First, we have to define what a hook shot actually is. There are many senior golfers who are unclear on the definition.

A hooked ball flight begins right of the target before curving left in the air to finish well left of the target (for a right handed golfer). The most important part of this definition is the ball starts right of the target. If a senior golfer hits the ball left of the target and the ball moves further left in the air, this is a pull hook and is caused by different swing faults.

A hook is caused when the club travels from an in-to-out swing path with the club face closed to both the swing path and target. The in-to-out swing path causes the ball to start right of the target whilst the closed club face to this path and target causes the ball to curve left and finish left of the target. If a senior is hooking as defined above, then these three fixes should help straighten out their ball flight.

1. A closed club face, in relation to swing path and target line, will cause a hook and the first place to check for the cause of a closed club face is the grip.

A strong grip is caused when the top hand is too on top of the club (this means as a senior looks down at address, they would see three or four knuckles on the top hand) or when the bottom hand is too much underneath the club (this means as a senior looks down at address, they would only see one or no knuckles on the top hand).

The aim is to achieve a neutral grip so when looking down, the golfer should see tho and a half knuckles on the top hand with the V created by the thumb and forefinger pointing at the right shoulder (for right handed golfers).

On the bottom hand, the golfer should be able to see one and a half knuckles with the V formed by the thumb and forefinger pointing between the chin and right shoulder (for a right handed golfer).
This grip will give the senior golfer the greatest chance to square the club face at impact.

2. Don’t Hood The Face – A key check point for hookers of the golf ball is the halfway point of their takeaway. At this point when the arms are extended and the club shaft is parallel to the ground, the club’s toe should be pointing up at the sky. If the senior finds at this point the toe of the club is pointing off to the side (club face aiming at the ground), they have hooded the club face. This is a closed position which could lead to hooked shots. To help correct this fault, the senior can include a little rehearsal swing into their pre-shot routine where they get the toe of the club pointing at the sky halfway back, then try to repeat the same feeling in their swing.