How to Stop Hooking Golf Shots

There is almost nothing in golf more demoralizing than lining up a perfect shot, making what feels like a powerful swing, and watching your ball take a nasty, hard left turn into the woods or water. This runaway hook not only costs you strokes but can shatter your confidence. This guide will walk you through, step-by-step, the common causes of a hook and provide clear, actionable fixes and drills to help you straighten out your ball flight for good.

First, Understand What a Hook Actually Is

Before we can fix it, we need to understand the simple physics behind that unwanted curve. A hook (for a right-handed golfer) is caused by one thing: The clubface is closed relative to your swing path at the moment of impact.

That's it. Your swing path might be going out towards the target (a "pull-hook") or excessively from inside-to-out (a "push-hook"), but in both cases, the face is pointing well to the left of that path. This impartsa right-to-left spin on the ball, causing it to curve.

Most frustrating hooks come from a combination of a swing path that travels too much from in-to-out and hands that "flip" over at impact, rapidly closing the face. Our goal isn't just to stop the curve, it’s to get your clubface and swing path working together to produce a straighter, more reliable shot.

The Fixes: Your Blueprint to Straighter Shots

We'll work methodically from the easiest checks to the more in-swing feels. Often, a small adjustment in the beginning of the process can fix the hook without needing major swing surgery.

1. Check Your Grip: The Steering Wheel of Your Swing

Your grip is the single biggest influence on the clubface. It's the steering wheel for your golf shot, and for 90% of golfers who hook the ball, the problem starts here with a grip that is too "strong."

What is a "Strong" Grip?

A strong grip means your hands, particularly your lead hand (left hand for righties), are rotated too far to the right, away from the target. This pre-sets the clubface in a closed position and encourages it to shut even more through impact.

• Visual Cue: If you look down at your grip at address and can see three or even four knuckles on your left hand, your grip is likely too strong.
• The "V" Check: The "V" formed by your thumb and index finger on your left hand is likely pointing outside your right shoulder or even to your right.

How to "Neutralize" Your Grip

The goal is to move to a neutral grip, which gives you the best chance of returning the clubface to square at impact. Follow these steps:

1. Set the Clubface First: Place the clubhead squarely behind the ball, aiming its leading edge directly at your target.
2. Set Your Left Hand: Place your left hand on the grip so you can see about two knuckles - the knuckle of your index and middle finger. This should feel like your hand is more "on top" of the club Pather than behind it.
3. Check Your "V": The "V" formed by your left thumb and index finger should now point roughly toward your right shoulder or clavicle.
4. Add Your Right Hand: Now bring your right hand to the club. The "V" on your right hand should mirror the left one, also pointing toward your right shoulder. It should feel like your palms are facing each other.

Important: This will feel extremely weird and weak at first. Your old, strong grip gave you a feeling of power, but it was the source of your hook. You MUST commit to this new, neutral grip. Spend time at the range hitting short shots, just getting used to this new hand position until it starts to feel normal.

2. Adjust Your Setup & Ball Position

Your body can be the source of the hook if your setup encourages the wrong movement. Many golfers subconsciously make setup adjustments to "play for" their hook, which only makes it worse.

Common Hook-Inducing Setup Flaws:

• Aiming Too Far Right: A classic mistake. You know you hook it left, so you aim 30 yards right of the target. This gives you a massive mental green light to swing hard from the inside and let the hands roll over, often producing an even bigger hook.
• Ball Position Too Far Back: With irons, placing the ball too far back in your stance (closer to your right foot) catches the ball too early in the swing arc. At that point, the clubface is still naturally closing, so you effectively guarantee a closed face at impact.

The Corrective Setup:

• Align Square: Use alignment sticks. Place one on the ground pointing at your target, and one parallel to it, along your toe line. Your feet, hips, and shoulders should be parallel to your target line, not aimed out to the right. Trust a square setup, it forces you to correct the swing itself, not the aim.
• Correct Ball Position: For mid-irons (7, 8, 9-iron), the ball should be positioned in the center of your stance. For longer irons and hybrids, it can move slightly forward (about a ball's width), and for the driver, it should be off your lead heel. By moving the ball to its proper position, you allow the clubface to square up naturally at the bottom of the swing arc.

3. Tame Your Swing: Stop the Body Stalling and Hands Flipping

If your grip and setup are neutral but you're still hooking it, the cause is in your swing dynamics. The most common a hooker's swing fault is a downswing sequence where the hands and arms overpower the body's rotation.

The Vicious Cycle of a Hooker

Here's what often happens: The golfer takes the club too far inside on the backswing. From the top, the arms "drop" down behind the body, getting "stuck." Because the player has fallen too far behind, the only way to get the clubhead to the ball is to rapidly fire the hands and wrists, causing them to "flip" over at impact. This action slams the clubface shut and produces a vicious duck hook.

The fix is to get your body to lead the downswing, feeling that your arms and hands are simply along for the ride.

The feeling to cultivate: Body Rotates, Arms Follow

Instead of the arms initiating the downswing, true power and squareness come from proper sequencing.

1. Start the downswing with a slight bump of your hips toward the target.
2. Feel your torso begin to unwind and rotate towards the target.
3. This unwinding action should pull your arms and the club down into the hitting area. Your arms shouldn't be doing the work, they should be responding to your body's turn.

This synchronizes your swing path and your clubface. When your body is rotating through impact, it becomes much harder for your hands to take over and flip the club shut.

Drills to Ingrain the Right Feel

Reading about it is one thing, but feeling it is everything. Here are two powerful drills to do at the driving range.

Drill 1: The Split-Hands Drill

This is the best drill for quieting overactive hands and encouraging a body-driven swing.

• Take your normal setup with a mid-iron.
• Now, slide your right hand down the shaft about four to six inches from your left hand.
• Try hitting balls at 50-60% speed. Because your hands are seperated, it’s almost impossible to flip them a impact.
• This drill forces you you use the rotation of your chest and hips to move the club through the hitting zone, which creates the correct sequencing you need to eliminate the hook.

Drill 2: The Headcover Gate Drill

This drill helps you correct a swing path that is excessively "in-to-out."

• Place your ball in its normal position.
• Place one headcover (or a rolled-up towel) about six inches outside your ball and another six inches inside your ball, just behind it and ahead of it respectively to form a "gate".
• The goal is to swing the club a through the gate without hitting either headcover.
• Golfers who are too far from the inside will hit the *outer* headcover on the way to the ball. This drill gives you instant feedback, forcing you to develop a more neutral swing path that approaches the ball from a squarer angle.

Final Thoughts

To stop hooking your golf shots, you need a systematic approach. Start with the simplest fix - your grip - and ensure it's neutral, not strong. From there, check your setup and alignment with sticks to guarantee you’re not making things worse before you even swing. Finally, work on the feeling of your body leading the downswing, using the drills provided to train your hands to be passive and quiet through impact.

Building consistency takes practice, and having a trusted opinion can make all the difference. As you a apply these fixes, I designed Caddie AI to be your personal coach, right in your pocket. If you're unsure your new grip is correct or if your ball position looks right, you can simply take a photo of it and ask for an analysis. Caddie AI can give you that instant, expert-level feedback 24/7, helping you understand if you're on the right track without the guesswork.