Tired of setting up to hit a power draw and ending up hooking your golf ball into trouble?
Well, you’ve found yourself reading the right blog post…
Hooks are a truly awful golf shot and are almost as bad as a slice.
But by the end of this post, you should hopefully know exactly what a hook is, the different kinds of hooks, how to fix yours, and hit more fairways.
Enjoy!
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What Is A Hook?
Hooks are the slightly less annoying and prettier cousin of the slice.
They are less annoying because they are just a few adjustments away from being a powerful draw, which is something all golfers want to hit.
What does hitting hook shots look like? Well, the ball flight starts going away from your body and then returns towards your body line.
How far it cuts back across your body depends on how bad the hook is.
Basically, they’re like a draw, but unlike a draw, they don’t know when to stop curving and will land you in trouble often.
Hooks are not exclusive to any particular club but are more commonly seen with your longer clubs, especially your driver.
What Are The Different Kinds Of Hooks In Golf?
There are 3 kinds of hooks that can be hit by your driver, and although they are equally annoying, it will still benefit you to know the difference between them.
Ordinary Hook
An ordinary hook happens when your club path is moving out right of your target (right-handed golfers), but the clubface is closed over too far.
When this happens, the ball will start a little right off your target line (right-handed golfers) and then curve back significantly across your target line.
Push Hook
Although still bad, these hooks can be more forgiving than the others.
They happen when your clubpath is going too far right (right-handed golfers), which will put too much side spin, causing the ball to hook instead of draw.
Because these hooks are caused only by a clubpath issue, they can be relatively easy to fix, as the rest of your setup should be fine.
Pull Hook
A pull hook is your golf game’s nastiest and most dangerous hook.
Pull hooks happen when the clubface is closed over too much, and the club path is straight at or slightly left of the target (right-handed golfer).
When this happens, the golf ball will start out left of your target line (right-handed golfer) and keep going left, which will almost always land you in big trouble.
Common Causes Of A Hook And How To Fix Them
Hitting Too Inside To Out
As a golfer trying to fix a slice or hit a nice draw, you’ve probably seen a couple of TikToks or similar urging you to swing inside-to-out.
This basically means the club feels like it starts behind you, and as your clubhead makes its way towards the ball, it does so at an angle away from your body.
The issue is that you may be swinging from the inside too much, which causes an almost glancing push at impact, creating a tone of sidespin.
When this happens, the ball is going to hook.
Okay, so how do we fix this?
The Fix:
The likely cause of this inside-to-out swing path is your takeaway. If you have this issue, you’re more than likely pulling your golf club back quickly as if it’s a baseball bat.
Fixing your clubpath in this scenario initially feels weird, but you must feel like you are trying to hit a small slice.
To do this, you should begin your backswing by feeling like you’re trying to keep your club head out in front of your body for as long as possible without the club getting to far behind you.
This will feel like you’re about to hit a mega slice, but often, swing changes feel more dramatic than they are,
The best way to work at this is on the driving range, I really feel like you’re trying to slice/fade the golf ball and how you would do that using only your club path.
Closed Club Face Caused By A Strong Grip
Just like a weak grip causes a slice, a strong grip can cause a hook.
A strong grip encourages your clubface to stay neutral (ideally) or for it to be closed over at impact.
Golfers hook the golf ball sometimes if their grip is too strong and their hands turn over too much during the swing before impact.
This means that no matter how they hit the ball when the face is closed, the ball will draw/hook due to the additional side spin.
What can you do in this situation?
The Fix:
Well, all you have to do is weaken your grip, and if this is the cause of your hook, you should be hitting darts in no time.
How do I make my grip weaker?
A weaker grip will have your bottom hands positioned on the club’s side closest to the target, and a stronger grip is the opposite.
So just rotate your bottom hand towards your target and start swinging. It will feel unnatural, but give it time.
Not Enough Rotation
Rotation is crucial in the golf swing. Many golfers either don’t rotate enough on their backswing, through impact, or both.
By not rotating fully on your backswing, the clubface doesn’t have additional time that it could use to become square at impact. Also, your arms will take over when you don’t turn fully.
Using your arms instead of your larger muscles will lead to inconsistent shots.
Similarly, not rotating your body fully through impact can cause a hook as your arms and golf club will continue to turn without the body, causing the clubface to close.
