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3 ways to get your game “off the hook”

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Hooking the golf ball is often referred to as a “better golfer’s problem,” while slicing is seen as the domain of the duffer.

My response: “So what?” The left rough is every bit as deep as the right rough, and O.B. left still gets re-teed! Hooking the ball is every bit as detrimental to your golf game, and it needs to be corrected. But, not unlike slicing, the correction often involves a fix that is entirely counter-intuitive.

Here’s three ways to eliminate the nasty hook from your game.

Weaken your bottom-hand grip

Often I find the bottom hand (the right hand for right-handers) is the culprit. I’ve seen a lot of low hooks with a neutral left-hand grip, but the minute the right hand gets under the club, even a little bit, look out left.

If you’re hitting a low hook, try to get the “V” on top of your right hand pointed to your right eye, or at least your right shoulder. Also, if you’re fighting a hook, I might suggest a slight turn to the left with both hands, but I personally don’t like to get the left-hand too weak. The left-hand “V” is pointed to right shoulder for most powerful players.

In general, I believe grips are much stronger than they were years ago. If you see the finish of modern elite players with the golf club more across their body and parallel to the ground when they finish, this is generally an indication of a stronger grip.

Johnny Miller has a great video on this concept:

Assuming you get the grip correct, let’s tackle the swing.

Swing left and get your body moving 

When a golfer hooks the ball, the strong impulse is to swing more and more right of the target (inside-out), which is like pouring salt in the wound. You need to develop a “straighter” swing path, one that’s less out to the right, and more across. It will literally feel like you are coming over the top.

That’s right. If the golf ball is going left, only a more left swing path will straighten it out. Golf is a crazy game, I know!

The key to swinging more left and correcting that inside-out path is to feel the upper body begin opening as you start the downswing. The right side should stay high and come OUT toward the golf ball. I doubt very much that this will actually happen, but you need to feel like it is. The lower body will not, in and of itself, correct your swing path. In fact, focusing on opening the lower body often leads to dropping the club more inside, which we definitely don’t want. If you can feel like you “open up” early with your chest, the arms may very well stay UP longer, thus forcing the club on a better path into the golf ball.

Drill: Hit balls on a downhill lie, and feel like you are swinging very steep, down and left through impact. If you come too far from the inside, or “underneath” the ball, you’ll hit the ground first. Focus on making solid contact, and this feeling may fix your hook.

Move your ball position forward

Here’s another paradox: move the ball well forward in the stance to fix a hook. With the golf ball up front, you have a much better chance of contacting the golf ball on the “inside” part of the arc. By inside I mean, a good swing arc is from inside to inside, so by moving the golf ball forward, it will help you catch the ball on the latter part of that arc, which is naturally headed more left.

Drill: Hit drivers off the ground, or “off the deck.” Move the ball out by your left toe, open the face of the driver a little and hit some outside-in slices. You will feel the difference immediately.

Final thoughts

So, in conclusion, to fix the hook you should try to weaken the right hand a bit, move the golf ball forward in your stance and get that body moving through impact! Be aggressive with the turn through the ball, and you’ll see less hooks and a higher ball flight!

Note: I’m currently teaching in Pennsylvania for a few months, so if any of you are near Western Pa., give me a call. Or if you would like to take advantage of my online analysis program, visit my Facebook page or email me at [email protected].

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Dennis Clark is a PGA Master Professional. Clark has taught the game of golf for more than 30 years to golfers all across the country, and is recognized as one of the leading teachers in the country by all the major golf publications. He is also is a seven-time PGA award winner who has earned the following distinctions: -- Teacher of the Year, Philadelphia Section PGA -- Teacher of the Year, Golfers Journal -- Top Teacher in Pennsylvania, Golf Magazine -- Top Teacher in Mid Atlantic Region, Golf Digest -- Earned PGA Advanced Specialty certification in Teaching/Coaching Golf -- Achieved Master Professional Status (held by less than 2 percent of PGA members) -- PGA Merchandiser of the Year, Tri State Section PGA -- Golf Professional of the Year, Tri State Section PGA -- Presidents Plaque Award for Promotion and Growth of the Game of Golf -- Junior Golf Leader, Tri State section PGA -- Served on Tri State PGA Board of Directors. Clark is also former Director of Golf and Instruction at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Dennis now teaches at Bobby Clampett's Impact Zone Golf Indoor Performance Center in Naples, FL. .

