Golf Hook

Imagine that you are standing on the tee. Looking down the fairway you notice that the hole includes a dogleg to the left i.e. the path to the hole is not straight but bends to the left with the pin perhaps obscured by a line of trees. Your playing partners all mutter sagely about how to handle this situation. You on the other hand march up, place your ball on the tee, address the ball and drive off. The ball initially flies to the right before gracefully tracking to the left and around those aforementioned trees.

How Did it Happen?

What a shot, what a draw, cry your companions who indulge in a round of backslapping meant to mask their envy at your undoubted ability. What they don't know is that while you're obviously pleased at the outcome, you're not entirely sure how it happened. Naturally, you're not going to tell them that. However the giveaway comes on a more mundane fairway further up the course. Buoyed by your newfound ability, you again march up to the tee and take your shot. The pin is straight ahead but it appears you have executed the textbook draw shot that had garnered such praise.

Challenge of a Dogleg

It's a dead giveaway. Your fan club fades away as quickly as it manifested itself. The penny has dropped for your partners: that wasn't a fantastic draw you played earlier but a hook shot. The draw is utilised by skilled players in the event of facing the challenge of a dogleg and as mentioned above it involves starting the ball out right before it turns in to the left. You will achieve exactly the same result with a hook, the difference being that with the latter it was exactly what you didn't want to achieve and you could find yourself in thick rough and facing a real struggle to make par or even just a single bogey.

Advice of the Club Pro

In common with other technical problems, such as slicing or shanking, players suffering from a hook would be advised to seek the advice of friends or the club pro to correct the problem. In the interim, here is a basic explanation of what is going wrong. The spin that is causing the ball to swing is the result of a closed club head. This, in turn, is the result of poor body alignment whereby both shoulders and feet are pointing offline and to the right. The same may be true of your hands, so check their position. Another element to consider is the position of the ball. Too far back in your stance and this to will contribute to you hooking the ball.

Curving Shot

The good news is that once you've identified and corrected the areas where you are going wrong, then you can apply them further along your skills development to execute the draw. And by that time, your companions will no longer be tempted to conclude that in producing that wonderful curving shot from the right to the left you are nothing more than an unfortunate hooker who once again struck lucky.