Struggling with a new to me HOOK and unable to correct.

-CJ-

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Let's preface with, I have an lesson scheduled in 3 weeks he is booked then out of town also so that's as soon as I can get. Until then I need some help from you all.

I used to be a 5-7 yard offline fade with occasional straight pulls to the left sprinkled in. Which I was okay with as it was constant and if a slice slipped in once and a while I slowed my swing down and was back to normal. Then I recently got a case of the FAT to Super-FAT shots, went to a pro and took the first 2 lesson in my life. The fat shots went a way and my fade turned straight or 2-3 yards off. I ended up playing some great golf for 2 months (besides the horrible putting).

Then BAMMMM, on the 5th hole while playing with some fellow THP'ers I just slowly started hooking and over drawing all my long clubs and pulling my short ones. Then each subsequent round it has gotten worse and while trying to adjust/correct I have lost the good contact feel and have been hitting thin and fat added with the horrible hook. I just can't get a comfortable swing any more, the timing, tempo, and contact just feel so so so off. Nothing feels smooth anymore. The swing is a mess, it has the feeling of being forced and hacking at the ball.

My plan was last night to go to the range and video the swing to post, but with all the extra range time trying to solve it, bunch of extra pitching to our baseball team for the playoffs and champonship, 2 longer than normal bike rides, plus raking up extra yard work I ended up tweaking my back near my right shoulder blade. It keeps cramping up, so I need a few days off from everything.

When I am off the mend, is there something that I can try to get get rid of the hook?

What I have tried and its results;

On course
1. Changed the grip to a weak grip - saw no change and didnt have clean contact.
2. Played the over draw by aiming right - that seems to end mostly with a snap hook and 3 or 2 straight shots that end up going exactly where I aimed...OUT OF BOUNDS to the right.
3. Slow swings - seems to exaggerate the hook
4. Purposely trying to hit a fade - always ends up a slice OUT OF BOUNDS
5. Open the face at set up - Hosel it and yell fore or ends up fat and shoots out right yell for again.

On Range
1. Full 30 minutes with easy 1/2 swings with 7i and went home - Straight'ish shots and good contact
2. Next day 30 minutes 3/4 swings normal tempo 9i and 6i - Draws to hooks, felt rigid and contact was not good. Played 18 next day same horrible results
3. Range session of 1 hour 7i and PW. 15 minutes of 1/2 swings (clean contact straight with a bit of fade, 10 min of 3/4 (hook hook more hook), Tried the rest of the session with full swings but for some reason setting up with my hands lower than normal. - Seemed to work was able to hit straight, hit a draw when I wanted, hit a fade when I wanted. I was feeling great. Played 9 a few days later HOOK CITY, and the low hands set up caused so many fat shots its was just a hackfest.
4. Range 1 hour with GW, 9i and 6i, too many balls. Just cared nothing about ball flight just tried to work on good ball contact. No thoughts or pre-planned adjustments just slap that ball clean and keep slapping it clean. - Played 18 the next day, was hitting it thin on 90% of shots. Good news was that 8i and lower were deadnutz straight, thin but straight. Driver thru 7i were just over drawing, only one hook with the 5wood. Bad news upper back and right arm out of commission.

Also early into catching a case of the hooks I took 10 days off from even touching a club to see if it would magically disappear.
 
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Anytime I've started this - the Take Deep Breath and Swing Nice & Easy step always helps me.

Have you tried a different club just to see if anything changes? I know it's not good to blame the equipment at all, but I didn't know if a fresh face might help you.
 
Have you tried a different club just to see if anything changes? I know it's not good to blame the equipment at all, but I didn't know if a fresh face might help you.

I would love to blame the clubs, and buy new ones. It has been happening on wedge all the way thru driver.

I would love to even blame the ball, cut it open then post it on instagram, but lost many of them in the left side woods.
 
I would love to blame the clubs, and buy new ones. It has been happening on wedge all the way thru driver.

I would love to even blame the ball, cut it open then post it on instagram, but lost many of them in the left side woods.

Sorry I don't have any good answers, but I hope you figure it out. To be honest the rest you're getting might even help. Sometimes just stepping away for awhile is a good thing. Best of luck.
 
I was in similar boat as you are. I always been a “fader”but one day I became a hooker/puller. Tried changing my clubs, slowing down, try to hit a slice. Some seems to work but none was reliable fix.

