What causes the Hooks

[Jensen]

Played today and hit a few of these, the shape is like a draw but goes too far to the left.
I'm right handed and the ball starts right by about 25 degrees, but then curves back to the left finishing towards 10 o clock.
Had a shot from 90 yards and although the divot pointed right of the flag by 10 degrees the ball hit the green but seemed to turn left again at 10 o clock.
Could it be that my upper half is turning far quicker and too much compared to my lower ? Or could it also be that I'm not moving to the right enough with the lower half i.e. hips on the start of the downswing ?
Thanks

 

[xcore]

I was catching it out of the toe for awhile which produced my hooks especially on the driver

 

[bladeplayer]

Mine Happens when swing gets too fast , slow wide back , then hit through it releasing ur right hip through , someone standing behind u should be able to see all the spikes on ur right shoe

 

[TonyN]

Could be any number of things, would be hard to tell without watching you hit. And even then most of us wouldn't know. By the sounds of it though, you seem to have an in to out path from the direction of your divots, so even with a completely square face at impact the ball is going to have 'draw' spin on (I think)

I suffer the hooks with the driver mostly. It's because I don't always have the courage to move the ball back in my stance and trust I will get the path vs face correct. I often have the ball in line with my left heel when really, I should have it back further, in line with my left ear.

Where do you position the ball in your stance?

 

[bobmac]

Have you had your grip and alignment checked?

 

[pinberry]

First of all, hard to get the ball starting right 25 degrees. Incredibly hard. Even then, it seems that your problem is ball starting right of target and ending up left of target.

It's impossible to tell what you're doing wrong b/c we would need to see your swing and even then, I'm not a pro. However, what might be helping you is understanding what causes this ball flight. Armed with this knowledge and knowing your swing better than anyone, perhaps you can adjust a few things.

So what causes this ball fligh? If the ball starts right of target, it means that the club face is point right of target when it hits the ball. This is fact #1. What causes the ball to curve left? This is due to the club path being inside out relative to the club face. This is fact #2.

The issue now is that you are very unlikely to produce better shots by only addressing one of the two problems. For example, the ball might be starting right because you're addressed right which also causes the club face to aim right at contact. So it might be that you need to work on your address. However, if you only do that and start addressing correctly on your target line, the end result will be wild misses to the left (but the ball will start on the target line). Or, if you only straighten out your club path, the end result will be push-fades/slices, which won't help you either. As you can see, it's complicated.

My suggestion? Go and see a pro. If you aren't into lessons etc, my best advice would be to have a few sessions at the driving range where you aim correctly (using alignment sticks / clubs to make sure you are addressed properly) and then swinging the club outside in.

 

[Maninblack4612]

Go to the range & get a lesson. There's a new pro there now who is considerably older than you if you don't fancy being taught by a child. He's good & he'll sort you out in no time. Having seen your swing (although I try not to look!) getting too flat could lead to the problem you've got, as well as coming up out of the shot before impact, something which will start the ball out to the right.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Most of the time, a bad right hand grip [left for lefties]

Pretend you are holding a hammer to drive a nail in.
That is your natural hitting grip

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I would guess (based on my experience of the same issue) that your arms and body are losing connection at some point in your swing.

That would be where I would focus my efforts if I were you and looking to google some ideas for fixing it.

 

[RGDave]

If the ball is starting so far right you are not hitting it with the face square to the target line. You must be swinging way from the inside (a lot) with the face open to the target line but closed to the path, to create the draw/hook spin.
You can analyse the possibles with technique, the quickest fix is the most natural and let the body sort out the rest.
I would do the opposite of all the anti-slice drills... and basically try and hit the ball with the club travelling on a path aimed at a tree on the far left of the practice ground/range. Basically, try and slice the hell out of it (not just pull it either) for a few hundred balls.
The secret is in the dirt.
Seriously, try and fix the direction of travel (path) through the ball (out to in, not in to out) for a while before getting all paralyzed by getting analysed.

3 ball drill in reverse. ?
Headcover inside the target line forcing you to get outside the line. ?
Or check out videos, but your issue isn't just a closed face with a path dead at the target so half of those videos won't apply.

 

[Jensen]

Have you had your grip and alignment checked?

Checked my grip and it was massively strong and too flat.
Thanks Bob

 

[Jensen]

Go to the range & get a lesson. There's a new pro there now who is considerably older than you if you don't fancy being taught by a child. He's good & he'll sort you out in no time. Having seen your swing (although I try not to look!) getting too flat could lead to the problem you've got, as well as coming up out of the shot before impact, something which will start the ball out to the right.

Thanks Bill, ironically went today. You must be after some free range balls as Chris Pope made reference 👍😀
Anyhow as mentioned above, hoping I'm ok after checking out Chris Ryan on good old YouTube and checking my grip. As you noticed when I hit Driver, grip was too strong. Also swing was too flat but video below seems to have helped.

https://youtu.be/zXwgK5kN9HI

Thanks again for everyone's input, much appreciated