Confessions of a pull hooker

[mvmac]

Golf. Got to love it.

People set up to hit a hook and then complain that they hook the ball and people set up to hit a slice and then complain that they slice the ball.

I asked a guy one day why he was setting up to hit a huge slice if he didn't want to hit a slice (after he had been complaining about his slice all day).

He said "What do you mean by that?" SMH!!!

Yeah golfers that slice are afraid to hit it right so they keep aiming more and more left. They actually need to swing more towards the place they don't want the ball to end up. Can be the same thing with people that are afraid of hitting it left. @iacas and I have talked about this, maybe a potential Swing Thoughts thread.

[The Wolf]

Yeah golfers that slice are afraid to hit it right so they keep aiming more and more left. They actually need to swing more towards the place they don't want the ball to end up. Can be the same thing with people that are afraid of hitting it left. @iacas and I have talked about this, maybe a potential Swing Thoughts thread.

The penny has finally dropped, My shots never actually start right of my intended line of flight but do start right of the target and depending on face angles, they either curve back to target or over and under curve.

I'm happy to stick with my in/out path but will be taking this advice on board and aiming less right and working on my face angles.

Thank you.

[teamroper60]

The penny has finally dropped, My shots never actually start right of my intended line of flight but do start right of the target and depending on face angles, they either curve back to target or over and under curve.

I'm happy to stick with my in/out path but will be taking this advice on board and aiming less right and working on my face angles.

Thank you.

I am not an expert by any means but if the part in bold is correct, then you probably are not actually swinging in to out.

Based on the descriptions you have given about how far to the right you aim, I'd be more inclined to think you are swinging out to in but because of your aim, the ball is still starting right of the target.

[mvmac]

The penny has finally dropped, My shots never actually start right of my intended line of flight but do start right of the target and depending on face angles, they either curve back to target or over and under curve.

I'm happy to stick with my in/out path but will be taking this advice on board and aiming less right and working on my face angles.

Thank you.

Yeah aim less right and see how that changes things. You can also post a swing in the Member Swing forum, even if it's just to keep track of your progress.

I am not an expert by any means but if the part in bold is correct, then you probably are not actually swinging in to out.

Based on the descriptions you have given about how far to the right you aim, I'd be more inclined to think you are swinging out to in but because of your aim, the ball is still starting right of the target.

Could be.

[The Wolf]

I am not an expert by any means but if the part in bold is correct, then you probably are not actually swinging in to out.

Based on the descriptions you have given about how far to the right you aim, I'd be more inclined to think you are swinging out to in but because of your aim, the ball is still starting right of the target.

No, I can't really accept that as my ball starts at least 10° to 20° right of the target. According to what I have le arned so far on this site, the ball starts mainly in the direction that the clubface is pointing which basically means I almost definitely swing on an in/out plane, And, according to the Faldo video I was sent by iacas, illustrating an iron shot where the path is extreme in/out with a minimally closed face. It appears to be (almost) impossible to find conditions where the ball could start to the right of the swing path when attempting to create a hook curve,

I can accept that my knowledge of what is actually happening is lacking somewhat but don't tell me that I don't know the path I create through impact.

[iacas]

No, I can't really accept that as my ball starts at least 10° to 20° right of the target. According to what I have le[COLOR=000000]arned so far on this site, the ball starts mainly in the direction that the clubface is pointing which basically means I almost definitely swing on an in/out plane, And, according to the Faldo video I was sent by iacas, illustrating an iron shot where the path is extreme in/out with a minimally closed face. It appears to be (almost) impossible to find conditions where the ball could start to the right of the swing path when attempting to create a hook curve,[/COLOR]   [COLOR=000000]I can accept that my knowledge of what is actually happening is lacking somewhat but don't tell me that I don't know the path I create through impact.[/COLOR]

Aim far enough right and you can easily hit a pull draw at the target. You can do that with a swing path that is out to in relative to your body alignment. That's all anyone is saying.

[Golfingdad]

The penny has finally dropped, My shots never actually start right of my intended line of flight but do start right of the target and depending on face angles, they either curve back to target or over and under curve.

I'm happy to stick with my in/out path but will be taking this advice on board and aiming less right and working on my face angles.

Thank you.

I am not an expert by any means but if the part in bold is correct, then you probably are not actually swinging in to out.

Based on the descriptions you have given about how far to the right you aim, I'd be more inclined to think you are swinging out to in but because of your aim, the ball is still starting right of the target.

No, I think you just misunderstood his words.  (Granted, I haven't read all of his previous posts, so I could be the one who's misunderstanding :))  But based on just this post, look at the part I bolded.  I think when he says "line of flight" he means his start line.  So he's saying that his ball never starts further right than he intends it to start, however, it does start right of his target.  Then it curves back to the left, sometimes a little, sometimes the right amount, sometimes too much.