Past several session I’ve been working on swinging with my body with less hand and arm action. Feeling of compressing the ball with my body instead trying to using the hands which caused flips. Seems working well so far. It’s still in working process. I think I developed the habit when my body was weak and tired and it needed help from my hand to get that distance I’ve lost. These days I don’t goto range when I am tired or have any body aches. I like hitting range ball. Sometimes I hit too many even when I am dead tired.
I’m no elite golfer so take it as personal experience. Good luck fixing the hook. It’s nasty.


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This is going to sound strange, but my pro had me switch to a slightly stronger grip because I was hitting too far left. It makes no sense other than he felt I was doing things to compensate for my weaker grip. He had me let my arms hang naturally and note my hands and place the club in my lead hand and go from there. Maybe something worth trying on the range?

I am no pro or scratch golfer, but it felt like the more I tried to correct the overdraw, the worse it was getting. I tried weakening grip, aiming farther right, moving ball position back.

Changing my grip, and it was a very minor change, straightened me out. There were things with the swing as well, so I am sure that is not the only thing that helped. I just wanted to share because the grip change was opposite of what I thought I needed to do.


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My usual suspect for this is that I am not starting my downswing by firing my hips. That allows my hands to get ahead of everything else and that results in a pull hook like you are seeing. Starting the downswing with your hips puts the hands back in their proper place.
 
I think that is going to be a hard call on someone to give advice without seeing what is happening. I know when I do it generally its one of two things. I am either too handsy at impact and just turning over the club face and shutting it down way to hard or my timing is off. Timing being off is the usually culprit and I find that happens a lot when I start swinging too hard. My hands/arms get to fast for the body and get ahead and boom off to the left she goes. It is possible that might be your issue as well if you are not having problems with your half and 3/4 easy swings. Sounds like the timing may be there then but once you try to put the full bore on it, you may just be getting enough ahead that its happening. I typically just focus on keeping my hands nice and loose and going for a more effortless swing when its happening and get that timing and feel back with my full swings and then try to work in a bit more speed if I feel I have lost too much.
 
Sounds like you're coming over the top, and have been for some time.

Start the down swing with the lower body.
 
Hmmm, you guys are thinking Handsy. You know what that might be spot on, I noticed was getting a bit flippy based on the follow through.

So work on the sync, work on hips first and let the hands go for the ride?
 
Hmmm, you guys are thinking Handsy. You know what that might be spot on, I noticed was getting a bit flippy based on the follow through.

So work on the sync, work on hips first and let the hands go for the ride?

Yep, that sounds about right.
 
My occasional hooks and pulls are usually a result of my upper body getting ahead of my lower body. If I fail to start the downswing with hips and torso, or they’re late (sequence or tempo), then my upper body gets too far ahead and this shuts the clubface.

Get an Orange Whip, swing it about 100 times and re-groove your sequence.
 
Sometimes it can be as simple an issue such as alignment and ball position. I cannot imagine that your swing mechanics have suddenly started changing unless you are using 'internal focus' on body parts and positions. Try swinging with an intent on achieving a desired task and forget the mechanics. Swing the clubface over an intermediate target and ensure your swing matches your 'pictured' and 'achievable' intent.

The above is not based on some magical opinion but on scientific research which has identified 'external focus' being superior to 'internal focus' (ie. focusing on body positions and body parts). Give it a go , but I can tell you now it's not easy to change your mindset when standing over a ball (taken me a few years but I still sometimes default to internal focus).

PS. I only play about 10 times a year and have stopped going to the practice range . All I do now at home is practice short chips with foam balls in my corridor, mainly training my brain to focus and picture on an 'intent'. So the proof is in my scores .

Not played or gone to the range or done a full swing since last Sept 2018
10 weeks ago - first game - 85
4 weeks ago - 2nd game - 87
2 weeks ago - 3rd game - 89
1 week ago - 4th game - 86

I can tell you now that those scores above should be 6 shots better because my focus when putting is so 'internally ' focused (need to sort that out).
 
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Played yesterday, my normal playing partner who has seen me swing enough to pick my swing out in seconds in a police line up, confirmed I am all out of sequence.

He pointed out that the hips and shoulders are firing at the same time and my right foot is coming up way too early. Which results in a flip of the hands to get the club face squared.

