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The dreaded snap hook: flipping the face shut at impact

GolfFest

GolfFest

#THCE18
Albatross 2024 Club
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It doesn't happen too often for me, but every round or two I've been hitting a snap hook off the tee. One where the ball will start out straight or sometimes even right and then curve violently to the left and dive towards the ground. When this happens I can often feel like my wrists are flipping or too active or something and before I look at the ball I already know where it is going to go.

I never ever get this feeling in my wrists on a practice shot and it isn't there on most shots even the ones I draw a little more than I'd like but every once in a while this killer snap hook shows up. Mostly with driver but not exclusive to that.

What is the root cause of this kind of thing? Is it a grip thing? Could it be something else in my swing and I flip the club face closed as the only way to make contact? For the most part I hit straight or a moderate curve to the left but this is still in my head off the tee.
 
path significantly open to face, and potentially not a ton of spin (at least that was my experience).

for the better part of 3 years this was all I hit with driver and I wanted to quit the game. lm results showed path as much as 10* open to target, face only 1-2* open to target and spin less than 2k. just a snapping duck hook that never went more than 200y and always left and unplayable.

the only way I fixed it was by practicing the pump drill, sometimes with a club stuck in the ground behind me at an angle to approximate a neutral plane. my spin has increased, but I enjoy the driving the golf ball now where I used to be deathly afraid of it.


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GolfFest said:
It doesn't happen too often for me, but every round or two I've been hitting a snap hook off the tee. One where the ball will start out straight or sometimes even right and then curve violently to the left and dive towards the ground. When this happens I can often feel like my wrists are flipping or too active or something and before I look at the ball I already know where it is going to go.

I never ever get this feeling in my wrists on a practice shot and it isn't there on most shots even the ones I draw a little more than I'd like but every once in a while this killer snap hook shows up. Mostly with driver but not exclusive to that.

What is the root cause of this kind of thing? Is it a grip thing? Could it be something else in my swing and I flip the club face closed as the only way to make contact? For the most part I hit straight or a moderate curve to the left but this is still in my head off the tee.
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If it's starting to the right or straight and turning that violently that would indicate a swing path issue more than a club face problem to me.
 
Wake said:
If it's starting to the right or straight and turning that violently that would indicate a swing path issue more than a club face problem to me.
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can't have one without the other. drastic curvature is due to a large delta between face and path. I do think you're correct that he has a very open path, but the face is very closed to the path at impact as well.
 
My standard miss is a shot that will go a little further right to left but end up near the left edge of the fairway. This I am fine with. I'm not fully sure if that is a face, path, or even a gear effect as my miss is towards the toe side and the percentage each plays in that I'm sure varies from shot to shot. Usually this shot ends up with a result that is still really good.

The one that is killer is the snap hook when that pops up. I can feel something going on in the wrists and know where the ball is going before I see it. That's the shot I am trying to figure out. It may be a path issue, but I can't figure out why I am flipping the club face closed at impact on those shots.
 
I get these on occasion during a round and sometimes have trouble stopping it.
Is this also a result of stopping hip rotation?
Usually slowing down and trying to get a pause in the backswing helps. That and concentrating on hitting with the back of the left hand.

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It sounds like the club is getting stuck behind you. This causes you to flip to square the club face. Keep the club in front of you throughout the swing and you will do away with the flip.
 
moosejaa said:
I get these on occasion during a round and sometimes have trouble stopping it.
Is this also a result of stopping hip rotation?
Usually slowing down and trying to get a pause in the backswing helps. That and concentrating on hitting with the back of the left hand.

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Interesting thought. I wonder if I am sliding my hips too much instead of turning them. I'd probably need video to tell. Hard part is I can't duplicate it on the range. One thing I do know is I have fewer problems when I have better tempo. I'll keep this in mind.
 
Tadashi70 said:
It sounds like the club is getting stuck behind you. This causes you to flip to square the club face. Keep the club in front of you throughout the swing and you will do away with the flip.
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Thanks. Is there anything that tends to cause the club getting stuck behind? Is it as simple as just keep the club in front of me? Any drill or things to work on that help with this?
 