Bottom line though:  As I understand it, if his ball is starting right of target AND it's curving left, then he HAS to be swinging out to the right.

EDIT:  Saw Erik's post ... that makes sense. ;)

[MS256]

No, I think you just misunderstood his words.  (Granted, I haven't read all of his previous posts, so I could be the one who's misunderstanding :))  But based on just this post, look at the part I bolded.  I think when he says "line of flight" he means his start line.  So he's saying that his ball never starts further right than he intends it to start, however, it does start right of his target.  Then it curves back to the left, sometimes a little, sometimes the right amount, sometimes too much.

Bottom line though:  As I understand it, if his ball is starting right of target AND it's curving left, then he HAS to be swinging out to the right.

The OP already said that he/she? (I assume it's a she) "aims" 20 degrees right of target. If so the ball could start right of target and still be a pull hook from the intended start line. That's what @Teamroper60 was referring to when the OP said the ball never starts right of the intended starting line (like a typical push hook or draw would do).

Edit: Everything already said and edited. Probably better than I said it anyway.

[The Wolf]

Aim far enough right and you can easily hit a pull draw at the target. You can do that with a swing path that is out to in relative to your body alignment. That's all anyone is saying.

Yes, I get that. But according to what I am reading here, a push hook can be eliminated from the possible ball flights for creating a substantial hook (as can a pull slice). I mean, there's no point starting a ball 5-10° right/left of path if there's no way you can bring it back any more than a small percentage of that.

So the shot I should be attempting in such a scenario is a pull hook when I require more curve. That's it, isn't it?

[The Wolf]

The OP already said that he/she? (I assume it's a she) "aims" 20 degrees right of target.

Heptathletes are female, I'm a decathlete (a man).

[The Wolf]

I've just done a quick sketch of the desired shot. Lets say the obstacle is a group of trees about 20 yds wide and too high to carry, the length of shot is about 150 yds and the ball is 60 yds behind the obstacle.

By my reckoning, the golfer would have to aim +25° to +35°, swing path

I don't envy the caddy who has to give a player this kind of data or the coach who is teaching this shot. I would rather use simpler language.

I.e. Aim well right of the trees and close the face until you get the feel for how far you have to aim right and how much you can curve the ball back towards the target.

I personally think Joe Golfer would catch onto this instruction more efficiently than the above. If that's the way Faldo et al managed it then I'm sure there's a good reason.

[iacas]

Nobody has been "giving instruction." We've simply been using numbers to clarify what you're trying to say. Those are pull draws by your diagram. And you can hit those with a path that's out to in.

[The Wolf]

Nobody has been "giving instruction."

D'oh! Well meet the instructed.

We've simply been using numbers to clarify what you're trying to say.

That's my point there's nothing simple about the numbers. I find them very confusing and I consider myself to be above average intelligence.

Those are pull draws by your diagram. And you can hit those with a path that's out to in.

Excuse me, but @The Wolf ( that's me) wrote,

“By my reckoning, the golfer would have to aim +25° to +35°, swing path <-2° and and face +20° to +30^° (depending on aim).”

I've already grasped that this shot can only be created with an out/in path.

[MS256]

“By my reckoning, the golfer would have to aim +25° to +35°, swing path <-2° and and face +20° to +30^° (depending on aim).”

I've already grasped that this shot can only be created with an out/in path.

So you have your answer.

If you don't want to hit a pull draw quit swinging out to in with a clubface closed to that path. If you don't like having to aim a half mile right to keep the ball in the playing field swing a few degrees in to out and your clubface a couple of degrees less than the swing path.

Piece of cake now. All you have to do is do it.

[Ernest Jones]

Until the OP reads and grasps the proper ball flight laws nothing said to him in this thread will make any sense. Sadly, most of the time, what his golf balls does won't make any sense either. From what I can see, from his posts in this thread, he is operating under the assumption that the ball will curve towards where the face is pointed.

[iacas]

Sorry. Numbers usually help people rather than saying "somewhere in that direction." You can hit pull-draws with a swing path that's out to in (relative to your stance), square (relative to your stance), or in to out (relative to your stance). Because it's a pull that draws, it's easy for the face to be closed to the path… any path. Pull cuts can only be hit with a path out to in (relative to your stance).

[iacas]

BTW Patrick, these are indeed pull-draws:

Did you get rid of that horrible flip you had going on, yet?

And seriously, why do you keep coming back?

[Ernest Jones]

Holy flashback Batman! I remember the videos and screen captures of that pansy ass, swipey flip Patricia57 had going on.