So how can you “turn” this around?
The Fix:
This fix is pretty simple, but it will feel terrible if you’re a golfer who hasn’t rotated a lot up until now.
Work on turning during your backswing; you want to feel that your back is completely turned away from your target.
Imagine there is a laser pointer on your back, and you want to point at the fairway with it…
Having a complete backswing using your larger muscles won’t just fix your hook but can help you hit the golf ball farther.
Now, if your problem is not turning through the golf ball, you should aim to have your chest turn fully through the ball and point directly at the target when you’re finished.
There is a drill that will help you rotate properly all the way through.
All you have to do is get a towel long enough to hold under both your armpits simultaneously. Focus on not letting the towel drop.
You can only complete the swing without using your arms to rotate fully.
Ball Position Is Off
One simple and actually quite common cause of a hook is having the ball too far forward in your stance.
When the golf ball is past the point where ideal contact should occur, it means the clubhead has continued turning past this point.
By the time it hits the golf ball, the face will have closed, which will cause a hook.
Also, as the club carries on and starts being pulled around the front of your body as you rotate, the likelihood of the ball making contact with the toe of the golf club increases.
Shots of the toe of the club promote hooks/draws.
Where should the golf ball be then?
The Fix:
As always, the golf ball should be just on the inside of your lead foot on the side where your big toe is.
Experiment with moving your golf ball further back in your stance to see how it affects your ball flight and shape.
However, when using your driver, it should be in line with that lead foot.
Foot Position Is Off
The importance of foot position is often overlooked when it comes to the golf swing.
But your hook could be fixed by just changing the way you’re standing when lining up to the golf ball.
Most golfers who hook the golf ball have a tendency for their trail foot’s toes to be pointing out away from the target.
Having your trail foot angled like this allows for greater hip rotation on the way back, which helps get a more inside-to-out swing path needed for draws and unfortunately hooks.
Another common cause could be standing too far from the ball.
Then what should you do with your trail foot?
The Fix:
The fix could be as simple as turning your trail foot in so your toes are pointing in the same direction the center of your chest is at the address.
You could also try doing this and turning your lead foot out slightly towards the target, which will help you rotate through impact and square the clubface.
You’re Swinging Too Fast
Swinging the club faster in an attempt to hit big bombs like Bryson or Rory may seem like a great idea, but it often results in slices or hooks.
(Especially If You’re Using the Wrong Shaft)
When you swing faster than you should be, it makes controlling the clubface more difficult. Oftentimes times, your wrists or arms will flip over, causing a closed clubface and, ultimately, a big bad hook.
And the fix…
The Fix:
Slow your swing down and focus on controlling the clubhead throughout the swing.
Just focus on making consistent and good contact with the golf ball. After all, the goal is to end up in the fairway, nobody cares if you hit a 300-yard drive that ended up OB.
It’s All Mental
A lot of the time hooks can be caused by a whole range of mental reasons. One of the main mental hurdles that golfers struggle to overcome if the suffer from a hook is if they used to hit a huge slice.
The fear of hitting that massive slice can lead to you overcompensating which results in a nasty hook.
Another reason to do with your mental game is if you’re under pressure on the course. Maybe you’re terrified of going out of bounds to the right which leads to a hook in the opposite direction.
Or perhaps you just hit a snap hook the hole before and you can’t let it go setting you up for a flurry of hooks for the rest of the round.
Unfortunately correcting the mental side of your golf game can be tougher than working on swing mechanics. But it can be done.
The Fix:
When it comes to becoming stressed on the golf course the best thing to do is try slow everything down. I’m not talking about your golf swing either, no you need to slow the mind.
The best way to do this is just taking a few deep breaths and go to your happy place just like Happy Gilmore does.
If the stress is caused by a previous bad shot don’t carry it with you for the day. Carrying bad shots with you is a magnet for more terrible shots.
Just take your hole one shot at a time. One bad shot doesn’t kill your score, and it only takes one good one to turn it around.
But the most effective way to improve your mental game is to keep practicing until you build an undeniable confidence in your swing.
It takes time but a solid mental game doesn’t only help you with your driver but in all aspects of your game.
Checkout our post on the Best Drivers For Mid Handicappers if you’re in the market for a new driver.