You're Correct!

If you are hitting hooks and pulls when playing your golf shots, then the ball is always missing the target on the left. This makes scoring much more challenging but if you understand why the golf ball is missing left of target then you can work on improving your swing and straighten your ball flight.

A pull is actually a straight golf shot that misses the target on the left, whereas a hook is a shot that curves right to left during its flight. However, a hook also misses the target on the left. These golf shots are being caused by the club heads swing path, that is the club heads direction of movement through impact and the club face position through impact. Both shots see an out to in swing path as the shot is played. This simply means that as the club head is approaching the golf ball on the down swing, the head is on the far side, or the outside, of the target line.

To strike the ball, the club head now has to move towards the ball and therefore across the target line to inside of it, rather than directly along it. This produces the out to in swing path and with a club face that is aiming in that direction, you will hit a pull, a straight left of target golf shot. If your club face has closed, that is it is aiming left of your swing path, then the ball will now curve left in the air, producing a hook.

To prevent these types of shots, you need to use your hands less during impact. You want to work on rotating and turning your body more towards the target as you move through impact, with less rotation in your hands. If your hands rotate in an anti-clockwise direction through impact, this will close the club face and also move the club head to the inside of the target line. To improve and straighten your ball flight, you need to encourage your hands to be more passive and to rotate less through impact.

If you swing your golf club, without hitting a ball initially, just notice your hands and your right hand movement through impact. Your right hand will be rotating palm downwards as you swing through impact, so to improve your hand action and reduce this rotation, work on keeping your right palm towards the target through impact rather than allowing it to rotate down towards the ground.

Rotating your hands in an anti-clockwise direction through impact results in the club face closing, or turning to the left of its start position. With this club face position striking the golf ball, the ball will always fly to the left of the target and makes hitting straight golf shots extremely difficult.

If you hold your centre of gravity back behind the golf ball through impact, then your arms will swing through impact before your body turns through and this will result in your hands over rotating and closing the club face. This will result in shots that fly left of the target.

Changing the amount of rotation that you have in your hands through impact will have a direct effect on the club face position as it strikes the golf ball. More rotation will make the club face rotate more to the left and the ball will fly more left. Less rotation will result in the club face aiming more right and therefore the ball will fly more to the right.