How to Stop Hooding the Golf Club

Nothing saps confidence from your game quite like watching your golf ball take off low and left, diving aggressively towards trouble with no chance of staying in the air. That frustrating shot, often called a hook or a pull-hook, is most commonly the result of a hooded club face at impact. This article will break down exactly what that means, show you the most common reasons it happens, and give you practical, easy-to-follow drills to get your club face back to square and your shots flying high and straight.

What Exactly Is a Hooded Golf Club?

In simple terms, hooding the golf club means the club face is closed, or pointing too much toward the ground and to the left of your target at the moment of impact (for a right-handed golfer). Instead of presenting the club's designed loft to the ball, you're "de-lofting" it significantly.

Imagine your 7-iron. It's built with a certain amount of loft to send the ball on a specific trajectory. When you hood the face, you're effectively turning its loft into that of a 5-iron or even a 4-iron. Because the face is closed, it imparts hook spin on the ball and starts it well left of your target line.

The result is that low, diving duck of a shot that runs forever but never in the right direction. It feels powerful but completely uncontrollable. The first step to fixing this is understanding what's causing your club face to shut down through the hitting zone.

The Main Culprits: Finding Your Root Cause

Stopping a hooded club face isn't about one secret move. It’s about diagnosing your swing to find the real issue. For most golfers, it boils down to one of three common faults. Let's walk through them so you can identify which one might be affecting your game.

Culprit #1: Your Grip is Too "Strong"

Before we go on, let's be clear: a "strong" grip has nothing to do with grip pressure. It refers to the position of your hands on the club. An overly strong grip is the number one cause of a chronically closed club face, and it's a fault that gets baked in early for many golfers.

A strong grip is when your lead hand (left hand for righties) is rotated too far over to the right on top of the grip, and your trail hand (right hand) is slid too far underneath. This position naturally encourages your hands and wrists to roll over excessively through impact, shutting the club face.

How to Check for a Strong Grip:

• The Knuckle Test: At address, look down at your lead hand (your left hand). If you can clearly see three, or even all four of your knuckles, your grip is likely too strong.
• The "V" Test: Look at the "V" shape created by your thumb and index finger on your lead hand. If it points outside your trail shoulder (your right shoulder), it's a sign your hand is rotated too far over.

The Fix: Building a Neutral Grip

A neutral grip is your foundation for a square club face. It sets your hands in a passive position so they don’t have to do extra work to manipulate the face at impact. Here’s how to build one:

1. Hold the club out in front of you with the club face perfectly square.
2. Let your left arm hang naturally by your side. Now bring it to the club, placing the grip in the fingers, running from the base of your pinky finger to the middle of your index finger.
3. Close your hand. When you Look down, you should see only two knuckles on your left hand. The "V" between your thumb and forefinger should point somewhere between your chin and your right shoulder.
4. Now, let your right hand hang naturally. Bring it to the club, so the palm faces your target. The lifeline in your right palm should fit neatly over your left thumb.
5. Close your right hand around the grip. The "V" on your right hand should mirror the left one, also pointing toward your right shoulder.

It's going to feel strange at first - this is okay! The hold for a golf club is unlike almost anything else. Stick with it, as getting this right makes everything else immensely easier.

Culprit #2: Incorrect Swing Sequence (Getting "Stuck")

This fault is a classic case of the body outracing the arms. A common piece of advice is to "clear the hips," but many golfers interpret this as firing their hips as hard and as fast as they can from the top of the backswing. When the lower body spins out aggressively and the arms get left behind, you get "stuck."

From a stuck position, your arms are trapped behind your torso and have no room to swing down towards the ball properly. The only way to save the shot is to flip your hands and wrists aggressively to try and catch the club head up to the ball. This violent rolling of the hands slams the club face shut - hooding it in a desperate attempt to make contact.

The Fix: Syncing Your Arms and Body

You need to feel your arms initiating the downswing slightly before your hips go into overdrive. This maintains the space you created in your backswing and allows your arms to swing down freely on the correct path.

• The Pause Drill: Go to the range and hit shots at 50% speed. Swing to the top of your backswing and make a conscious, one-second pause. Feel the stillness. Then, feel your arms begin to drop down before you aggressively unwind your body. This helps break the "hips-first-at-all-costs" habit and re-establishes a better sequence.

Culprit #3: Coming "Over the Top" (A Compensatory Move)

The "over-the-top" swing path is a common affliction where the club starts the downswing on an outside-to-in path. This swing path is the primary cause of a slice. Many golfers, who have battled a slice their whole lives, intuitively learn to counteract that slice by shutting the club face down through impact.

This is a compensation. You're hooding one fault (rolling the club face closed) to fight another fault (a bad swing path). While it might stop the slice, it just trades it for a nasty hook or a low, hard pull to the left. To fix the hook, you have to fix the path.

The Fix: Promoting an Inside-Out Path

Your goal is to get the club approaching the ball from the inside, not swinging across it from the outside. A great visual trick is the Headcover Drill.

• The Headcover Drill: Place a headcover (or a rolled-up towel) on the ground about a foot outside of your golf ball, and slightly behind it. Your objective is simply to miss the headcover on your downswing. If you come over the top, you'll hit it. To avoid the headcover, you'll be forced to drop the club into the "slot" and approach the ball from the inside. When you do this, you'll soon find you don't need to roll the face closed anymore to hit the ball straight.

Two Drills to Ingrain a Square Club Face

Once you've identified the root cause, it's time to train the correct feeling. These drills take thinking out of the equation and help your body learn what a square club face feels like through impact.

1. The Split-Hand Drill for Wrist Control

This is my favorite drill for golfers who are too active with their hands. By separating your hands on the grip, you magnify what your hands and wrists are actually doing in the swing.

• Grip the club normally with your left hand at the top.
• Slide your right hand down the shaft, leaving a three-to-four-inch gap between your hands.
• Take slow, half swings (from hip-high to hip-high).
• With this grip, it's almost impossible to flip your wrists without it feeling incredibly awkward. You'll be forced to rotate your body to transport the club through the hitting area. Focus on feeling your "club face" stay stable, pointing at the sky on the backswing and facing the target as long as possible after impact.

2. The "Impact Bag" Drill

There's no better tool for feeling a perfect impact position. If you don't have a purpose-built impact bag, a large old cushion or pillow from a sofa will work, too.

• Set up to the bag as you would a golf ball.
• Make a short, slow backswing - no more than parallel to the ground.
• Turn your body through and swing down into the bag.
• HOLD the finish position at impact. Look down. Is the club face square to the bag, or is it hooded and pointing down? This drill provides instant physical feedback. Your goal is to repeatedly hit the bag and see a perfectly square club face pressed against it, with your body weight shifted forward onto your lead foot.

Final Thoughts

Fixing a hooded club face means you have to stop treating the symptom - the low hook - and start addressing the root cause, whether it's your grip, your sequencing, or your swing path. By working through these common faults and practicing drills that promote a quiet club face, you can train yourself out of that destructive pattern and start launching the ball with the height and control you've been looking for.

While practice on the range is essential, getting an objective opinion when you're on the course and feeling pressure can be invaluable. If you're stuck in the trees on a tight hole and terrified of hitting that old hook, you can snap a photo of your situation, and I have trained Caddie AI to give immediate, simple advice to get you out of trouble safely. It's like having a coach in your pocket to provide a clear plan so you can swing with confidence, knowing you're making the smart play.