|
From Rubin, golfer: |
|
I am a left handed golfer and I am
having a problem with hitting my driver and fairway woods. I hook the ball
severely and it rarely gets airborne. I hit my irons straight most of the
time but I've began to also hook my irons but not nearly as severe. What
can I do? |
|
PGA/LPGA
TEACHING
PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSES: |
Arizona
"If
you place your ball position on the woods about 2 inches forward in your
stance (on the inside of your left foot) this should stop the hook." -
Don
Williams, Teaching Professional
|
Arizona
"When hitting woods there are a few absolutes that have to
happen: 1. good grip (Rubin with your grip make sure that you can only see
the first two knuckles with your top hand - the club face is getting very
closed.) 2. ball position 2" of front foot. 3. weight
60-40 on back foot. 4. butt of club pointing at or just in front of
zipper one inch or so. 5. Head needs to be behind the ball 100%.
Last, take some practice swings at 50 to 60% speed." - Frank
O'Connell, Teaching Professional
|
Arizona
"Left handed or right handed the ball flight laws are the same,
just reversed like in a mirror in relationship to each other. A closed
clubface is the primary cause of a hook and I find this is often the
result of the player's effort to keep it square, or facing the target,
during the back swing. In this attempt, the clubface rotation to an open
position is restricted which results in a face that is closed (the
opposite of open) and can be closed even more at impact. Allowing
the club to rotate open in the back swing will feel awkward and as if
you have lost directional control but it has a multitude of benefits
including reducing a closed face hook. By the way, your irons don't hook
as much because the increased loft will increase back spin which in part
reduces the side spin available to create severe curves."
- Marc
Silliman, Teaching Professional |
California
"Left
or right-handed, the problem is always the same - you are not finishing
in a balanced position. You are hanging back on your back foot
which is causing you to come over the top, close the clubface, and
deloft the club resulting in the low trajectory. Focus on finishing
upright with your left knee touching your right balanced on your left
toe with 99 % of your weight on your right leg. Do this and hold
till the count of 3. Now check your ball flight. If it is not straight,
try hitting it the opposite way to overcorrect the error. If you are
topping the ball, focus a 1/2 inch behind the ball and try to hit the
ground first. Or, hit off a tee and try to knock the tee out all the
while finishing in your balanced position. You cannot work on any
other parts of your swing if you do not finish in a balanced position as
all swing errors are symptoms of being out of balance." - Kati
Biszantz, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"Rubin: Check your grip first.
At address how many knuckles do you see on the back of your right hand?
You should see 2-3. Also, the V's formed by your thumbs and forefingers
should point to your left shoulder. If your grip is okay next
examine your address. Check your alignment, ball position and posture.
You should always aim your club at your target and as a lefty feel like
your body is pointed 10 yards or so right of target. The ball position I
teach is 2" off the inside of your right heel. Your posture at
address should feel springy, balanced over the balls of your feet. Good
luck."
- Jim
Kosters, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"For the ball to hook, we know one thing for sure - the face is
closed in relation to the path the club is swinging. The two main causes
are how are hands are place on the club, and how the hands work from
waist high to waist high. In order to check if your grip is too strong,
setup to a ball and then stand straight up. At chest high, extend your
arms to full length and notice if the face turned in to the left. If it
did, your grip is too strong. If not, get back into your posture and
swing the club back to waist high were it is parallel to the ground.
Is the toe pointed up, or is it turned down were the face is pointed
toward the ground. Either mistake, a very strong grip, or a shut
takeaway, can lead to hooks. A simple drill is simply to do toe up
to toe up swings. These will just be small waist-high swings making sure
the toe points up to the sky at parallel to the ground in the backswing
as well as the same point in the forward swing. If you are still
having trouble, give me a call at the Jim McLean Golf
School."
- Jason
Carbone, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"Rubin:
sounds like you have a grip or setup problem. The ball flight you
describe is the result of the club face at impact being severely
closed relative the the club path. See your local PGA professional for
a grip check and get videotaped to ensure that your path at impact is
correct."
- David
Balbi, Teaching Professional
|
Florida
"Because you say you are hooking the
ball and not getting anything airborne it sounds like your swing is
getting "flat." Try taking the club back on a straight line
instead of pulling it 'inside' too quickly. This way you will have a
better chance of returning to the ball with a 'square' face instead of
the a 'closed' or hooked face. It should help you."
