Is it me or the club?

[wakefield724]

As my swing speed increases, the problem is becoming worse. I have a Callaway X-hot driver and an original stiff flex shaft. Is it pretty used and does not seem as stiff as others. I have a crazy hook. I am hitting close to the sweet spot, and the ball goes straight and quickly turns left. I am not sure if it is because of a high spin or my club head path. I swing 118MPH average. 

[Vinsk]

Don't take this the wrong way but a 28hcp with a ss of 118 and hitting the sweet spot or close to it is probably a rare combination. If in fact you're posting 118 ss then a stiffer shaft may be more beneficial for you. Are you using a monitor or just a speed gauge? Obviously your  face/path dynamics could be the real culprit. Would be beneficial to get the data on your swing.

[wakefield724]

My swing speed was tested on 2 different monitors at 2 different pro shop locations so I'm sure 118 is my swing speed. I haven't updated my handi cap. I shoot between an 87 and a 95 on average so idk what that means when it comes to handi cap 

[NCGolfer]

13 hours ago, wakefield724 said:

As my swing speed increases, the problem is becoming worse. I have a Callaway X-hot driver and an original stiff flex shaft. Is it pretty used and does not seem as stiff as others. I have a crazy hook. I am hitting close to the sweet spot, and the ball goes straight and quickly turns left. I am not sure if it is because of a high spin or my club head path. I swing 118MPH average. 

I'd highly recommend getting to a launch monitor at a Golf Galaxy or somewhere else.  The've let me bring my existing driver/clubs to test them against new ones.  I'd get in there and see what your numbers look like.

If it is starting straight and going left your face is pointing down the line but your path is going right and putting some hook on it.  A great source is here for you to learn more about ball flight laws.  You are falling in the "D" category.  You need to get the face more open at impact.  I think your path is probably OK.

I'm not the expert though...  

[inthecup]

You handicap is probably around a 13 depending on the difficulty of the courses you play.

When you say "as my swing speed increases", do you mean when I swing harder?  I played with a friend who has a swing speed similar to yours last night, when he swings as hard as he can hits a big slice, he normally has a baby fade.  When I swing as hard as I can it turns into a hook.  Crazy thing about it is that when we swing within ourselves and keep control and balance we hit the center of the club face and hit the fairway near our max distance.

What happens when you swing at 80%?

I have easy access to a launch monitor and a hard swing is not necessarily a fast swing.  Hitting the center (or as near as you can get) will do a lot more for your score than swinging out of your shoes and hitting 2 out of 10 300 yards and the other 8 are all over the place.  

I know when I swing too hard my arms outpace my body and the face closes.  Said another way I lose control of my timing. 

 

Good luck!

[wakefield724]

 I just left my golf coach who let me try a couple different drivers. With my current driver my spin rate was averaging 4800.  Once I got a extra stiff shaft my drives went down to around 2900 and carried further 

[inthecup]

7 minutes ago, wakefield724 said:

 I just left my golf coach who let me try a couple different drivers. With my current driver my spin rate was averaging 4800.  Once I got a extra stiff shaft my drives went down to around 2900 and carried further 

Did the swing speed number stay consistent?

 

[wakefield724]

1 minute ago, inthecup said:

Did the swing speed number stay consistent?

 

When using my driver my swing speed was around 114 on average. When switching the the Cobra F7 with xtra stiff shaft it went up to 118.5. I don't know if that was me or the aerodynamics of the club head. My coach told me I should get the F6+ with xtra stiff shaft which is at Dicks right now for $125. He didn't have any 2X stiff shafts for me to try. I am not sure if that would be too stiff for me. 

[inthecup]

28 minutes ago, wakefield724 said:

When using my driver my swing speed was around 114 on average. When switching the the Cobra F7 with xtra stiff shaft it went up to 118.5. I don't know if that was me or the aerodynamics of the club head. My coach told me I should get the F6+ with xtra stiff shaft which is at Dicks right now for $125. He didn't have any 2X stiff shafts for me to try. I am not sure if that would be too stiff for me. 

How was the ball flight?

[wakefield724]

6 minutes ago, inthecup said:

How was the ball flight?

