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Which is worst hook/pull or slice/push?

wilwin

wilwin

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I have this debate with my friend and told him that it's better to miss (right handed golfer) right than left because the side spin keeps the the ball from going too far off. I also think if you slice, the ball flight is more predictable, whereas if you hook or pull the ball, you don't know if it's going 50 yards or 250 yards.

The irony is that when I started the game, I wished so badly that I could take the right side of the course out of play. Now, I fear hooking or pulling the ball more than I ever feared missing right.

When on the course and your shot is going one way, how do you go about fixing it? And what if you don't know if it's going right or left?
 
Coming from a guy who used to have a wicked slice and now has a wicked hook: They are both equally as awful.
 
It definitely depends on where you play. For instance Nicklaus courses prefer a miss to the right and usually have a bail out area there. Where as other courses are the exact opposite.

If you do not know which way you are going to miss, but at the same time know you are going to miss, I would not work on fixing it on the course, but rather with a lesson on the range.
 
Most of the courses I play now are dead if you hook and a slice is better. A right or left push is questionable, I would have to say a slice where I play. Of course, I draw the ball by nature, so I aim for a right push and hope to draw back to center.
 
Usually if I'm slicing it, I can play for it. When I'm pulling it left, I have no idea how far left it's going to go, so I say the pull is worse for me.
 
In the words of Lee Trevino, "You can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen".

A push, fade or outright slice is something that you can work with. But a hook is just a smothered shot with very little backspin and thus very little to work with. With a push/fade/slice, at least you're getting enough backspin to keep the ball airborne so even if you can't correct the direction, you can plan for the angles and aim accordingly and at least be able to move the ball downrange a decent amount to allow you to play most holes in a reasonable number of strokes.


-JP
 
id rather be a hooker... but thats what she said... j/k

it all depends on the course... my home course there is alot of woods on the right... and alot of trouble on the left... so whatever you prefer
 
All things being equal, I don't think it matters. It all depends on the course and which miss is the more forgiving error on the course, on the particular hole. If you hit a driver 200 yards with 30 yards of sideways (or any similar ratio that is equal on both sides), I don't think it makes a difference. If it isn't equal, pick the lesser of the two evils. I have seen (and hit) many on each side, one isn't any better than the other.

Being predictable with it is the big key.
 
i would say it depends upon the hole you are on at the time
 
A straight duck hook (what I have now) is probably the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life.
 
Hmmmm, both are pretty awful. I guess Id have to say slice is worse because it seems like I get more height with my slice shots, which causes them to go farther off line. I would agree though that it really depends upon the course and how its laid out.
 
a balance of draws and fades are needed at my home course. I'd say that a duck hook is worse than a slice, simply because a duck hook can go very short distances some times. Where a slice gives you some consistency to work with
 
I would take a slice any day over those nasty, nasty hooks. A slice still gives you distance, and if you have to hit out of trouble, you're still an approach shot away from the green. Hooks rarely leave me an opportunity to punch out and then go for the green. It's usually a punch, layup, and then approach shot. Both are really, really bad though...
 
Dent said:
A straight duck hook (what I have now) is probably the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem, and agreed.
 
sacul1573 said:
I would take a slice any day over those nasty, nasty hooks. A slice still gives you distance, and if you have to hit out of trouble, you're still an approach shot away from the green. Hooks rarely leave me an opportunity to punch out and then go for the green. It's usually a punch, layup, and then approach shot. Both are really, really bad though...
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I just got home from a lesson. The teaching pro seems to have fixed my chronic hook. He also thought a slice was better than a hook for the same reason.....more distance with a slice. Hooks tended to be knuckleballs with no distance.
 
i thought draws travel farther than fades... so wouldnt a hook go farther than a slice depending on the situation?
 
bogey_russ said:
i thought draws travel farther than fades... so wouldnt a hook go farther than a slice depending on the situation?
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I had the worst of slices, and now have the worst of hooks, and hooks go shorter than slices.
 
bogey_russ said:
i thought draws travel farther than fades... so wouldnt a hook go farther than a slice depending on the situation?
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I believe a draw, fade, and slice all have some element of backspin, hence keeping the ball airborne longer. A hook, however, has only sidespin, giving the ball no potential for additional loft.
 
bogey_russ said:
i thought draws travel farther than fades... so wouldnt a hook go farther than a slice depending on the situation?
Click to expand...

you would think so, but based on my experiences a duck hook goes much shorter than a slice
 
I think a push will go further then a slice, which goes further then a hook. My experience has been that slices, for me, tend to get up high, curve right and die.

I have hit a hook where the ball goes seemingly straight for 40 yards, about 6 feet off the ground, then it snaps 90* left into the woods. You'll never find those. I don't recall seeing a ball snap right like that when I hit it.

I was talking with the pro I get lessons from last night and he mentioned that true hooks are rare in his experience. Most people hit a pull hook and say they hooked it. A hook starts right and then goes way left. Pull hook starts left of target and curves further left. He also mentioned that guys that hit a hook consistently tend to have lower handicaps then the guy that slices all the time.

Most of my mishits are push hooks, with a weak fade and slice sometimes mixed in off the tee. I don't slice much from the fairway with my irons. Add a tee and I do at times, go figure.
 
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