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Slice now a hook!

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diw1515

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Hi guys, started playing semi seriously a few weeks ago after being a twice annual player for the last few years.

Started doing a bit of reading on how to play the game and very quickly realised I wasn't even holding the club or standing in remotely the right position!

Anyway, initially, like many others, I had a wicked slice which got worse the longer the club I had in my hand although I put that down to completely altering my grip and just get used to changing my stance. Fast forward a few weeks and quite a few rounds, I now seem to have developed a wicked hook. Again, it gets much worse the longer the club in my hand. From 7 iron down I am absolutely fine but with 4 iron and driver it's a nightmare.

Any ideas on why my slice/hook gets worse with longe clubs and how I have graduated from a slice to a hook? I know for sure my grip should be more neutral, I have my right hand almost on the back of the club.

I will hooefully post a video very soon
 
When I start hooking my instructor has me change my grip a little by getting my right hand more towards the top of the grip. I haven't mastered it yet completely but he says it will take time of finding the two extremes, slice and hook, and then adjusting my grip and swing path to be able to control the ball flight. When I find myself slicing I take a much stronger grip then dial it back a little until I can keep the ball straight. It is always a work in progress for me.
 
ForeOnFour said:
When I start hooking my instructor has me change my grip a little by getting my right hand more towards the top of the grip. I haven't mastered it yet completely but he says it will take time of finding the two extremes, slice and hook, and then adjusting my grip and swing path to be able to control the ball flight. When I find myself slicing I take a much stronger grip then dial it back a little until I can keep the ball straight. It is always a work in progress for me.
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If the right hand is higher in the grip, you will hook it more unless you have the club face open at address.
 
diw1515 said:
Hi guys, started playing semi seriously a few weeks ago after being a twice annual player for the last few years.

Started doing a bit of reading on how to play the game and very quickly realised I wasn't even holding the club or standing in remotely the right position!

Anyway, initially, like many others, I had a wicked slice which got worse the longer the club I had in my hand although I put that down to completely altering my grip and just get used to changing my stance. Fast forward a few weeks and quite a few rounds, I now seem to have developed a wicked hook. Again, it gets much worse the longer the club in my hand. From 7 iron down I am absolutely fine but with 4 iron and driver it's a nightmare.

Any ideas on why my slice/hook gets worse with longe clubs and how I have graduated from a slice to a hook? I know for sure my grip should be more neutral, I have my right hand almost on the back of the club.

I will hooefully post a video very soon
Click to expand...
If you are a slicer of the ball then you are one that more than likely comes over the top and may get out in front of the ball. Thereby leaving the club face open at impact as the club moves left.

If you have started hooking the ball then you are still over the top.but b have stopped the hips from rotating. This allow the club to close as it moves left, creating the hook.

With out seeing your swing I'm going to take some leaps. I'm betting your back leg straightens during your back swing. The club moves back inside and the hands toss it out them down. Spine angle goes away as the ckub clears the zone. Leaving the fave open. You've tried of the slice and now shut the fave hard and stop the hips.
 
Tadashi70 said:
If the right hand is higher in the grip, you will hook it more unless you have the club face open at address.
Click to expand...

do you think he means weakening the right hand? like having the "v" of his right hand pointing more at his chin than at his right shoulder?
 
caeleric said:
do you think he means weakening the right hand? like having the "v" of his right hand pointing more at his chin than at his right shoulder?
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Really doesn't matter, the more the right hand creeps up te more a hook will be exposed
 
caeleric said:
do you think he means weakening the right hand? like having the "v" of his right hand pointing more at his chin than at his right shoulder?
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yes I had that backwards. Hard to do it right when I can't even say it right :banghead:
 
The slice and hook are normally worse on longer clubs due to more side spin.
 
As usual freddie is on point. Slice and hook is both result of over the top swing normally. Face is open on the slice, closed on the hook
 
Tadashi70 said:
If the right hand is higher in the grip, you will hook it more unless you have the club face open at address.
Click to expand...
What exactly do you mean higher in the grip? Just trying to understand.
 
Tadashi70 said:
If you are a slicer of the ball then you are one that more than likely comes over the top and may get out in front of the ball. Thereby leaving the club face open at impact as the club moves left.

If you have started hooking the ball then you are still over the top.but b have stopped the hips from rotating. This allow the club to close as it moves left, creating the hook.
Click to expand...

I did not realize this. This OTT issue seems to lurk everywhere. If I find myself on the hooking train again, I'll at least know what is going on.
 
I've always had OTT issues with both misses but lately the pull hooks are taking over. That slight pause at the top seems to help, I just can't get myself to do it consistently.

Sent from my D5316 using Tapatalk
 
You should have the palms of the hands facing each other or at least close to it. When the palms are facing we can swing back to square naturaly as this is the natural position for us to move to (when we put our hands into prayer position all of our body becomes square)
 
Not to be off topic but since it sounds like you're new to the game have you thought about taking some lessons? When I got back into the game I just started hitting, watched some golf instruction videos, and sometimes actually hit the ball well to the point where I thought I was ready. Had a day where I couldn't hit the damned ball to save my life so decided to book a lesson. He showed me exactly what I was doing wrong, changed my grip (strengthened it of course), got my lower body working correctly and has tried to steepen my backswing a bit. When I do all these things it makes a helluva difference. My problem is I have spent months grooving a swing that was wrong and now I have to unlearn it. Even just a half hour lesson every week or two can really help you get practicing the right way.
 
joshsparham said:
What exactly do you mean higher in the grip? Just trying to understand.
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Let cut the grip in half, a right side and a left side. If the palms.of your hands face one another they occupy a half of the grip, equally. Typically the left hand sits on top of the grip and the right under.

