"hooding the club"

[Robert O' Keeffe]

I have been told that I tend to hood the clubface, and that I should endeavour to to get a flatter back of left hand. I have to say that my ball striking is quite good, as well as distance and direction. I am currently trying to find a happy medium but do not want to upset my swing and confidence as i am playing good golf at present. Is this an issue that I should pursue, or is there any great benefit going to come to me by going down this road? I dont think there is any damage being done by staying with what works.

[kbp]

Re: "hooding the club"

I assume you’re using the term "hooding" correctly. that is, delofting the club at impact by leaning the shaft more toward the target. Flattening the left wrist wouldn’t be my first thought to stop hooding the club. Do you mean changing your grip to a weaker grip which would allow for a flatter wrist? Maybe a little more information would help.

[slater170]

Re: "hooding the club"

I assume you’re using the term "hooding" correctly. that is, delofting the club at impact by leaning the shaft more toward the target. Flattening the left wrist wouldn’t be my first thought to stop hooding the club. Do you mean changing your grip to a weaker grip which would allow for a flatter wrist? Maybe a little more information would help.

rob
i think this flaw creeps in when over doing the forward press!
you were extolling the virtues of the forward press a while back and it was working fine but this is the reason why i stopped doing it as it was causing me to deloft and hook the ball.
just a thought

[Robert O' Keeffe]

Re: "hooding the club"

Thanks,KBP

What I mean is that at the top of the backswing the club face has not opened pointing to the target. Therefore I do not have to work the hands as much to get back square at point of impact. Another way of describing it is that the club goes up and down on the same plane, neither inside or outside the line. With regard to grip, I do not have a weak, or indeed too strong a grip. Both v's are pointing to my right shoulder. I would be adamant about this because my ball flight is nearly always straight at the target. I hope I have explained this ok.

[Robert O' Keeffe]

Re: "hooding the club"

Ian

Funnily enough I did not even think of the forward press as as a prob with this issue. In fact, the only forward issue with me is my positioning of the shaft forward of the ball and above my right thigh. This post is really about the position of the club face up and down the line

[LowPost42]

Re: "hooding the club"

If you're happy with your distance and direction, then who cares how you're getting there!

Ignore the comment and carry on.

[Robert O' Keeffe]

Re: "hooding the club"

My thought exactly lowpost

[kbp]

Re: "hooding the club"

As I suspected, your NOT "hooding" the club, you’re playing what some call a "closed face swing". Not the same thing. Just last weekend, Peter Kostis was breaking down the swing of a Tour player with this type of swing using the "Swing Vision" slo-mo video. As you might suspect, this swing requires that a lot of body rotation take place before the hands come into impact. He described it as the "hanging back look" at impact and follow through.

Flattening the wrist at the top will make the "closed face" more pronounced, not less. If you look at which way the back of your left hand faces at address versus which way the leading edge of the club is pointing at address, you’ll notice that they are not facing the same direction. The stronger the grip, the more the difference. Obviously this relative relationship between the back of the left hand and the club face cannot change during the swing unless you let go of the club. If you force a very flat wrist at the top, the club face will just be more "closed" at the top, as it will NEVER face the same direction as that flat wrist, if it didn’t at address.

Consider that, even in a neutral grip, there should be some cup in the left wrist at address, if the set up is correct, but in the best swings this is flat at impact. Address the ball as normal and then, without moving your upper or lower body, flatten the left wrist by moving only the hands and arms. See what happens to the club face, the shaft angle and the gap between the body and the hands? Not good. Now address the ball as normal and flatten the wrist without moving the hands, but by rotating the upper and lower body towards the target. Don’t sway toward the target, but rather rotate more open to the target, in a manner that will pull the left shoulder away from the ball and the target and thus flatten the wrist without moving the club, (Greg Willis’ "door" drill). This is close to how you flatten the wrist at impact with the "closed face" swing..... the arms and the club "lagging" behind the body rotation.

[BrianW]

Re: "hooding the club"

Robert,

If your ball flies straight and long then nothing to be concerned about.

I did not quite follow your explanation of keeping the club on one plane throughout the swing, you have to raise the club above the one at address otherwise your swing would not get above waist high in the backswing, I expect your raise your arms parallel and higher to the original plane.