The hook is a horrible shot in golf that causes the ball to curve viciously to the left, often resulting in a lost ball. If you are missing the target because of a hook shot, then you won’t be able to achieve a low golf score and that could hurt your chances of winning the round. Therefore, it’s critical that you work to prevent this from happening.
In this article we will look at some of the things that are causing your golf shot to go left and discuss a few tips that will help you fix this.
With that said, here are a 5 reasons why your golf shots are going left:
- You are gripping the club too strong
- Clubface is pointing downwards in the backswing
- You are over-rotating the clubface as you bow your wrists
- You have the wrong body alignment
- You’re not swinging across the ball
Table of Contents
1. You Are Gripping The Club Too Strong
How you hold the golf club will determine the control of the clubface, thus the direction the ball will fly at impact. Players who typically hook the golf ball (curving it to the left-hand side) will grip the golf club too strong. They will have their top hand too far over the top of the grip, while the bottom hand is too far underneath the grip.
Someone who hooks the ball grips too strong
A strong grip like the one shown above will cause the clubface to turn too much to the left. Therefore, if you want to stop the ball from going left, then you need to weaken the grip.
In order to weaken the grip, the strap on the glove of your top hand (left hand) should face more to the target, whereas the bottom hand should sit more on top of the club as opposed to underneath.
Weaker grip to fix a hook
Once you make this adjustment in your grip, you may find that your shot goes straight right. Not to worry, this is a good indication that you are on the right path. The next 4 tips we have on the list will help you hit it straighter.
2. Clubface Is Pointing Downwards In The Backswing
The takeaway is the first phase of your golf swing where you lift the club away from its address position behind the ball until it is parallel to the ground. Players who curve the their golf shot too far left will typically have the clubface pointing too downwards, thus causing the clubface to be in a closed position.
Players that hook the ball will bow their wrist too much at the top of the backswing, and that also results in a closed clubface position. When this happens, you as the golfer may desperately try to swing it off to the right and that combination may cause the hook.
Therefore, if you want to fix the hook, you should look at changing the clubface direction in the takeway and at the top of the backswing.
So how do you fix this?
First, you want to make sure that the toe of the clubface is slightly in front of the heel as you perform the backswing.
A golfer who has the clubface closed might feel like they are almost opening the clubface or feel like they have the clubface aiming up to the sky.
At the very top of the golf swing, the wrist and forearm should be much straighter with each other as opposed to bending the wrist angle too much.
Once you get the correct clubface control, you will not hook the ball.
3. Clubface Control Through The Ball
Golfers who hook the ball are usually over-rotating the clubface through the ball too agressively. Often, such player will use their hands and wrists too much when swinging the club, causing the clubface to close as they come to hit the shot.
As you are coming through the shot, your arms should be fully extended through the shot with very little wrist rotation but a little bit of forearm rotation.
Your right forearm should cross over your left forearm just slightly. This will allow you not to close down the clubface.
wrist and forearm are straight
4. Wrong Body Alignment
Out of all 5 points on our list, this could be the most important in fixing the hook. Players who hit the golf ball to the left tend to have the wrong body alignment. But if you have gotten this far by following the last 3 tips, then you may have unconsciously aligned your body correctly.
To get the ball going straight if you are a hooker, you should feel like your body is more open through the shot. Follow these steps to get the right body alignment:
- Stand up behind the ball
- Pick a point that is in line with the fairway as a point of reference.
- Get your body aligned left of the target line, this includes your feet, knees, hips and shoulders. You should feel like they are all pointing down to the left handside of the fairway.
- The clubhead should be pointing down the target.
The image below depicts this idea:
5. Wrong Swing Path Through The Ball
Our last and final point is the swing path as you hit through the golf ball. This is the path or direction the club travels through the hitting area to strike the ball. There is a simple drill you can practice to help you get the right swing path.
Find a soft object like a head cover and place it approximately 12 inches inside your line. This will allow you to get a more straight swing path down the target line as you try to avoid the object. Your swing direction should be more across the ball from outside to inside.
If you can incorporate all 5 shot ingredients from weaker grip, clubface control, proper body alignment and swing path, you will definitely stop hitting the ball left!
