The hook is one of the most common challenges for amateur golfers, and the best way to eliminate your hook once and for all is to find a golf instructor who can offer personal advice regarding your stance and swing. You can also tackle the problem on your own, and fortunately, the hook is such a common issue that advice isn’t hard to find. As with many stance and swing problems, the key element to do-it-yourself solutions is flexibility—Keep adjusting your approach until you find one that works, and try not to reinforce the subtle errors in body positioning that separate you from your goal. 

What is the Hook?

A hook happens when the trajectory of the ball begins to the right and then curves back too far to the left, missing the target on the left side. This is the opposite of the slice pattern. A hook often results when the club face hits the ball on an angle turned toward the (right handed) golfer’s left foot. The counterclockwise spin this delivers to the ball sends the ball flying from right to left. The best way to correct the hook is to make sure the club face is square when it hits the ball. There are a few approaches to grip, body position and swing that can help you with this.

Grip

First, take a look at your grip. For many golfers, a hook results from hand positioning that is too far to the right on the grip. If your hands are positioned too far to the right, your grip may be too strong, meaning that when you swing the club, you close the club face and send the ball to the left. Check your thumbs. They should be pointing straight down the middle of the golf club instead of to the right.

Position

Now take a look at your posture. A swerve to the left often results from a swing that’s too wide, and this can happen when your posture is upright and your hands are too active as they move over the ball. Try this tip: Hold the golf club parallel to the ground and at the height of the waistband of your pants. Then extend your arms and bend over till the club touches the ground. This may alleviate the width of your golf swing.

You may also be able to correct your swing plane by tucking an object, like a head covering, between your right arm and body. Hold the object there as you swing and you can train yourself to keep your right elbow close to your torso. This may help you get your hook under control.

Swing

As you swing, consciously shift your weight to your front foot. This solution may be the most universal method golfers use to successfully correct a hook.  Keeping too much weight on your back foot can interfere with the fluidity of the swing and may be the root cause of a stubborn hook pattern. By the end of the swing, your front foot should be holding most of your weight.

By Erin Sweeney

For Golflessons.com

So you’re interested in learning how to play the game of golf.  That’s great!  But there are a few things you should consider before diving in head first.  The advice you’ll inevitably be offered about the game depends on who you talk to about your newfound interest.  Rest assured that everyone has your best interests in mind while they’re bombarding you with information about the kind of equipment you’ll need, how they’re more than willing to train you and how you should take the game of golf as a serious endeavor.

Here are three very basic, undeniably helpful hints to get you started:

1. Don’t Blow Your Wad On Your First Set Of Clubs

As a beginner, you’re not going to understand the intricacies involved with each and every club in your bag, and that’s ok.  Technique, style and skill all take time to achieve so paying top dollar for your first set of golf clubs is not necessary.  In fact, picking up a set at a garage sale or adopting a friend’s old set is perfectly acceptable until you can figure out what works best for you.

2. Be Careful Who You Take Golf Instruction From

Just because your friends and family think they’re expert golf players doesn’t mean they actually are.  If you can remember this when they are all trying to give you helpful tips to improve your game, you’ll be fine.  I’m not saying to ignore them completely; in fact they may be able to help you somewhat.  However, to really understand the game, when it comes to beginners, getting instruction from a golf pro is suggested.  Golf pros are experienced in correcting swing problems and explaining things to you in terms of how they affect ball flight.  You can get lessons from a golf pro at most golf courses, and even just a few will really help build a solid foundation for your game.

3. Have Fun

It may seem obvious, but one of the best tips for beginning golfers is to simply have fun with the game.  Keep in mind you’re probably not going to be playing for that snazzy green jacket any time soon, so keep things light out there.  If you remember that golf is a game of leisure and keep in mind that with time and practice your game will improve, you’ll take the pressure of yourself and make it possible to have fun golfing with your friends.

These three basic tips can make all the difference in the world for beginning players.  If you get the right clubs to start, take instruction from a golf pro, and remember to relax and have fun, then golf will be a great way to unwind and spend some leisure time.

The slice is one of the most common and stubborn problems for the amateur golfer, especially the right-handed golfer. But a persistent slice doesn’t have to ruin your game, and the sooner you diagnose the reasons for the error and correct your swing, the easier it will be to head off ingrained bad habits and flaws in positioning.

