If you’re a right-handed golfer, a hook is technically defined as a golf shot that starts right of the target, then curves excessively to the left. A pull-hook starts left of the target and curves even farther left. For a left-handed golfer, hooks curve to the right. But no matter which way you swing the club, constant hooks can make you crazy, in no small part because they generally turn hard and always seem to roll out forever (or until they’re stopped by a tree). And regardless of what tips you find scrolling the internet, there is no one-size-fits-all way to fix your hook.
If you hit a lot of hooks, science says you’re swinging too much from the inside out. This leaves your club face closed to the direction you’re swinging at impact, which produces a lot of spin and curve to the left. But what are you as an individual golfer doing to create this path with your swing? The easiest and most impactful way to assess that and fix your hook is to upload a video to Mustard Golf. The AI tool I’ve helped create will identify your specific causes and help you decide what to work on first. But, let’s talk about five possible swing issues that could be causing your hook.
1. Grip
If a right-handed golfer has a strong golf grip, the Vs formed by the thumbs and index fingers are to the right side of the club and you can see three or more knuckles on your left hand. When your grip is too strong, it can be hard to square the club face and you will be prone to a closed face at impact. If you weaken your grip, it will promote a more neutral swing. It will also help open the club face through impact, producing shots that fly straighter. It is worth noting that you don’t need to exaggerate this. A small change in grip can have a big impact on ball flight and can help fix your hook.
2. Alignment
How you aim your body and club during your set-up has a huge impact on the shape of your shots. Lining up too far right of the target can produce a hook or a push, but so can lining up too far left. If your body is aligned to the right at address, your swing path into impact will tend to be too much from the inside with the clubface closed to that path. That’s a hook every time. If the face starts closed at address—pointed to the left—even a straight swing path will produce a closed face at impact. Combine that with a swing that’s coming from way inside, and the hook gets worse.
3. Ball Position
If you want to fix your hook, you must be mindful of ball position. If you position the ball too far back in your stance, it can cause a swing path that is too far in-to-out. This causes the club face to be too closed to the path at impact. If this is you, move the ball up slightly in your stance. Try inside the left heel with the driver and in the middle of your stance with your irons.
4. Hand Position in Backswing
A swing that comes too far from the inside out is a likely cause of a hook. In Mustard Golf terms, this could be caused by having your hands too far out on the backswing or too far in on the downswing. Both of these swing flaws would cause an in-to-out path and a closed clubface at impact. Another way to think about this is when a right-handed golfer swings too far to the right, it will likely produce a hook. It’s counterintuitive, but you want to swing left to make the ball curve to the right. Essentially, the ball tends to curve in the opposite direction in which you’re swinging. So, if you struggle with a hook, you want to feel like you’re swinging straighter down the target line, or more from the outside-in. You could even think about swinging more to the left to lessen the chance of the face being closed to the path—the cause of a hook.
5. Early Extension
If your hips thrust toward – or move closer to – the golf ball during your downswing, you’re an early extender. When you crowd the golf ball, the club tends to drop behind you and you have to throw your hands back out in front to make contact. This results in an excessively inside-out swing. You’ll know whether or not you do this from your report card in the Mustard Golf app. As I said earlier, the more the path comes from the inside, the better the chance of the face being closed to the path, which leads to more hooks. To remedy this, think about moving the chest down and the tailbone back to create more space between your body and the ball. That will get the club traveling straighter into the ball. You won’t have to throw your hands and you should get a more neutral shot.
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