Golf Fix: Hook – How To Correct The Golf Hook

Golfers often struggle with the dreaded golf hook. A hook is when a golfer’s swing path is too far inside on the way down and causes the golf ball to curve to the left. Understanding the basics of a hook and how to fix it can help you improve your game and get back on track.

In this article, we will go over the basics of a hook and give you some tips on how to fix it:

RELATED: What to hit straighter drives? Check out our article “How To Hit A Driver Straight.”

What Is A Golf Hook

A golf hook is one of the amateur golfers’ most common faults and can be particularly frustrating to correct. It is a shot that veers to the left rather than following its intended path. A golfer will notice this when they see their ball start to curve towards the left too soon instead of staying straight on their intended line.

The root cause of a golf hook is usually an effect of muscle memory, with improper swings and stances being developed over time that cause the shot to move inwards and rotate instead of staying straight. This can also be caused by an overactive clubface when making contact with the ball or due to making contact with it too far down on its backswing.

For many amateur golfers, simply diagnosing which element is causing them to hit a hook can be difficult, as many factors could lead to this unwanted shot shape. Luckily, there are plenty of drills and swing corrections which will help any player nullify their unwanted hook and help them comfortably make more positive shots:

• Check your grip
• Check your stance
• Check your clubface
• Check your swing path
• Check your ball position

Causes Of A Golf Hook

The hook is one of the most dreaded golf shots and one of the toughest to fix. A hook can be caused by a few different factors, such as an incorrect swing path, a poor grip, or even an improper swing plane. All these can cause you to pull the ball to the left, which can cost you a stroke or more, depending on the situation.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common causes of a hook:

Poor Grip

A poor grip is one common cause of a golf hook. A typical grip involves the left thumb overlapping and slightly pressing into the right palm. This should form a “V” and allow for a natural arch in one’s wrists to have the clubface square at impact.

If your grip is too weak, your hand rotates and causes the club face to open before impact. This relation can cause you to hit a push or pull hook slice, depending on where you place your hands on the grip. Becoming conscious of these components can help you adjust and fix your hook shot.

Poor Setup

The most common cause of a golf hook is poor setup and swing path. Ensure your feet, hips, and shoulders are aimed in the desired direction. Before striking the ball, set your body up to target the intended area. Your arm and shoulder line should create an angle of roughly 45 degrees with your aim line, which will help you straighten out your swing arc. Be sure to practice this technique until it becomes natural and comfortable before moving on to other aspects of the game.

One possible cause can be related to grip pressure. Loose grip pressure allows the club head to move away from the target creating a hook or slice during impact, causing an incorrect ball flight direction. Tighten your grip slightly (but not too tight) for optimal control over your shots.

It’s also important to assess your takeaway path during setup and throughout your swing. A straight takeaway path helps promote a square clubface at impact and lessens curvature on the shot resulting in straighter shots instead of hooks or slices. Analyze where you extend from address through impact; if it’s too sharp or too wide, you will affect the clubface at contact, which can lead to a hook or slice.

Evaluate how quickly you begin transitioning into the backswing. You rush this movement, it causes inconsistency in tempo and timing, leading to inaccuracy in ball flight patterns, including slicing/hooking shots unintentionally:

• Assess your setup and swing path.
• Adjust grip pressure.
• Evaluate the takeaway path.
• Analyze extension from address to impact.
• Assess the transition into the backswing.

Poor Swing Path

A golf hook is an unintentional shot that curves strongly to the left of the intended target (for a right-handed golfer) due to its sidespin. To understand and begin to change your golf hook, it helps to first know why it occurs.

Poor swing path is one of the most common causes of a golf hook. If your downswing path starts right before you hit the ball or starts too close to the inside, it can cause the clubface to swing open, resulting in a left-turning sidespin.

To avoid this issue and hit straighter shots, focus on following an in-to-out downswing path instead. This means that you should aim for an angle from inside your target line at address, moving outwards towards your targeted landing spot for you to hit a straighter shot with square clubface impact.

Additionally, having good clubhead lag when making your downswing can help ensure that your clubface remains intact until contact with the ball has been made.

Poor Clubface Control

Poor clubface control is a major cause of the golf hook. This involves swinging the club too quickly, so it does not have time to naturally square up at impact. A common symptom of poor clubface control is when a player has difficulty controlling the arc of their swing and carries their arm across the body through impact rather than keeping it closer to the body.

This can often also be caused by:

Having an incorrect grip or stance – gripping too tightly can cause you to pull or push your shots off-line, as can using improper alignment (standing too far away from your target or aligning incorrectly).

Poor weight distribution on either foot can also lead to a golf hook.

Having an incorrect shoulder turn angle.

Excessive hip movement during the backswing may cause you to move off-balance, leading to skidding shots and hooks.

How To Fix A Golf Hook

A hook in golf is one of the most frustrating and crushing shots that a golfer can experience. A hook occurs when your ball curves sharply to the left (for a right-handed golfer). The hook can be caused by any number of things, including the grip, stance, and swing plane.

Fortunately, there are ways to fix it and return to playing great golf. Let’s get into the details and go over how to fix a golf hook:

Adjust Grip

Adjusting your grip is the most effective way to stop a golf hook. To do this, identify and correct any problem areas in your swing. Rotate your forearms to ensure they are in a more neutral position (parallel to each other).

Re-count your grip fingers on the club, ensuring that both thumbs line up along the same side and that two fingers fit snugly under each palm.

