hook tee shots

[cavendish]

I am a left handed. handicap 28. My problem is during tee shots I get bad hooks which do not happen during fairway shots What could be the cause of this?

[jscerbo]

One of the most common reasons for hooks is an early release of the clubface that is induced by excessive arm and hand rotation through impact

One reason can be that you are prematurely releasing the clubhead through impact causing it to hook, or the second reason is that you have a severe inside to outside swing so in order to get the ball to travel to the target your wrists have to flick release, the body stops responding and the hands take over.

I would also check your grip if your (V'S) formed by the thumb and fore finger are pointing too far to the right of your right shoulder than you have an extremely strong grip causing the clubface to be shut at impact. you should see 2 to 2/5 knuckles on your left hand no more than that.

Do this drill while practicing.

Take your normal setup with your wedge or whatever club you are having trouble with swing to the top and when you come down to impact let go with your right hand. This will take your right hand from dominating the swing


Jordy Scerbo
Golf Instructor

[yohead]

Whenever i start to hook the ball or pull it real bad i've found that it is caused by taking the club back too far to the inside. You have a tendancy to try to get the club back around and the only way to do that is to whip it around you.

try taking a more straight back straight through swing...now you'll feel that way but in reality you'll be turning because it just happens. Make a good shoulder turn but try staight back and through and remember to shift your weight forward. You'll turn without thinking about it. Just simply roll on your front foot back then through.

Hey...i hope this helps

yo

[Golfbald]

Cavendish,

I have been doing some research for you but need some information.

If you use the same grip from the fairway as you do the tee, that can be eliminated.

The premature releasing of the club is caused by hips not being in the correct position when the release of the wrists occur. Try your swing in front of a mirror. Check to see if the right hip is moving slightly backward away from the target. (Right handers this would be your left hip.) The correct movement is Right Hip to 9:00 then left hip to 10:00. The target is at 9:00.

If you get the club to far to the inside you would probably hit it a draw or slice to the left or a dead pull right.

How high do you tee the ball up? what size is your driver head?
Do you set the club on the ground when you take it back or hover it off the ground?
Put a peice of masking tape or spray powder on your club head and find out where you are making contact on the club face.

My take - It could be ball position, it could be when you are standing over the ball the club head is in the wrong position, it could be something as simple as your left foot being slightly behind your right. You may be closed at address. If you can hit it out of the fairway, I think your swing is probably correct. Look at your setup on the tee.

One very important thing with your swing. If your swing is not broke, don't try to fix it. A bad setup is easier to fix than your swing. Most swing faults can usually be traced back to a setup fault. A fundamentally sound setup makes a fundamentally sound swing.

Golfbald

[cavendish]

Thanks everyone.
in reply to Golfbalds questions
1)yes my grip remains the same on tee and on fairway.
2)my ball height is 1/2 inch from ground .

sorry i dont quiet understand what you mean about my right hip position. it is at set up -parallel to the ball line to target.

My problem probably is that there may be a shift in downswing which happens upon using a wood,so what you say is probably also a factor ie the size of the club.

My shots with an eight iron are straight,high and cover about 130-140 yards to touchdown.

Thanks again.

[Golfbald]

cavendish,

My reply was like a list of things to check.

The first is hip position. Wait a minute, I have to think left handed and this might make sense to you, sorry. If you think of your self standing inside a clock. 12:00 is the ball, 6:00 is behind you. The target is at 3:00, right hip. An away from the target is 9:00. That's better. As you complete the backswing, your left hip has moved from 9:00 to 8:00. On the through swing the left hip moves from 8:00 to 2:00. Your right hip is like a fence post on the through swing. It will move a little laterally, not outside the foot and the left hip works around the right like a gate. If the right hip moves backwards this could cause your hook of the tee.

You need to check your impact position on the clubhead. A spray can of powder or impact tape will do. If you are hitting near the heal. This could cause a slight hook as the clubface will close.

Your ball position may be a little to far forward. Try moving it back a little more on about 5 swings and see if it straightens out. If I had a look at your swing I could tell you exactly what it is. If you go through this list. These are some of the more common things.

GolfBald

[randus]

You mentioned "If you are hitting near the heal. This could cause a slight hook as the clubface will close"

When I misses, I tend to miss towards the heel. However the shot shape is a fade. I still can't figure out why. Also the harder I try to avoid missing near the heel, the more I miss there.

[Golfbald]

Randus,

If you are hitting on the heel and producing a fade, you are probably setting up with the clubface open at address.