- Lori
McCabe, Teaching Professional
|
Florida
"With
the club resting on the ground and the face aimed at your target, the
"V" formed by your right thumb and forefinger should
point at your chin and the one formed by your left hand should point
somewhere between your left shoulder and chin. Your "V's" now
are probably pointed left of your left shoulder and this causes the club
to close in the hitting area."
- John Brott, Teaching Professional
|
Florida
"Dear Rubin: My first inclination would be that your target
side hand is rotated too far away from the
target. Assuming that the hit is on center it is obvious that the
face is severely closed at impact. I
would make sure that you target arm wrist is not bowed at the top. This
would generally cause a severe hook particularly as the less lofted
clubs are used. Try to check grip first and if it is a reasonable
position, try to get the feeling of letting the wrist cup out at the top
and see what happens."
- Jan
Johnson, Teaching Professional
|
Florida
"Sounds like you are in a 'closed' position at the top of your
swing. Have someone watch you swing and tell you if the face of your
club at the top of the backswing is facing towards the sky (a closed
clubface position), instead of the toe of the club hanging straight down
(an open clubface position). If the club is closed at the top, you need
to allow the toe of the club to rotate to the left as you swing the club
back so that when the shaft is parallel to the ground (about halfway
back in the backswing) the toe of the club is pointing straight
up." - Joe
Sciortino, Teaching Professional
|
Florida
"Dear Rubin: I would suggest a few things. One see if you can
get your woods with a higher loft and lower kickpoint (softer shaft) to
see what may give you the best trajectory. As far as the problem of
hooking goes, try some of these suggestions the next time your are on
the range (one at a time ) to see what works best for YOU. Check to make
sore your grip is not to strong or tight (you want both palms facing one
another). Make sure you are getting all of your weight shifted to your
right foot when you have completed your swing. Try standing a little
farther away from the ball or stick your buttocks out a little more-
remember one at a time. Best of Fun!" - Sean
Gorgone, Teaching Professional
|
Indiana
"Check your grip to make sure it is not too strong (hands may be
too rolled over to the left).
- Steve
Bonnell, Teaching Professional |
Indiana
"Rubin: The things that you
should be aware of are referred in ball flight law applications. The
reason your ball barely gets airborne, is because your clubface position
at impact is extremely closed which is not allowing the effective loft of
the club to work at all. As to your flight being hooked constantly means
that your swing path is too much from the inside of your target line with
that same clubface position mentioned previously. Work on swing path and
clubface angle (shoulders for path and hands for angle)."
- Bruce
Cohen, Teaching Professional
|
Kansas
"Rubin: Check your
clubface. It sounds to me like the face is closed and there is no loft
available to help you get the ball airborne. It's worse when you do this
with a fairway wood or a driver due to the fact you have a straighter
faced golf club. Good Luck!" - Skip
Maiwald, Teaching Professional
|
Minnesota
"Check your grip to see that your hands are not turned too far to
the left (strong). Also, check the alignment of your shoulders and arms.
If the left side is too high, your shoulders will aim you right of your
target and that's where the ball will go." - Jim
Manthis, Teaching Professional
|
Missouri
"The hook is caused by the overuse of your
left hand, wrist or both when you enter impact to the ball. Take a
little pressure off of the left hand and swing towards the left side of
the fairway. Keeping the left side out of your swing will keep the club
face from closing at impact. The woods will tend to be hooked or
sliced more than the irons because of the longer shaft."
- BJ
Miller, Teaching Professional |
New Jersey
"Dear Rubin: We would be remiss if we first
did not check two key points: clubface squareness & grip position.
Many of the lefties that I teach set up with the shaft leaning
excessively towards their right hip pocket giving the impression that
the clubface is open. When they look at the clubface the natural
response is to close it so that it looks square. If a good swing is made
from these positions, the ball must hook & as you get to the longer
clubs with their lack of loft the problem is magnified. Try a set up
change that involves keeping the club handle pointed at your belly
button or belt buckle and square the face to the target. Now make the
same swing & lets see what happens. Also, please do a grip check.
Your left palm is a mirror of the clubface & therefore should be
`looking` at the target. If it is facing the sky your grip is too
`strong` (something I frequently see with lefties), & during the
swing your hands will naturally rotate, creating a hook. I hope this
helps & good luck."
