Hooking

[BWChuck]

I have a severe hook problem that gets worse as the club shafts are longer and less lofted.

I feel extremely comfortable with 9 iron through 58* wedge.  But as I as move down clubs the hooks begin, and it almost seems directly relative to the length of the club.  7-8 irons are more "extreme draw" and very playable, 4-6 irons is more direct hook and looking for a decent lie without a tree in the way, and all other clubs are often a joke.

What is this root cause of this?

Thanks in advance.

[carpediem4300]

One reason for the increase as the cluba get longer is your grip being to strong, bvery slowly move it round to the left of the club assuming your a righty, until u find a point that you dont hook anymore

[EverythingGolf]

A hook could be caused by a few things. You could be swinging to much in-to-out or turning you hands over through impact. Check your grip as well. The left hand V (the v shape between the thumb and index finger) points to the left shoulder and the right hand V should point more towards your face.

[uttexas]

Please provide more information, including DTL and face on videos of your swing (if you have access to a video camera). Presuming you are right handed, Does your ball flight start right then turn left? or start left then turn more left? My guess, is that a quick fix would be to move the ball more forward in your stance. [VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK8sW5nUFbQ[/VIDEO]

[BWChuck]

I don't think ball position is the major problem as the ball almost always starts straight or even to the left a bit.  I'm thinking it could be a combination off all the things EverythingGolf mentioned. I'll certainly be experimenting with the weaker grip at the range.

Out of curiosity, is the reason a weaker grip works because it prevents you from turning your hands over as much?  Also, is "turning the hands over" and flipping the same thing?

Thanks for all the replies so far.  I will do my best to get some video footage within the week.

[FuzzyB1]

Definitely hard to diagnose without seeing it but grip and swing plane should be were you start.  You should only be able to see two knuckles on your top hand when looking down at your grip...and for swing plane think "straight back and straight through".  Even if you have to exaggerate an outside 'takeaway' when taking the club back to force yourself not to go 'inside-out'.

[EverythingGolf]

Originally Posted by BWChuck

Out of curiosity, is the reason a weaker grip works because it prevents you from turning your hands over as much?

Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWChuck

Also, is "turning the hands over" and flipping the same thing?

No. Flipping is when the left wrist breaks down (bends forward).

[carpediem4300]

Originally Posted by EverythingGolf

No. Flipping is when the left wrist breaks down (bends forward).

you are right of course, but ive read your "bend forward" and interpreted it as the wrist bends forward with the fingers pointing away from target

which is not flipping,...for me flipping would be when the wrist bends "backwards" and the figners point towards the target

I get what you meant, but i think the wording you used could be mis-interpreted perhaps?,....or perhaps it sjsut me?

[BWChuck]

Originally Posted by EverythingGolf

Yes.

No. Flipping is when the left wrist breaks down (bends forward).

Originally Posted by carpediem4300

you are right of course, but ive read your "bend forward" and interpreted it as the wrist bends forward with the fingers pointing away from target

which is not flipping,...for me flipping would be when the wrist bends "backwards" and the figners point towards the target

I get what you meant, but i think the wording you used could be mis-interpreted perhaps?,....or perhaps it sjsut me?

It was a bit confusing, but only for a moment or two before I made sense of it.  Maybe the hand/fingers (or back of the hand) bending forward might be better understood by noobs like me?

[carpediem4300]

everyone inteprets it differently i guess, for me i know what flipping is so figured it straight away, but someone that doesnt know could perhaps take the informaiton away and use it incorrectly and inadvertently start flipping

[EverythingGolf]

Here is an image.