Two things to check, the first is your grip pressure. You should have the club in your hands as if a small bird you don't want to crush is there. The more pressure in the hands, the more tension. This means the wrists will not release properly. Take a setup position and stand up with out changing your grip pressure. Let someone take the club out of your hands. If the body jerks the hand pressure is too tight. It should slide out with a little bit of pressure.

The other thing is check your setup. I detailed the setup in another post. It is probably a combination of the two.

GolfBald

[randus]

You are probably right, one area I have been monitoring is my grip pressure. Anyway, this is what I call an acceptable miss, and doesn't bother me that much.

[cavendish]

I also tend to grip the club tight. My fingers do ache after a while.
Could this be the reason?

If the club is held loose and the impact is not square with the ball will this not cause a change in the face angle upon impact? which would otherwise not happen if its held tightly?

Cavendish.

[randus]

Dear Cavendish

The key here is not how tightly or loosely you grip the club. The key is tension free grip. And that's a very hard concept or feeling to get in golf.

Even if you grip tightly, a mishit off the sweet spot would still twist the clubface open or close depending on where you hit on the face.

A tension free grip gives you the best chance of squaring the clubface at impact.

[jscerbo]

Cavendish

I have been reading your posts, and replies

Next time you go out to the practice facility setup to a target, then hit a few balls, and note where your divot is pointing to the left, at the target, or to the right. I am betting for you the divot is pointing to the left (left handed golfer) this tells us that your path is in-to out rather than the desired inside-square-inside path. The reason your ball flight is so low is that your path is so severely to the left of your target that your left shoulder is pulling up, and your release is now inhibited, so your hands have to flick release your left hand should be bent at impact but it is straightening out. The clubface is closing at impact.

Try this firm up your left arm, and aim left of your target.

This should help you to fade the ball.

This will inhibit the release and promote an open clubface at impact. Instead of closed which is what is happening currently.

You should purposely start coming over the top (Try to hit a 50 yard slice then gradually work your way back)

So the the leading edge of the club is contacting the ball, (hitting it thin) this is why the ball is low.

Check your ball position

It could be too far forward especially with your woods
This is the reason for the low ball flight also. Your hands are trying to lift the ball left is wrist is straightening at impact(it should be bent)


Where do you play the ball off of with your woods, it should be of your left heel or sternum.

Put the ball in the middle of your stance this will promote a steeper angle of attack


Please write back and let me know where you play the ball with your driver,woods, and irons.

Do you use the one ball position philosophy, off of your sternum?

Or do you gradually move the ball back in your stance until you reach just behind sternum for your wedges?

Note how I did not say feet. Use your sternum to determine where the ball should be positioned. This is the bottom of your swing arc (where the club meets the ball then the ground)

Write back

Thank you

Jordy Scerbo
Teaching Professional

[cavendish]

Thanks Jscerbo,
My ball position during Tee off using my wood is about 4 inches inside from my right foot.(left hander)

I went to the course yesterday,did away with my wood (heavy toping and path left to right).i used my 4 iron kept the ball middle position ie in line with sternum. My grip was such that i could see 3 knuckles of my right hand and 2 knuckles of my left, at set up i made sure the club face was square to the ball. After impact the ball did go straight and covered about 175 yards. I repeated this all through the remainder holes ie for par 4 &5's and the ball more or less kept to the line.

Why is my wood a problem when irons seem ok?

[kino]

being a 15 handicapper my driving is my best part of my game I am able to accuratly drive 250 yds and 300yds if required,my short game is lacking hence my arrival here,but i read this post and thought i could pass on some info which I recently helped a freind with and he now drives 200+ straight.

Firstly make sure you are not standing to close to the ball at address,by droping the club grip down it should aprox drop no higher than middle of knee and pelvis,prefrence would be middle or slightly below(towards knee) depending how comfortable you feel.

Block out all thoughts on the power a driver can create and think of the club in the same terms as a pitching wedge.

Start with half swing or very slow three quarter swing and ensure the first part of the back swing is shallow and smooth,do not rush any part and keep fluentcy the idea is to start driving of the sweet spot and reaching a good 100-150 yds straight.

To get an idea on this never look at 200 yds markers on driving range and expect them to land there,what i found most beneficial was instead to look at a 50 yd marker and say to myself i would be happy if it passes that marker straight.

This idea gets all the ideas about rushing and high expectations of long drives away from using the driver,amazingly soon after i noticed i was driving 200+ and to this day i still use the 50 yd marker and visual the same on the course, and it is not uncommen for me to drive every fairway on a round 200+ every time.

[cavendish]

Thanks Kino I will try that and let you know.