How To Stop Hooking The Golf Ball

Hooking the ball is something even the world’s best golfers struggle with from time to time. In the video and article below, PGA pro Trey Niven explains how this destructive shot happens and shares some handy tips that will get you started on the road to recovery.

It's more common for golfers to struggle with cutting across the ball and hitting a slice but a hook is arguably more dangerous. For right-handers, it happens when the clubface points well left of the club path at impact. The start line is mostly dictated by the club, so the wider this face-to-path relationship is, the more the ball is going to curve in the air.

And the irony is that people who hook the ball tend to aim further and further right, which just increases this gap and makes the problem worse. Here are the faults I commonly see.

The first one is the grip. The majority of those who hook the ball have a strong golf grip, with their hands rotated away from the target (to the right for right-handers). This means when the club is released under motion and the hands return to neutral, it points left. 

To adopt a neutral golf grip, put the lead hand more on top of the club, so the 'V' created between your thumb and index finger points roughly towards your trail shoulder. Then slot the other hand on top so it feels comfortable. Give both hands a little squeeze together to develop an understanding for how this should feel. You should see between one and two knuckles on the lead hand when looking down.

The next fault occurs in the golf swing takeaway. Early on, people hood the face and whip the club away on the inside. This combination causes the club to shut, meaning compensations have to be made to square it back up, which sacrifices consistency.

Here’s a really good tip. Get into your driver address position, aiming towards your target with a neutral grip, and then put your trail hand out as if you're shaking hands with someone standing to your right. Then, simply swing your lead hand into position and you’ll notice the clubface is much squarer.

If you think of the swing like a chain, if you change something at the start of the chain, it will affect everything else along the way. Practise these two things and your ball flight will improve. 

Tommy Fleetwood drill

A lot of golfers stop rotating through impact and that can lead to hooks. The body stalls and the hands flip over quickly, making it really difficult to control the clubface, especially when swinging at speed with the driver. 

A great way to improve your pivot is to channel your inner Tommy Fleetwood. Take a full backswing and then really try to hold off the follow-through as if you're hitting a low punch shot with an iron. Check out the video above to see how I do it.

Start with some slower swings to get a feel for it before upping the pace as you get more comfortable. Over time, this improved pivot will give you better clubface control and allow you to hit straighter drives more often.