280ish carry with the xtra stiff. 265ish with my current. I have a bad hook so in the beginning that was happening. Once my coach gave my some pointers it started to get better with a few straight shots but I still have a hook/fade issue

[WUTiger]

Where do you line up the ball in your driver stance? If it's too far forward, the clubface will start closing before impact and you will miss to the left.

A pro showed me this at a demo day. The ideal solution is start the downswing with a solid hip kick. If I do this, I have enough movement toward the ball to ensure the clubface doesn't close down too soon.

With your high clubhead speed, however, I doubt this would be the problem.

[wakefield724]

3 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

Where do you line up the ball in your driver stance? If it's too far forward, the clubface will start closing before impact and you will miss to the left.

A pro showed me this at a demo day. The ideal solution is start the downswing with a solid hip kick. If I do this, I have enough movement toward the ball to ensure the clubface doesn't close down too soon.

With your high clubhead speed, however, I doubt this would be the problem.

You are probably right. I know when it is inside my heel I have a super hard hook. When I put it back a bit it goes further. We noticed today my hip rotation is not great which might be a problem with closing the face. I am going to work on that this week. How did you work on it?

[DaveP043]

12 minutes ago, wakefield724 said:

Once my coach gave my some pointers it started to get better with a few straight shots but I still have a hook/fade issue

To answer the original question, the big hook is the result of club path and clubface orientation.  @NCGolfer gave the exact appropriate explanation.

More important, those of us at TST have never seen you swing.  You're working with an instructor of some kind, and it sounds like he's helping you make progress.  He's a much better source of information than we could ever be.  On the other hand, if you'd like to post some video of course swing in the My Swing forum, you just might get some really valuable advice from some good instructors here.

[David in FL]

It's you.

 

[WUTiger]

22 hours ago, wakefield724 said:

23 hours ago, WUTiger said:

Where do you line up the ball in your driver stance?....

Read more  

You are probably right. I know when it is inside my heel I have a super hard hook. When I put it back a bit it goes further. We noticed today my hip rotation is not great which might be a problem with closing the face. I am going to work on that this week. How did you work on it?

In general terms, I had two choices: leave it forward and accentuate lead hip drive, or move it back a bit.

I've worked on leaving it forward; ball goes higher and I have better line, and better balance on downswing.

If my right hip is really tight, I might move it back because I'm having trouble getting good hip kick.

Given that I haven't seen your swing, and that I'm a 23 HDCP, I would suggest you work with your instructor to resolve it. He's a pro, I'm not.

Also, as others have suggested, post a swing clip to Member Swings thread. That way, actual instructors such as @iacas and @mvmac can give you sound advice.

[RickPro]

On 07/09/2017 at 1:34 PM, wakefield724 said:

As my swing speed increases, the problem is becoming worse. I have a Callaway X-hot driver and an original stiff flex shaft. Is it pretty used and does not seem as stiff as others. I have a crazy hook. I am hitting close to the sweet spot, and the ball goes straight and quickly turns left. I am not sure if it is because of a high spin or my club head path. I swing 118MPH average. 

your probably going to want to slow your swing speed down if you can't hit straight. distance is no good if you're out of bounds or playing from the wrong fairway.

[Typhoon92]

If your swinging 118 mph but only carrying it 280 it sort of matches u to your handicap.  Others mentioned not finding the center of the face, spot on...again, with lessons that would improve.  Your smash factor is probably low.

Getting fit for the shaft/head combo is a good first step.  See if u and your. is h can work on getting more efficient, working on raising your smash factor

If u can, watch the women's long drive that was on the golf. channel the other night.  Their swing speed is just about at yours.  It'll give you a good idea of where you could get to.

[wakefield724]

1 hour ago, Typhoon92 said:

If your swinging 118 mph but only carrying it 280 it sort of matches u to your handicap.  Others mentioned not finding the center of the face, spot on...again, with lessons that would improve.  Your smash factor is probably low.

Getting fit for the shaft/head combo is a good first step.  See if u and your. is h can work on getting more efficient, working on raising your smash factor

If u can, watch the women's long drive that was on the golf. channel the other night.  Their swing speed is just about at yours.  It'll give you a good idea of where you could get to.

What is a smash factor?