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Art M

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if my life depended on hitting a predictable ball flight with the driver and woods i would not be alive to post this. Within the last couple months ,I can not, emphasis on not, stop snap hooking the ball. my iron play, however is close to dead nuts. I tried changes to my grip, stance, ball position, etc. i do realize the balls movement is a result of club face to path. really is quite embarrassing and frustrating. motorcycling season can't come fast enough, lol If you have ever gotten stuck in this rut, did you get out and how?
 
I naturally have a draw, hook and can send them into orbit moving left then further left. I fixed it with a suggestion from @BigDill and maybe one or two others, who suggested I try a similar flex shaft that was bit heavier. I did and the issue seemed to mostly resolve itself. If you use a 50 gram shaft (as I did with my also slowish swing), maybe you can bump into the 60s.
 
I have never had this problem but I totally get how frustrating that has to be.
 
I have had a two way miss for the past few years. This year I seem to have eliminated the lefties by focusing on keeping my right arm above my left arm in the takeaway (thinking of turning the steering wheel to the left instead of the right) . My ball flight has changed to a fade with this takeaway. Still too early to say if this is permanent but for now it seems to have kept the left side out of play.
 
JW Smoove said:
I naturally have a draw, hook and can send them into orbit moving left then further left. I fixed it with a suggestion from @BigDill and maybe one or two others, who suggested I try a similar flex shaft that was bit heavier. I did and the issue seemed to mostly resolve itself. If you use a 50 gram shaft (as I did with my also slowish swing), maybe you can bump into the 60s.
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already there, 80s, i mean sledgehammer is the next stop
 
Steve2100 said:
I have had a two way miss for the past few years. This year I seem to have eliminated the lefties by focusing on keeping my right arm above my left arm in the takeaway (thinking of turning the steering wheel to the left instead of the right) . My ball flight has changed to a fade with this takeaway. Still too early to say if this is permanent but for now it seems to have kept the left side out of play.
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as a rightie i think if my right arm is higher than my left, I am closing the face
 
Art M said:
as a rightie i think if my right arm is higher than my left, I am closing the face
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Somehow for my swing it fades🤷‍♂️
 
I had a 4-year bout with snap hooks (with the occasional flare out right when I felt myself coming OTT). Changing to a full-time fade was the thing that changed my whole world, and eventually, I got to where I can move the ball either way with confidence.
 
As a righty with a two way miss. When I am snap hooking it, I am swinging too much around the body and not feeling the stretch in my left side at impact.
 
Serial hookers need to keep the left side of their face to the right of the ball and their left shoulder returning through it's address position at impact. Think of this at address and during the backswing on every shot until it becomes habit.
 
Yes, changes to club delivery can be a big part of taming a hook. No doubt working with a coach and making set up or swing changes are definitely worthwhile to pursue.

But, probably the majority of amateur golfers are fighting a slice and a lot of the golf equipment that is made is designed to help them. If you are playing with equipment designed to counteract a slice it may be contributing to your hook.

Agree with @JW Smoove, heavier and stiffer shafts have helped me to tame my hook into a draw. Especially shafts with a bend profile that emphasizes a stiff tip.

Some people mainly equate torque with feel but personally I’ve found that shafts with lower torque also help me tame the hook.

I try to avoid any clubs with offset and generally lean towards clubs, especially hybrids, with a flat face or built in fade bias.

Other things that have helped me: flatter lie angles, adjustable weights in a neutral or fade setting, adjustable hosels in a stronger loft setting to open the club face.

Getting fit for clubs is a very helpful process to identify whether an equipment change will yield results or whether a change to the way you deliver the club to the ball might need to be addressed.

Good luck and best wishes for success in golf.
 
Went through this for awhile. One round in particular was brutal. I went into the pro shop to get a bucket to try and work it out. The Pro was in there and I mentioned I had a terrible case of the quacks. She 'suggested' that I don't move the ball back or try TOO hard to come from inside (that might make it worse as your hands try and compensate). She just said, on the downswing try to WATCH the driver hit the ball at that "4 o'click-ish" spot on the ball BELOW the equator.
Now - to do THAT, you need to keep your head back and lower. It appears I was getting way ahead of the club and trying to 'hands' the club through. But this meant I was coming from the outside and closing the face way too soon. Thus- 150mph dead left and hooking further left. She did say "Don't keep your hips back, just your head".

If you watch of these tour guys, it's like they're leaving their heads on the previous green, they get so far behind it.

Out to the range and gave it a go and sliced it something awful. "At least it isn't a hook, anyway..." It took a little while to get the path, clubhead and my head in the right place. But eventually, things straightened out a bit and had some control. Focusing and trying keep your eyes open to watch the impact really did seem to make a difference.

Or- maybe you could go with 'JUMBO' grips on the driver. Might reduce the rotation of those quick hands through impact.

