How to Hook a Golf Ball

Learning to hook a golf ball on command unlocks a new level of creativity and strategy on the course. It’s the shot that lets you bend the ball around a dogleg, fight a nasty right-to-left wind, or find the ideal angle into a heavily guarded green. This guide will walk you through the exact setup changes and swing fundamentals needed to turn the ball from right to left, transforming it from a frustrating mistake into a powerful tool in your arsenal.

What is a Hook (and Why You Should Learn to Hit One)

In golf, a "hook" is a shot that curves noticeably from right-to-left for a right-handed golfer (or left-to-right for a lefty). While many weekend golfers live in fear of the unintended, big, looping hook that sends their ball deep into the woods, a controlled hook - often called a "draw" - is one of the most valuable shots in the game.

A hook is caused by a simple rule of ball flight physics: the clubface is pointing to the left of the club’s swing path at the moment of impact. This "closed face" imparts sidespin on the ball, causing it to curve. The amount of curve is dictated by the difference between the face angle and the path. Get it right, and you’re an artist. Get it wrong, and you’re reloading.

So, when would you want to use this shot?

• Navigating Doglegs: On a hole that bends sharply to the left, a controlled hook allows your tee shot to follow the curve of the fairway, keeping you in an ideal position for your second shot.
• Getting Around Obstacles: Stuck behind a large tree or cluster of bushes? A hook can be your escape route, allowing you to bend the ball back toward your target.
• Wind Management: In a strong wind blowing from right to left, hitting a hook that starts right and moves with the wind can be a much more stable and predictable shot than trying to fight the wind.
• Attacking Tucked Pins: For a pin located on the front-left portion of the green, a hook that lands softly is often the only way to get the ball close.

Learning this shot gives you options. Instead of just seeing trouble, you start to see opportunities. It's about taking what the course gives you and molding your shot to fit the situation.

Step 1: The Setup - Laying the Foundation for the Hook

More than half the battle of hitting a controlled hook is won before you even start your swing. It's all in the setup. If you get your grip, stance, and aiming points right, you'll make the proper swing motion feel easy and natural. We're going to make three key adjustments at address.

Grip: Take Your “Steering Wheel” and Turn it Right

The grip is the single most important factor. Think of it as the steering wheel for your clubface. To hit a hook, we need what's called a “strong” grip. This doesn't mean you need to squeeze it harder, it refers to the position of your hands on the handle.

For a right-handed golfer:

1. Place your left hand on the club so you can clearly see at least three knuckles when you look down. Normally, you might only see one or two. This is a significant rotation of your hand to the right on the grip.
2. The "V" formed by your left thumb and index finger should point towards your right shoulder, or even to the right of your shoulder. In a neutral grip, it would point more towards your chin or right ear.
3. Now, place your right hand on the club. Let it fit comfortably underneath the left, with its own "V" also pointing towards your right shoulder. It should feel like your right palm is facing more towards the sky than it normally would.

This strong grip pre-sets your hands in a position that encourages them to rotate and close the clubface through impact. It might feel strange at first, which is a good sign you’re doing it correctly. It’s what primes the club to deliver that right-to-left spin.

Stance & Alignment: Aim Right to Swing Right

Our next job is to promote a swing path that moves from inside to outside (relative to the target line). The easiest way to groove this is to align our body to the right of the target.

• Feet: Place your feet on a line pointing well to the right of your final target. If your target is the flag, you might aim your feet at the right edge of the fairway or the greenside bunker on the right.
• Hips and Shoulders: Make sure your hips and shoulders follow suit. They should also be aligned parallel to your feet, pointing to the right of your target. This creates a "closed" stance.

Now, here’s the important part: while your body is aimed to the right, your clubface must be aimed at your final target (or just slightly to the right of it). Your body points right, but the clubface points left relative to your body. This setup is the secret sauce. It creates the face-to-path relationship we need to produce a consistent hook.