- Bryan
Jones, Teaching Professional
|
New York
"Without knowing more about Rubin's game or seeing the swing, I
can only suggest he review his grip on the club. Often new golfers keep
getting told to strengthen their hand position to eliminate slicing and
sooner or later it gets so strong they develop the duck hook or low
grounder. I don't believe being left-handed has any bearing on the
problem!" - Ronald
Venturini, Teaching Professional |
North Carolina
"Rubin: Take a look at your ball position and make sure that you
don't have it to far back in your stance. This can cause a trapping of the
ball, which decreases loft on the club Also check your left hand
position and make sure that it isn't to strong. That is, the "V"
formed by your left thumb and pointer finger aren't outside your left
shoulder. Make sure that you try and swing through to a higher
finish and don't try to lift the ball as you are swinging, remember to let
the club do the work for you."
- Ben Hynson,
Teaching Professional |
North Carolina
"Could be equipment...probably lack of body center rotation or
trying to kill it from a bad grip position..." - Bill
Johnson, Teaching Professional |
Ohio
"Rubin, the first thing I would check is the grip of your left
hand position. If your left hand at the address position is so that you
can clearly see the fingernails and first finger joints just above
your fingernails, then your left hand grip is too strong and your most
likely causing the face of your clubs to be closed and hooded at impact.
Try adjusting your grip so that the vee's or creases of your first
finger and thumb of each hand is pointed somewhere between your left ear
and left shoulder at address. Get yourself Ben Hogan's book, Five Steps
To The Modern Swing. He has 19 pages on the grip alone, and an
inexpensive paperback that many of the tour players have learned from.
Good Luck and Best Regards."
- Frank
DiSanto, Teaching Professional
|
Oregon
"Rubin:
it sounds like you are not getting to your left side. Your upper body
is staying above the ball therefore coming down on top of it. Make sure
that you shift your weight to the left side. It would be like throwing a
ball going from your back foot and shifting to your front foot as you
throw the ball. Let me know how that works out for you." - Penny
Larsen, Teaching Professional
|
Pennsylvania
"Rubin:
First I
would check your grip and posture. Your right hand must grip the club in
the finger tips and the rear pad by your little finger must be on top of
the grip. Check that your posture has approx. 45 degree bend at the hips
with a flat back. To practice the correct position, stand up straight,
hold a club along your spine and bend from the hip while keeping the
club touching your spine. Sounds like your swing plane is flat, swing
from your arms and not your upper body. While keeping your head relatively
still turn your upper body to take the club away allowing your right
shoulder to point toward the ball. On the down swing as your hips and
upper body unwind allow your left shoulder to point toward the golf ball
before finishing your swing."
- Don
Beardsley, Teaching Professional
|
South Carolina
"Rubin: the fact that you are left-handed has no bearing on the
case. A first case scenario would be to check your shafts. They may be too
weak for your mighty blows, so try out a stiffer shaft. From a swing
perspective evaluate the following pictures and eliminate them singularly
if you are trying to achieve them. 1. Hit down on the ball. Your posture
should determine the downness. 2. Hit the back of the ball. To do this
makes hooks and pulls inevitable. 3. Close the club or roll the forearms
through the ball. Again, bad advice. See what happens if you do neither of
these. Call me if I can help further."
- Michael
Lucas, Teaching Professional
|
Texas
"The club face is closed at impact. The loft of the golf club is
lessened severely. As the clubs get longer the problem gets worse because
the longer clubs have less loft. The only parts of the body that influence
the club face are the hands. So the first step to curing your problem is
to check your grip. Make sure your V's (angle the forefingers and thumbs
form) point to the same place. Also check grip pressure. Tour players tell
me they hold the club at a 4 on a scale of 10. Good luck."
- Dave
Baron, Teaching Professional
|
Texas
"Your irons go straighter because they have more loft. It is
hard to hook your sand wedge, huh? If you are hooking and topping
the ball chances are your swing is too flat coming into the ball.
This could be for several reasons. I need more information to continue."
- Mark
Moore, Teaching Professional
|
Texas
"Hi Rubin: Before I answer your question, I will tell you what
not to think about. These thoughts usually cause a severe hook: Do not: 1.
Grip the club lightly. 2. try to make a full backswing. 3. swing inside
out. 4. stay behind the ball. What to work on: 1. turn both hands slightly
to left. 2. maintain your grip pressure. 3. make a 3/4 backswing. 4. turn
your hips through."
- Randy Dalton, Teaching Professional
|
