Tips to Fix a Hook

The common miss for the majority of amateur golfers is the slice. However, in correcting the ball from going to the right (for right-handed golfers), we often overcompensate and start hooking the ball.

As uncontrollable and potentially detrimental as the dreaded slice, hooking the ball is a problem you’ll want to fix with your local PGA Professional. In the meantime, here are five quick tips to fix a hook:

Some PGA Professionals will tell you that a strong grip is the primary cause of a ball moving excessively from right to left. When the right hand starts in a position beneath the grip, you can expect the clubface to turn too much through impact and all too often strike the ball from a closed position.

To rectify this issue, take the aforementioned right hand and place it in a more neutral position in relation to the left hand. You should end up with your hands on opposite sides of the grip, palms essentially facing each other and your left thumb in the right palm. Your clubface rotation through impact will be neutralized and will result in a square face at the impact position. 

There is an optimal ball position for each shot that will help ensure a square clubface at impact. If the ball is too far forward, your clubface will have bottomed out at the point where the ball should be, and will begin to close. When it strikes the golf ball as you have it positioned, the face will be closed, and the ball destined to hook. Ensuring the proper setup is always easier than fixing a flawed golf swing.

The order in which you move and rotate your various body parts in the golf swing will dictate whether an efficient swing results, or a hook or slice ensues. When there is not enough hip turn, back at first, and ultimately exploding forward to initiate the forward swing and impact, the hands take over and end up closing at impact, again hitting the ball left.

Consequently, when turning your hips too far forward or simply too fast, your hands can lag behind resulting in a last minute flipping of the wrists through impact, rather than the preferred and more natural turn of the clubface when striking the golf ball. 

The hooked golf shot is predominantly caused by an improper setup or out of sync golf swing. Seeing a PGA Professional to correct these issues will be a rewarding experience as you see straighter golf shots and better scores.

The final step to getting rid of your hook is in getting custom fit. When the lie of your clubs is too upright, you’ll tend to hit the ball to the left. Of course, the custom fitting will result in the proper shaft flex and club length being played, as well, both vital to ridding your game of the hook, and bringing some more straight golf shots into your repertoire.