Ball Position: A Subtle but Powerful Shift

For many golfers, moving the ball back in their stance slightly (about a ball’s width) helps with hitting a draw. Placing it a bit further back encourages you to strike the ball on a more inward swing path just before your swing bottoms out. Combining this slightly earlier strike with the clubface that your strong grip is trying to close gives the ball the hook spin you're looking for.

Step 2: The Swing - Putting Theory into Motion

With your setup dialed in, the swing itself becomes much simpler. You've already created the right environment for a hook, so now it’s about trusting what you’ve built and focusing on a couple of key feelings.

The Takeaway: Swing Around Your Body

Your closed stance makes this part feel very natural. From your setup, your main swing thought for the backswing should be to swing the club around your body. Feel the clubhead move inside the target line immediately.

Many golfers are taught to take the club away “low and slow” and straight back. For a hook, we want the opposite. Feel like you are swinging more around your right hip (if you’re a righty). The swing should feel more rounded and less "up and down." This shallow, inside path is exactly what we need to get the club moving from the inside on the downswing.

The Downswing & Impact: Swing Towards First Base

This is where your aim-right mentality pays off. As you transition from the top of your backswing, your goal is to swing the clubhead out along the line of your feet and shoulders - to the right of your final target. Imagine you're standing on home plate, a straight shot is toward second base, but for a hook, you need to feel like you’re swinging out toward first base.

The common mistake is trying to "save" the shot at the last second by pulling it back towards the target. Resist this! You have to trust your closed clubface and strong grip. Swing freely out to the right. The ball will start right and then, because of the spin imparted by the clubface, it will curve back to the left toward your target.

Let your body unwind and rotate. It’s the rotation of your hips and torso that delivers the power, not a jerky arm swing.

Releasing the Club: Let Your Hands Take Over

The "release" refers to how your hands and forearms rotate through the impact zone. With a strong grip, your hands are alreadyspring-loaded to turn over. Your job is to let it happen.

As you swing through impact, you should feel your right hand cross over your left hand (for a righty). This is a natural, powerful squaring of the clubface - or in this case, closing it relative to your path. You’re not trying to hold the clubface open. Let it release. This rolling of the hands is what delivers the final, decisive spin that makes the ball curve.

Drills to Master the Hook

Like any new skill, repetition is everything. Here are a couple of simple drills you can practice at the range to make the hook an reliable shot.

1. The Two-Stick Drill

This drill gives you a powerful visual.

• Place one alignment stick on the ground aimed at the right edge of the fairway (or your starting line). Set up with your feet parallel to this stick.
• Place a second alignment stick a few feet in front of your ball, also aimed along that same starting line to the right.
• Your goal is to perform your swing, starting the ball over both sticks. If you've done it correctly with a strong grip, you'll watch the ball start out over the sticks and beautifully curve back towards the center.

2. The Big Looper Drill

Sometimes, the best way to learn a feel is to exaggerate it. Set up with an extremely strong grip and a very closed stance. Try to hit the biggest, most looping hook you can imagine. Your only goal is to make the ball start way out to the right and curve hard to the left. It might feel silly, but this helps teach your body the underlying action. Once you get a feel for the extreme, you can slowly dial everything back - a slightly less strong grip, a slightly less closed stance - until you're producing a tight, predictable draw.

Final Thoughts

Mastering a controlled hook comes down to systematically changing your setup and trusting the result. By adopting a stronger grip, closing your stance, and swinging along your body line, you are essentially pre-programming the shot before it even starts. It takes practice to trust the process, especially swinging away from the target, but when it clicks, you'll unlock a new go-to shot.

It’s natural to have questions as you start to use this shot on the course - wondering about the best starting line or how a hook might react from an uneven lie. That’s exactly why our Caddie AI was developed, to provide instant, on-demand strategic advice. If you're pondering the play on a dogleg left or need help visualizing the right shot from a tricky spot, you can get a smart recommendation right on your phone. Think of it as having an expert caddie available 24/7 to help you make the confident decision every time.