If the right hand were on top the face would already be shut. Of course you would a just t make square at address but as yoy swing the club you have already preset a hook.
 
A few post were removed as they were about a completely different topic.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Let cut the grip in half, a right side and a left side. If the palms.of your hands face one another they occupy a half of the grip, equally. Typically the left hand sits on top of the grip and the right under.

If the right hand were on top the face would already be shut. Of course you would a just t make square at address but as yoy swing the club you have already preset a hook.
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So are you saying an overly weak grip presets a hook?
 
joshsparham said:
So are you saying an overly weak grip presets a hook?
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Yes but it's not the rule. It's just more prevalent with a weak right hand. Not every weak right hand grip will produce or produces a hook.
 
joshsparham said:
So are you saying an overly weak grip presets a hook?
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Tadashi70 said:
Yes but it's not the rule. It's just more prevalent with a weak right hand. Not every weak right hand grip will produce or produces a hook.
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Freddie, I'm really confused by this. I've always heard a quick fix/bandaid for a slice was to strengthen your grip, so I always thought the opposite would be true for a hook and that you'd want to weaken your grip. Doesn't a stronger grip close the clubface through the swing as the hands naturally square up through the swing and the forearms rotate through?

This was an excerpt from a Sean Foley article: "Many people believe the hand positions should mirror each other, but when you take a strong left-hand grip, doing the same with the right will close your clubface too much at impact. You'll start hooking or pulling shots left of your target.
 
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moosejaa said:
Freddie, I'm really confused by this. I've always heard a quick fix/bandaid for a slice was to strengthen your grip, so I always thought the opposite would be true for a hook and that you'd want to weaken your grip. Doesn't a stronger grip close the clubface through the swing as the hands naturally square up through the swing and the forearms rotate through?

This was an excerpt from a Sean Foley article: "Many people believe the hand positions should mirror each other, but when you take a strong left-hand grip, doing the same with the right will close your clubface too much at impact. You'll start hooking or pulling shots left of your target.
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I have found with a great of amateur golfers they slice no matter what grip they use. If you take the club in a square postion at address and apply a strong grip, the player with flare the club on the way back. This won't square at impact so they slice. I feel that most use their right hand in the swing so a weak right grip would shut the face more than a strong grip. I don't advocate either with most golfers. I like a neutral grip and teach how to take the hands out of play. Teach how to swing and allow the hands to do what they will.

I am not disputing a strong grip will shut the face, I am just saying in this case a weak right hand will cause be problems in little china.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I have found with a great of amateur golfers they slice no matter what grip they use. If you take the club in a square postion at address and apply a strong grip, the player with flare the club on the way back. This won't square at impact so they slice. I feel that most use their right hand in the swing so a weak right grip would shut the face more than a strong grip. I don't advocate either with most golfers. I like a neutral grip and teach how to take the hands out of play. Teach how to swing and allow the hands to do what they will.

I am not disputing a strong grip will shut the face, I am just saying in this case a weak right hand will cause be problems in little china.
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Thanks Freddie, I know there is a lot more to it than just the grip, plane and path are big too I would think. The pull and pull hooks have crept into my game with a vengeance lately and I'm really struggling with the fix.

Sent from my D5316 using Tapatalk
 
moosejaa said:
Thanks Freddie, I know there is a lot more to it than just the grip, plane and path are big too I would think. The pull and pull hooks have crept into my game with a vengeance lately and I'm really struggling with the fix.

Sent from my D5316 using Tapatalk
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I'm not Freddie, even though nobody has seen us in the same place at the same time......

But, a strong grip can shut the face, if the swing path is still over the top and to the inside, that shut face and swing path will "cut" the ball.
 
blugold said:
I'm not Freddie, even though nobody has seen us in the same place at the same time......

But, a strong grip can shut the face, if the swing path is still over the top and to the inside, that shut face and swing path will "cut" the ball.
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I used to cut across the ball causing the slice or power fade but now my miss is entirely a pull and pull hooks. Both are caused by my OTT issues, just having trouble getting rid of it consistently.

Sent from my D5316 using Tapatalk
 
moosejaa said:
Thanks Freddie, I know there is a lot more to it than just the grip, plane and path are big too I would think. The pull and pull hooks have crept into my game with a vengeance lately and I'm really struggling with the fix.

Sent from my D5316 using Tapatalk
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Typically the hips stop and the arms shut down. This can happen from and inside to out move or an OTT move. If the hips stop then more than likely you will hit a hook.

Find that tempo that syncs the hips and arms as one. Tempo is king!!
 
Tadashi70 said:
Typically the hips stop and the arms shut down. This can happen from and inside to out move or an OTT move. If the hips stop then more than likely you will hit a hook.

Find that tempo that syncs the hips and arms as one. Tempo is king!!
Click to expand...

I have learned this one with a vengeance over the last 1-2 months. Now I know that if I'm pulling it, the hips need to get more active.
 
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