20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. Gus

    Sep 24, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    are you a wizard? i just started hooking the ball after finally overcoming a 5-year slice, and for the first time, like you said in the first tip i’m noticing my finish with the club parallel and close to my back, hands by my ears, sort of like Rory’s finish. everything you delineated in this article i realized is in my game–definitely some great ideas to take to the range.

  2. Dennis Clark

    Sep 14, 2015 at 12:31 pm

    Yes. The swing may be a little too steep too.

  3. Anthony

    Sep 14, 2015 at 11:27 am

    I weaken my right hand over the summer (right handed golfer). Immediately took the snap hooks out. I am hitting my irons so much higher and straighter. It was not easy to weaken my right hand though, I needed to use a grip reminder to even hit the ball when I first made the change.

    Now that I have neutralized my grip, I am leaving the driver a little out to the right though. So now i am experimenting with strengthening my left hand but keeping my right hand more neutral, at least with the driver. Good idea?

  4. Double C

    Sep 14, 2015 at 9:08 am

    The weak right hand tip is great. I tried it on Saturday and hit it the best I have all year. It makes it very difficult to hook the ball.

  5. Dennis Clark

    Sep 13, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    you’re welcome; always good to hear improvement. That’s why we do this work!

  6. Nevin

    Sep 13, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    Thank you for the very helpful article. I used suggestions one and two today and it definitely helped with my tendency to hook left especially when there is water left.

  7. Evan

    Sep 11, 2015 at 11:21 pm

    Any pros in your stable, Steve? I believe his audience (and clients) are amateur players. Why would a pro fighting a hook be reading a GolfWRX article… They’re not. Not sure what you’re criticizing, his advice is solid and he has been teaching this audience (amateurs) successfully for years.

    Pipe down and pay attention, you might learn something.

  8. Dennis Clark

    Sep 11, 2015 at 6:08 pm

    be careful of this; an open club face tends to take the club away a little too inside; a closed face tends to take it away outside. square is good

  9. Ron Schataz

    Sep 11, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    Making sure that the clubface is in the proper position as you take it back is important as well. A closed face will promote a hook. I practice taking the club back about belt high and making sure the clubface is not hooded before taking my actual swing. This gives me some muscle memory and puts a positive swing thought in my head as well. It has cured my hook, too.

  10. Derek

    Sep 11, 2015 at 7:35 am

    Great insight Dennis and I had help resolving my slice by opening my stance closing my shoulders slightly at address and swinging in to out. I stopped slicing straight away but had some amazing hooks, especially with the driver. I tried a weaker left hand grip and tried to swing more in to out thinking it would help but didn’t so had a laugh reading this. I definitely have a strong right hand grip and it would be easy enough to calm the in to out swing path and getting my body rotation through the ball. Thanks for the drills and looking forward to giving them a go.

  11. mlecuni

    Sep 11, 2015 at 3:21 am

    Nice video from Mr Miller, i like his explanations here.

  12. Zachary Jurich

    Sep 11, 2015 at 12:48 am

    Ive spent the better half of the last 2 years playing a high hook with virtually every club in the bag while at same time playing the ball a lot more forward than most. Im capable of hitting great shots in bunches, but sometimes my irons can really start going left. I’ll have to give weakening my right hand a shot! Thank you Mr. Clark

  13. Dennis Clark

    Sep 11, 2015 at 12:29 am

    exactly, and when the pressure gets on, it is even harder to turn the body. Relaxed muscles help a lot

  14. other paul

    Sep 10, 2015 at 7:46 pm

    I hit a high hook all summer. I had a fast lower body, slow upper body (as in shoulders barley open at all, and fast arms and hands. All I did was speed the body up and open a bit more. Voila. 170 yard 9 irons. Love it. So pumped to finish the season now.

    • Jack

      Sep 10, 2015 at 11:26 pm

      That’s nice. You hit your 9 iron further than most pros.

      • Timbleking

        Sep 11, 2015 at 2:58 am

        Yeah dude! Me as well.

        Sh** happens…

  15. My bad

    Sep 10, 2015 at 7:26 pm

    *I think people quit rotating

    • Dennis Clark

      Sep 11, 2015 at 6:11 pm

      Yep. especially when under pressure or too tight. RELAX and turn through

  16. Gubment Cheeze

    Sep 10, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    I had hooks so bad the ball wouldn’t get off the ground
    My fix was actually strengthening my bottom hand and keeping the palm facing up…limited face rotation
    But I think you have to have a nice swing path too

    • Dennis Clark

      Sep 11, 2015 at 12:32 am

      Paul Azinger played world class golf with a strong grip and his swing thought was “knuckles up” through impact. It can be done just tough to do.

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Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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