Your palms should face each other and overlap slightly, with your non-dominant thumb resting diagonally over the dominant hand’s thumb.

With proper alignment, you can start swinging on an outward path rather than in-to-out, which will help keep you from considering a golf hook before you even hit the ball.

Adjust Setup

When learning how to fix a golf hook, the first and most important step is ensuring your golf setup is correct. Without proper fundamentals, you will be unable to hit consistent shots, creating issues that can lead to a golf hook. To ensure your setup is correct, focus on five key points:

Ball position – The ball should be in the center of your stance or just behind the center.

Grip – Make sure you use a neutral grip (not overpowered or weak) and have adequate grip pressure (neither too tight nor too loose).

Stance – Position your feet straight in line with the target, at least shoulder-width apart for most shots.

Posture – Maintain good posture by keeping your head up, shoulders over the ball, and chest slightly open towards the target line.

Backswing length – Keep the length of your backswing in check by pulling back slightly more than hip level with plenty of wrist hinge and cocking action throughout the transition period of your swing to the top of the backswing position.

By making small adjustments to each of these setup elements, you can reduce or eliminate various sources of inconsistencies that could potentially contribute to a golf hook mis-hit shot pattern or ball flight trajectory flaw, as well as help improve other aspects regarding overall swing performance, such as distance control and accuracy off tee box during a round on course play environment.

Adjust Swing Path

A golf hook is typically caused by an incorrect swing path, meaning either too far to the left or too far to the right during the swing. To fix a golf hook, modify your body position and evaluate other issues such as grip and club face angle that may be contributing to this problem.

Body Position: Ensure you have a solid stance when addressing the ball. Aim your feet, knees, and hips towards the target and keep your upper body parallel to this line with shoulders square (at right angles) to the target line as well. Next, check that you have a balanced weight distribution on both feet. 65-75% of the weight should be on your front foot, with your back foot holding only enough weight for balance throughout your entire swing.

Grip: A golf hook may result from an improper grip of either two strong (overlapping) or two weak (baseball). Ensure that you adopt a neutral grip instead, where both hands point so that two V-shapes formed by thumbs and index fingers point towards each other or slightly overlap at address upon gripping the club from behind. It is also important to remember to not grip it excessively hard but rather keep it light for more smooth natural swings leading to a powerful finish.

Club Face Angle: Rotate your club face sharp enough during each shot to look close relative to where you’re aiming at impact. This will give the ball a pushback in the desired direction with no unnecessary hooks on its way out of the impact zone towards the target area desired by the golfer himself/herself.

Adjust Clubface Control

The key to fixing a golf hook is to control the clubface’s angle of attack and position at impact. A golf hook occurs when the clubface at impact is open relative to the target line, resulting in a shot that curves too far left for a right-handed golfer.

To adjust your clubface control, focus on two components of your setup: grip and stance. One potential cause of an open clubface at impact is an overly weak grip, so make sure your left hand isn’t turned too much counterclockwise away from the target line. Another common cause of a hook is an overly narrow stance: Consider widening your feet by two inches for each hand to end up in a “V” shape instead of parallel with the target line.

With proper grip and stance settings, you should be able to hit more efficient strikes with less manipulation or compensation by the hands and wrists during the swing itself – leading to more straight-line flights overall – but if you continue to experience difficulties hitting crisp shots, try adding further adjustments such as closing the clubface when addressing or hitting across shots with relatively high topspin. With practice and instruction, you can dial in solid ball strikes that travel right down your desired target line!

Final Thoughts On How To Correct The Golf Hook

It is important to understand that a golf hook can be caused by several factors, such as your stance, grip, setup, and swing path. A good understanding of the fundamentals, as well as practice and repetition, can all help you to correct the golf hook.

Identify which area of your game could improve, and then spend time and energy working on it. By addressing the root causes of your hook, you can start to hit cleaner, straighter shots on the golf course.

Steps To Fix A Golf Hook

Now that we’ve discussed what causes a golf hook and how to recognize it let’s review the steps needed to fix it. To help you make sure to do each step correctly, we’ve listed them in order below.

Check your grip: Make sure your hands are in the proper position on the golf club and that you aren’t gripping it too tightly.

Check your stance and ball positioning: Your stance should be balanced and comfortable, with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your weight shifted towards the target. You should also ensure that your feet’ balls are facing the target for greater precision.

Pay attention to club face angle: To correct a hook, you will want to open up the club face slightly so that it is lined up directly with the target (not pointing left or right) at address.

Take a wider stance: A wider stance helps prevent over-rotation of the hips when making a slew; this helps reduce hooks too!

Stay relaxed while playing: Keeping yourself loose while taking a shot can help reduce hooks and increase the distance from tee boxes!

Practice regularly: Any good golfer will tell you practice makes perfect, so practicing regularly is key if you want to improve! Try out the driving range games for practice.

By following these steps diligently, you will be able to improve your golf game in general and correct any hooks you might be facing along the way!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a golf hook?

A: A golf hook is a shot that curves dramatically to the left (for a right-handed golfer). It is caused by an out-to-in swing path and an open club face.

Q: What causes a golf hook?

A: A golf hook is caused by an out-to-in swing path and an open club face. It can also be caused by a poor grip or incorrect body alignment.

Q: How can I fix a golf hook?

A: To fix a golf hook, you should improve your swing path and adjust your grip. You should also check your stance and body alignment to ensure that you are in the correct position to hit the ball straight.