GOLF LESSONS

CLUBFACE GOLF: Tips on Fixing the Golf Hook

Some golfers consistently hook their golf shots. If you are having problems with a hook, ClubFace Golf has put together some tips to help improve your game by fixing that nasty hook.

The most basic reason golfers hit a hook is because they have their clubface closed to the path it is traveling on at the moment of impact. This puts a hook spin on the ball causing it to curve left. The more closed your clubface is at impact, the more hook spin you impart to the ball.

Before you can correct a hook, you need to understand where your problems begin. As with a slice, the hook typically begins with the golfer's grip and setup. The hook is the consequence of a strong grip, which tends to promote a ball position too far back in the stance. In turn, this leads to a closed body alignment, angled well right of what is considered to be square. So, correcting your golf grip is a major key in eliminating the hook as well as improving many aspects of your golf game.

The golf swing is one big chain reaction of movements, so there has to be an order to correcting the hook. Let’s take a look:

Correcting the Golf Hook:

1. Grip: Make sure you have a correct, neutral grip, that is, the left thumb, from base to tip, should be positioned “slightly” right of the top of the club, your right hand turned “slightly” right and the club held in the fingers, not the palm.
2. Golf Ball Position: Keep the golf ball towards the front of your stance. When correcting for the golf hook, you need to make sure that the ball position does not creep too far back. Many times the strong grip that causes a hook produces a ball position that is too far back in the stance.
3. Body Alignment: You need to make sure your body is parallel to your target line. To most golfers who hook the ball, this correct alignment will feel very open. An improved grip and ball position should make this adjustment much easier.
4. Shoulder and hip angles: When golfers have a strong grip, a ball position that is back in their stance and a closed body alignment, this often drops the right side of their body too low. Correcting your grip, ball position and alignment will correct this element. Remember, the right side should be slightly lower than the left, but not too much.
5. Clubface: To completely eliminate a hook, golfers must learn to make swings with a square clubface throughout the entire swing. While this may seem challenging, completing many repetitions will help ingrain this vital swing concept.
6. Release: A player with a consistent hook may need to reduce the release of the clubface through the impact area by feeling the back of their left hand working up towards the sky during their release.
7. Path: Now that you are fundamentally sound with your grip, set up and control of the clubface, the path will automatically shift to an inside to square to inside arc.

ClubFace Golf is committed to helping golfers improve their golf game through education and training. Practice regularly, keep these tips in mind, and you will be well on your way to correcting your golf hook.