, I found that I had hip thrust. With proper hip rotation, I have less inside out swing. Hook is almost gone but I still draw the ball.
3. 2 days ago, I learned that I stand too far from the ball. So I need to stretch out to the ball, which also causes inside swing. I have started to stand closer to the ball such that my arms are hanging down from shoulders. Now I can hit fade and slices.

Some of this may or may not apply to you. BTW, I'm not a low single capper.

[Bullitt5339]

Although I'm not a low handicapper, I am on the road to recovery from a nasty low hook with all my irons. It was so bad that I didn't want to play anymore. I went from a 18 handicap to a 26 handicap in the same season, which is incredibly sad. High 80's to 120's in the same season and couldn't get out of it. My problem was posture and setting up with a closed clubface, like a few others mentioned. To get myself out of it, I concentrated on opening the clubface up at address, gripping after I aligned. Then I narrowed my stance, moving the ball back a hair. Got the video camera out and worked on my posture.

I lost so much confidence in hitting my irons that I would stand over them, knowing the something bad was going to happen. It got so mental with me that I had to change my irons, every time I looked down at the Clevelands, I knew it was going to suck, so I swapped them out and immediately went out with my instructor before I even hit the new irons at the range. Then my confidence was sky high, and I went out and shot the best round of my life 2 days later.

I get a bit sore after rounds with the new stance and posture, but I'm hitting the ball almost dead straight everytime, but can still hit a slight draw if I want to. Now I just have to work on consistant distances, and I'll be set.

[bentur123]

I was struggling with a hook in my last few rounds, the problem stopped when it felt like I increaed my shoulder turn in my downswing. U dunno if this is a 'proper' fix for a hook or why it worked but it seemed to work for me

[The Recreational Golfer]

My ball starts off straight but would curve left unpredictably. Once I learned how to keep my left wrist flat or just barely cupped at the top (since my habit was a huge bend backwards in that wrist) I started hitting a pretty draw instead of hard left turn. I also made sure my right shoulder was truly turning away from the ball instead of trying to hang around where all the fun is.

[GolfBear]

Here's what I discovered on Tuesday:

After taping my swing and trying to diagnose my seemingly unsolvable pull hook I discovered something I should have noticed a LONG time ago. During a particularly frustrating session where I hooked 5 shots I happened to look down at my grip. To my shock I could see almost four knuckles on my left hand. My grip felt perfectly normal but apparently as the season goes on my grip tends to get stronger and stronger. After rolling it back into the proper position I was striping the ball.

Played 18 this morning and hit 12 of 14 fairways! Check your grip!!

[sean_miller]

My ball starts off straight but would curve left unpredictably. Once I learned how to keep my left wrist flat or just barely cupped at the top (since my habit was a huge bend backwards in that wrist) I started hitting a pretty draw instead of hard left turn. I also made sure my right shoulder was truly turning away from the ball instead of trying to hang around where all the fun is.

A proper shoulder turn is the key for a lot of swing problems.

[rossco]

When you have serious hooking issues (other than in vegas) it probably has little to do with the swing path. More often than not the swing path from the take away to the end of the back swing is just a small part of the issue.

Jim Furyk has taught us that the back swing does not really mean much. Most hookers eliminate "casting" as most of us associate it with slicers. Guess what? You are probably casting the club when you are transitioning from the backswing to the downswing. Low handicaps will counter the cast and hit hooks.

The key to stop hooking (other than in vegas) is to stop the nasty casting. Pay close attention to your transition and feel free to take an inside line on your down swing. Try keeping your spine angle during the complete swing and keep your hands somewhat close to body during the downswing. Also ensure your club head is moving before your arms start moving back at the start of your back swing.

Let me know how this works out and I tell where to send the cheque

[ks8829]

I am a iron hooker and still have my gentle draw. What I have done over the years is to make sure of the path of my take away that its more down the line instead of too much inside. I have also discovered that if I do not finish my backswing that I will pull hook the shots with any club.

[westcyderydin]

if your swing is too inside to out your misses will be big hooks and pushes. fix that.

in my case a few years ago and what i see with some other people is that there are 2 things that can really cause a big time hook problem.

1. a low swing plane. i still slip into this every once and a while, and when i hit the ball straight at the hole and hooks big time to the left i know to check my swing path.

2. swinging back with your arms and not turning your shoulders. make sure that you are turning your shoulders fully. this can cause a low swing plane and is a one way ticket to hooking hell.