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How to fix your Golf Hook!
Do you feel the sweat drops running down the side of your face and anxiously tee up to ball afraid of what will come next? Take control of your game and enter the tee or that approach shot with confidence! In this article with will dig into how you could get rid of your hook shot and hit those shots in the middle of the fairway!
The hook is less common than a slice and is usually a bit more forgiving. When you suffer from a hook spin you usually do not lose too much distance in comparison with a slice but you still lack the control of the direction of the shot.
Signs to look for if you are suffering from a hook:
- The ball starts straight but ends up spinning to the left
- The ball bounces drastically to the left upon landing
- Generally a low ball flight and with the ball hitting the ground relatively quickly
- A “strong grip” with your right hand very much underneath the golf grip
1. Examine your grip
You should balance the amount of strength you use between the two hands. If you suffer from a hook you are most likely using your left hand too much causing it to close the clubface upon impact. When you take your golf stance and adjust your grip, you should see 2-3 knuckles on your left hand. Secondly, the big trick for you here would be to move your right hand and twist it to the left in order to place it “above” your grip, not underneath it.
Imagine if you would hit a baseball, then you would probably hold the bat with the left-hand palm pointing to the sky and the right-hand palm pointing to the ground. One of the reasons you might suffer from a hook is if your right-hand palm is pointing to the ground when it should point to the right of you!
2. Make sure you swing through the ball
As you swing through the ball after you hit either your driver or iron shot, how does your stance feel? Is it wobbly and unstable or are your feet in perfect balance with your chest facing the target? One thing you should make sure is that you swing through the ball and really follow through with the rest of the body in order to make sure your swing path does not create an inside out motion.
But what does it mean – “inside-out”. Hitting a baseball with a baseball bat is inside out. It comes from close to you to far away from you. When you hit the ball inside out that means that you hit the ball early in your swing and that the clubface continues a little bit away from you in order to return around your body.
Make sure to try and hit the ballĀ as the club face starts to turn and go around you.
3. Adjust the length between your feet
One thing that may cause the hook is when you have a very tight stance not giving the body enough stability to turn and then overcompensate by using your arms too much. By widening your stance a little bit, you give yourself enough stability to use your upper body alongside your arms making the swing smoother and moreĀ through the ball.
One great tip to keep your body rotating with your arms is to have your right elbow “attached” to your hip alongside the swing.
What is a Golf Hook Shot?
A Golf hook, or a hook shot, is when the ball gets a left spin. It usually starts off straight until the spin takes control and pushes the golf ball to the left of where the intended target was. A hook is less common than the slice (when the ball spins to the right of the intended path) and is more common when you start moving down in the handicap ranking. A hook is usually a little bit easier to cure than a slice.
What causes a Golf Hook?
The usual suspect in what causes the ball to spin to the left is the impact of theĀ face of the club and the ball. The face is usually closed created from an inside out swing motion. Another thing that may cause the face of the club to be closed is using too much hands in the golf swing and not following through with the body/hip.
4. Lean to the right and tee up to the left when hitting your driver!
Another great tip to try to avoid to create the baseball like “inside-out” swing is the lean ever so slightly to the right with your hip keeping its place and balance. Remember that you should try to hit the ball fromĀ underneathĀ and by leaning to the right opens up space for you to do so. By opening up your swing path and hitting under the ball you may remove the low ball flight and thus reduce the risk of hitting those hooks.
Next thing you could try when hitting the driver is to tee up on theĀ inside of your left foot. This also reduces the risk of hitting the ball too closed and a little bit more open. A fair warning when teeing the ball more to your left is that if you keep coming in and hitting the ball with a closed clubface you will have trouble removing the hook.
5. Slow down the tempo of your swing – without losing speed!
The tempo of your swing and the speed of the golf club is two different things.Ā A lot of golfers, especially beginners, are in such a rush to start with the downswing that will create a lot of different problems. Just by easing down the tempo of your swing may fix troubles you’re having with the impact of the golf ball. As we are pointing out in our articleĀ 5 Easy Steps on how to Fix your Golf Slice, direction control is always more important than distance!
Say it with me:Ā āIt is more important to hit your drivers straight than hitting them longā
Once you get a hold of your grip, swing path and stance and you get your tee-shots in the middle of the fairway you can focus on adding distance.
What not to do to cure your Golf Hook
New technology allows us to do amazing things and golf clubs are just keep getting better and better, adding more length as well as being more forgiving. But to try to fix a fundamental problem such as a hook or a slice by adjusting i.e. the weights of your driver is (according to us) not the answer.
Of course, by small means, you could adjust the loft and the weights of your driver butĀ to address the problem in hand is by far the best long-term solution.
So, practice practice practice and good luck with fixing your hook!

TIGER WOODS WINS THE MASTER 2019
With which Driver? With what golf balls? Did he use his old Scotty Cameron?
Check all of that out here!
My name is Andrew and I have been playing golf since I was 5! I currently play on HCP 2 and I have been working as both PRO for many years where I have been instructing both junior golfers and more established and experienced golfers. I have been working part-time at a large Golf Shop where I have been in charge of purchasing and custom fitting.
My favorite item in the bag at the moment? My TaylorMade Spider X Putter, for sure.
I hope you enjoy my guides here at Pine Club Golf. Leave a comment or send me an e-mail at Andrew@pineclubgolf.com if there is something you want to ask!