GolfFest said:
Thanks. Is there anything that tends to cause the club getting stuck behind? Is it as simple as just keep the club in front of me? Any drill or things to work on that help with this?
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If you are too inside on the take away and/or down swing this cause the club to be behind you. I like the club to travel back straight from the ball and not too far inside. This ensures the club will stay out in front of you.
 
GolfFest said:
Thanks. Is there anything that tends to cause the club getting stuck behind? Is it as simple as just keep the club in front of me? Any drill or things to work on that help with this?
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Sometimes if I wind up my arms more than my body on the backswing I get stuck behind. Do you snap hook more the harder you try to hit the ball?
 
GolfFest said:
Interesting thought. I wonder if I am sliding my hips too much instead of turning them. I'd probably need video to tell. Hard part is I can't duplicate it on the range. One thing I do know is I have fewer problems when I have better tempo. I'll keep this in mind.
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Tempo is everything for me. If I get quick and snatch it from the top it causes me to come even more OTT with a closed clubface which I think causes the snap and pull hooks.

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Agree with this being the likely scenario. It happens to me once every couple of rounds. My culprit ... the thought process of: I'm going to put a little extra zip on it, which prompts getting a little quick, and ultimately results in a closed face pull.

My correction to focus on consistent tempo, and maintaining club path towards the hole rather than left field.

moosejaa said:
Tempo is everything for me. If I get quick and snatch it from the top it causes me to come even more OTT with a closed clubface which I think causes the snap and pull hooks.

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Yeah, this stupid shot can nail me when I get too inside with just about any club. My normal swing path is a little inside but not wildly so - it can get out of hand when I really try to kill it.

One thing I've done lately which has had decent results is to address the ball with a slightly open face at address. Since I know that I come a little from the inside, this reduces the delta between my club path and club face and usually gives me a straight shot to slight draw.
 
To go along with what others are saying here, I had a lesson Friday that addressed this very issue. For me, as an "older gentleman", I have to work on getting my left hip to rotate/clear, especially when I begin to get tired.

For me it can show up as a big block out to the right on one hole, which is almost immediately followed by a quacker off to the left on the next hole:(

As SkiBum said however, if I set up with the face slightly open, at the very least it reminds me to rotate through the shot.
 
bodog said:
To go along with what others are saying here, I had a lesson Friday that addressed this very issue. For me, as an "older gentleman", I have to work on getting my left hip to rotate/clear, especially when I begin to get tired.

For me it can show up as a big block out to the right on one hole, which is almost immediately followed by a quacker off to the left on the next hole:(

As SkiBum said however, if I set up with the face slightly open, at the very least it reminds me to rotate through the shot.
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Haha yup, bolded is me too! I'm getting more in tune with what causes it though, so I'm hoping I'll be able to control it a little better going forward.
 
Tadashi completely nailed it. I went to the range today and got out the alignment rod and focused on the start of the backswing making sure it was straight back and not too inside. The snap hook/wrsit flip wasn't there at all.

Tempo is still something I need to work on. Bad things happen when I get too quick. I think a slower tempo helps me keep the club in front of me as well.

SkiBumGolfer said:
One thing I've done lately which has had decent results is to address the ball with a slightly open face at address. Since I know that I come a little from the inside, this reduces the delta between my club path and club face and usually gives me a straight shot to slight draw.
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Yeah I think a slightly open face at address helps me too. I don't fear the right side of the course and I feel a little more confident with it a little open as well.
 
Freddie I don't think us hackers can say thank you enough for the time you take to help us. Tee game nearly was perfect today, I haven't had much issue with the snap hook since I have been working on this.
 
GolfFest said:
Freddie I don't think us hackers can say thank you enough for the time you take to help us. Tee game nearly was perfect today, I haven't had much issue with the snap hook since I have been working on this.
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Thats awesome! I have the same issue of getting way too inside. I'm going to work on that during todays round and hope to have the same results you experienced.

Great thread!
 
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