So it looks like I have a plan of practice until my next lesson, get the hips moving before everything else.
 
Thank you all for your advise and ideas. Will let you know if it gets sorted out.
 
Struggling with a new to me HOOK and unable to correct.

Are you getting stuck? I started doing this a few weeks ago. Remember how when you were a kid you could put a quarter on your elbow, and catch it by swinging your arm straight down. Try doing that in your down swing. It’s going to make you cut across the ball, but if you are getting caught behind your body it will fix the problem.


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Are you getting stuck? I started doing this a few weeks ago. Remember how when you were a kid you could put a quarter on your elbow, and catch it by swinging your arm straight down. Try doing that in your down swing. It’s going to make you cut across the ball, but if you are getting caught behind your body it will fix the problem.


Thank you, I will try that at the range next time.
 
Thank you, I will try that at the range next time.

Take a look at video. Are you hips staying square at impact. Took lessons recently and this was pointed out as my source for hooks. Try a pause at the top and start the downswing with your hips first.
 
I'm hooking every drive, fairway wood, and hybrid. It's really bad to the point I'm struggling to have fun.
 
Take a look at video. Are you hips staying square at impact. Took lessons recently and this was pointed out as my source for hooks. Try a pause at the top and start the downswing with your hips first.

I took a week off and played yesterday, for some reason I can't stop from just over turning the whole body at the same time? Hips are open at impact, but the shoulders are going at the same time too and I am sliding forward, all of which is causing a hard flip with the hands to catch up the club head.

My brain wont let me separate the motions?????? Practice swing 2 times in slow motion feels good, looks good. I get up to the ball and hit and its a totally different person. It feels so awkward and unnatural. Contact is just brutally bad.

I played the back nine only doing half swings on all shots, just so the hook wouldn't go that far off line. It was that bad on a full swing if I aimed OB right I still would hook it OB left. I will try your pause tip tonight, I am hitting the range every night this week, I WILL TRY ANYTHING AT THIS POINT! Its so bad I hooked a 9 Iron OB? I LOST 8 BALLS! I had to borrow 2 from a buddy and only gave him 1 back.
 
I'm hooking every drive, fairway wood, and hybrid. It's really bad to the point I'm struggling to have fun.

I feel ya, I was ready to walk off at hole 11 yesterday.
 
I feel ya, I was ready to walk off at hole 11 yesterday.

I played 18 and hit 1 hook but it wasn't a snap, more of a pull. I hit my driver better than ever...go figure.
 
Try the mirror-slo motion swings, no ball, really concentrate on set up, alignment, starting that downturn with the hips.

or against the wall, no club. No up and down, no sliding

Watching where the ball goes, doesn't help me practice swing.

Do it outside, find where the club is bottoming out...I discovered I didn't have the ball far enough back in my stance. My big miss was a chunk, hitting the ground first.

Good luck
 
Hmmm, you guys are thinking Handsy. You know what that might be spot on, I noticed was getting a bit flippy based on the follow through.

So work on the sync, work on hips first and let the hands go for the ride?

One thing I would watch for is your ball position. Sounds like its a tad bit too far up on all of your clubs.
Hooks, fat shots and thin shots can come from this pretty easily. I would bet you topped a few during that bad round of 18.
 
I took a week off and played yesterday, for some reason I can't stop from just over turning the whole body at the same time? Hips are open at impact, but the shoulders are going at the same time too and I am sliding forward, all of which is causing a hard flip with the hands to catch up the club head.

My brain wont let me separate the motions?????? Practice swing 2 times in slow motion feels good, looks good. I get up to the ball and hit and its a totally different person. It feels so awkward and unnatural. Contact is just brutally bad.

I played the back nine only doing half swings on all shots, just so the hook wouldn't go that far off line. It was that bad on a full swing if I aimed OB right I still would hook it OB left. I will try your pause tip tonight, I am hitting the range every night this week, I WILL TRY ANYTHING AT THIS POINT! Its so bad I hooked a 9 Iron OB? I LOST 8 BALLS! I had to borrow 2 from a buddy and only gave him 1 back.

I'm struggling with the same thing.You are probably getting anxious and rushing down to the ball and not starting the downswing with your hips. I'm not doing several things. I'm coming outside-in with an open club face. I think most of it is my setup. On days when my setup it nice, it goes well, but I have a tendency to set up closed and take the club outside.
 
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