Fix Your Hook - Golf (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles
Fix Your Hook - Golf (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles

So, do you struggle with hooking the golf ball? If a hook shot is your problem, this is a really nice exercise to get rid of it. Firstly, we need to understand what a hook is. A hook is a golf ball that will generally start off straight or slightly right of target and then violently pull to the left-hand side. It's not to be confused with a draw. A draw by nature will finish on the target or on the green, or on the fairway. It's a good shot. A draw is generally classed as good shots. A hook is a bad shot; too far left, too far down the left-hand side of a fairway and into trouble.

Also, you might have a pull hook which is left going further left, but it's still caused by a similar issue of not controlling the hand action and therefore not controlling the all important club face. So during your swing, if your club is coming down towards the ball but your hands are working too quickly, too much rotation coming through the ball, you would have the ball or you'd have the club, sorry, at a closed position at impact aiming left as I strike the golf ball causing the ball to hook.

Now, if you've checked the other issues, so maybe you've checked your grip, you've checked a couple of positions in your back swing, it might just be the case that you're rotating your hands too quickly. So here's a great exercise to stop that. When you are in your normal position, take notice of where the badge on the back of your glove is aiming. And if you've got a decent grip, the badge on the back of the golf club will follow the club face and be quite square. Now, if your badge is aiming left, more left than it started during the impact position, that'll cause you a hook.

So, I want you to think about actually aiming the badge to the right, just over exaggerate to experiment with it a little bit. Feel like the club face points to the right at impact, feel like the badge points to the right. You might even have a couple of cuts or even slices down the right-hand side, and that's no bad thing when you're experimenting because once you've got the ball going left with it closed, right with it open, you should be able to feel how to square that club face up.

It's almost a process of elimination. If I do this, I get that shot; if I do this, I get that shot. But by slowing the rotation of your hands down, you should feel like you can deliver the club face a little bit more square more regularly and therefore controlling your hook or your pull hook shot by slowing your hands down, and I hope that works for you.

 2012-03-27

So, do you struggle with hooking the golf ball? If a hook shot is your problem, this is a really nice exercise to get rid of it. Firstly, we need to understand what a hook is. A hook is a golf ball that will generally start off straight or slightly right of target and then violently pull to the left-hand side. It's not to be confused with a draw. A draw by nature will finish on the target or on the green, or on the fairway. It's a good shot. A draw is generally classed as good shots. A hook is a bad shot; too far left, too far down the left-hand side of a fairway and into trouble.

Also, you might have a pull hook which is left going further left, but it's still caused by a similar issue of not controlling the hand action and therefore not controlling the all important club face. So during your swing, if your club is coming down towards the ball but your hands are working too quickly, too much rotation coming through the ball, you would have the ball or you'd have the club, sorry, at a closed position at impact aiming left as I strike the golf ball causing the ball to hook.

Now, if you've checked the other issues, so maybe you've checked your grip, you've checked a couple of positions in your back swing, it might just be the case that you're rotating your hands too quickly. So here's a great exercise to stop that. When you are in your normal position, take notice of where the badge on the back of your glove is aiming. And if you've got a decent grip, the badge on the back of the golf club will follow the club face and be quite square. Now, if your badge is aiming left, more left than it started during the impact position, that'll cause you a hook.

So, I want you to think about actually aiming the badge to the right, just over exaggerate to experiment with it a little bit. Feel like the club face points to the right at impact, feel like the badge points to the right. You might even have a couple of cuts or even slices down the right-hand side, and that's no bad thing when you're experimenting because once you've got the ball going left with it closed, right with it open, you should be able to feel how to square that club face up.

It's almost a process of elimination. If I do this, I get that shot; if I do this, I get that shot. But by slowing the rotation of your hands down, you should feel like you can deliver the club face a little bit more square more regularly and therefore controlling your hook or your pull hook shot by slowing your hands down, and I hope that works for you.