Remembering the old adage from back in the day- Thin grips draw, thick grips fade.. <shrug>
 
I had such a bad case of the snap hooks at one point that I walked off the course after 12 holes and probably at least a dozen lost balls, pissed off and ready to quit golf. Scheduled my first and only lesson that day. That coach i think put a quick fix bandaid on my swing that I think messed me up for years to come. I look back now and I think I was coming over the top but with closed hands.
Anyway, fast forward to today, the 2 things that have helped me, if not solve at leas slow the snap hook, are 1. lots of work with the orange whip. Getting my tempo under control has really helped. It also seems to put me on a better swing plane. 2. I put one of those stupid jumbomax grips on my to slow the rotation of my hands. It actually worked. Now the swing that used to produce the huge snap hook just gives me a pull draw.
 
When I occasionally hook a ball, it's because my right hand is a bit too active, rather than passive.
 
Couple of thoughts,

See an instructor. Hooks are caused by like 3 things but figuring out EXACTLY what's happening & the fix needs someone that can accurately help you tame them.
If there's no instructors around, read Hogan's Five Lessons. That book's only purpose is to not see the left side of the course.
Here's the bad news, hooks are like herpes. Everything is fine & then with no warning whatsoever, you've got an outbreak. No warning, not tell tell sign, just wake up & there it is.
 
Get a Taylormade driver -- they always slice for me.. :eek:(y):eek:(y)
 
My mishit was always a slice. I was a fader of all my clubs for years. slowly i got to where i had made progress to eliminate that slice and draw the ball naturally. then it started with the 3 wood. i just stopped playing it. slowly the hook creeped into the driver. thinking the path was the issue i found myself coming way inside with the woods only to perpetuate the hook. now, even if i open my stance, body, and grip i still hook the damn ball. And another sign that something is terribly off, my right side/hip is aching after playing a bit.
 
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very close to solved, simply too. i was setting up with the ball too far away at address with the woods, i had "too much" room to attack from the inside. I moved about 2 inches closer and voila. I'm not satisfied with the 3 and 5 wood totally as it is too easy for me to go from a sweet draw to oitw. thanks for the thoughts
 
Couple of questiosn. You stand with a closed, neutral, or open stance? How is your grip? Strong/weak? Generally speaking when I get a case of the hard lefts, its because either ( or both )

a) My path is to inside out for my face angle which will snap it all day long based on my strong grip ( ficxed by stance and by takeaway )
b) My ball position causes me to snap/roll my wrists at impact , usually caused by to far away or to closed of a stance for my swing path ( move ball in and/or open the stance )

Strange as it is, right now, I control my ball flight by changing my stance. A slightly open stance helps neutralize the in to out against target line which delivers a straighter ball flight without changing swing plane stuff. A slightly closed or square encourages the draw. A more open stance allows a baby fade.
 
Tevenor said:
Couple of questiosn. You stand with a closed, neutral, or open stance? How is your grip? Strong/weak? Generally speaking when I get a case of the hard lefts, its because either ( or both )

a) My path is to inside out for my face angle which will snap it all day long based on my strong grip ( ficxed by stance and by takeaway )
b) My ball position causes me to snap/roll my wrists at impact , usually caused by to far away or to closed of a stance for my swing path ( move ball in and/or open the stance )

Strange as it is, right now, I control my ball flight by changing my stance. A slightly open stance helps neutralize the in to out against target line which delivers a straighter ball flight without changing swing plane stuff. A slightly closed or square encourages the draw. A more open stance allows a baby fade.
Click to expand...

My stance is likely to be slightly closed to neutral with my irons, neutral with the woods. my grip is neutral with my irons, can be slightly weak with the woods.
 
Art M said:
My stance is likely to be slightly closed to neutral with my irons, neutral with the woods. my grip is neutral with my irons, can be slightly weak with the woods.
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Without numbers from a sim, its just guessing but try opening your stance ( heel, not toe ) for the driver and see how that impacts direction and shape. Align face to target.

If you do have numbers from the sim, be interested to see what your path and face angles are.
 
Tevenor said:
Couple of questiosn. You stand with a closed, neutral, or open stance? How is your grip? Strong/weak? Generally speaking when I get a case of the hard lefts, its because either ( or both )

a) My path is to inside out for my face angle which will snap it all day long based on my strong grip ( ficxed by stance and by takeaway )
b) My ball position causes me to snap/roll my wrists at impact , usually caused by to far away or to closed of a stance for my swing path ( move ball in and/or open the stance )

Strange as it is, right now, I control my ball flight by changing my stance. A slightly open stance helps neutralize the in to out against target line which delivers a straighter ball flight without changing swing plane stuff. A slightly closed or square encourages the draw. A more open stance allows a baby fade.
Click to expand...

I was having trouble fighting a hook last season and did a quick video lesson with a trusted instructor who pointed out that my setup had crept to being way too closed which didn't allow me to really turn enough and forced a snap of the wrist to hit the ball which go over done to a hook. When fighting something definitely try to start with the basics like setup and grip to double check that is okay before changing the swing.
 
Try hitting the driver and woods as smooth as you can, do not chase the distance. Put the ball little forward than usual ..
 
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