First, what is a slice? For right handed golfers, a slice occurs when the ball flies far to the left of the target and then curves in the air, missing the target and landing far off the to the right. In the air, the arc of the ball forms a gentle C shape, like a banana.

Golf is a game of subtlety, and very minor misalignments in your position or swing may be to blame for your slice. Consider the following.

Before the Swing:

Check your grip.

Take a look at your left hand. Imagine a golf instructor telling you that hand is turned too far to the left, because it probably is. Rotate it slightly to the right to compensate, and see if that makes a difference.

Adjust your body alignment.

Now take a look at your shoulders and feet. They should be aligned with the target, but because of the way our depth-perception works, many right handers stand too far to the left. This may seem more natural but try nudging your alignment to the right and see what happens.

Check the ball position.

If the ball is placed too far forward in your stance, it won’t absorb the full impact of your body weight, and it won’t make square and true contact with the face of the golf club. Bring the ball back an inch relative to your stance.

During the Swing:

Diagnose you backswing.

You do not want your club to twist clockwise during your backswing. You also want to make sure that the end of the golf club does not point left at the top. These two elements of the backswing are likely suspects when you’re dealing with a persistent slice.

Now check your downswing.

Ideally, you want to golf club to strike the ball in perfect alignment with the target line. The three points of club, ball, and target should form a straight line. If the club is pushed away from you during the swing, or if it approaches the ball from outside the target line, the line between the three points is not straight, and in the air, the ball will illustrate a magnified version of the error: a slice.

To keep from pushing the club away from you, monitor your right shoulder. Instead of moving out, the right shoulder should drop down. If you’re having trouble observing this motion in your swing and you don’t have a golf instructor available, try to consciously move the right shoulder down instead of out, and see how the results of your golf swing change.

Every golfer wants to bring as much power and force as possible to the fairway. But strategy and stance can have surprising impact on the gain you derive from your long game shots.

The Long Game

First, for the beginning golfer, what are the key elements of the long game? This is the portion of the game in which the ball is intended to cover a distance of over 160 yards per shot. Long game shots are usually taken from the tee—the first of the game—or out on the fairway. Distance is an important measure of success at this point, so the golf clubs selected for these shots tend to be the woods and straight-faced long irons (irons one through four.) These are the golf clubs designed with lower loft angles in order to send the ball across great distances.

Stance and set up are the first two elements of the long game shot.

Stance

Two important elements of long game stance are alignment and aim. If a golfer is properly aligned, then all the elements of his or her body—shoulders, spine, hips, legs and feet– are lined up and balanced. Alignment can be counterintuitive; one tense, slightly elevated shoulder may not be felt the golfer standing in position but can have a magnifying effect on any flaws inherent in the shot. The same may be true if the right leg bears more weight than the left, or if the head tilts so that one ear is lower than the other.

Aiming means pointing each of these elements of the body in the same direction. Your aligned body and your club face should be perpendicular to the line of your target, but mastering aim can be counterintuitive as well. On a windy day, for example, you’ll need to adjust your aim away from the flag or target (increasing or decreasing your 90 degree angle) in order to allow the wind to compensate and send the ball in the proper direction.

Two important stance tips:

1)      Don’t take aim for granted. A casual approach to aim, especially if it’s repeated over and over, can reinforce unconscious negative habits. Each time you approach the tee, actively consider your aim and alignment as if you’re taking the first golf swing of your life.

2)      Don’t set up too far to the right of the target. Since most golfers, especially new golfers, tend to hit the ball with an open club face angle, a spin often results which sends the ball back and to the right.

A golfer’s aim improves as he or she learns to compensate for wind, distance and terrain. This is largely a matter of experience, so the best way to improve aiming accuracy is to practice as much as possible in varied and unpredictable conditions.

Generating a Powerful Set-Up

During the long game, the golfer wants to hit the ball as hard as possible in order to send it as far as possible. Power in the set-up means power in the impact between the golf club and the ball. Power is a function of many different elements at work on the ball during this time and within the golfer’s control, three of which are:

1)      Solid ball contact: the ball contact with the golf club should be true and square—not occurring at the front or back edge of the face.

2)      The golfer’s hand must rotate properly through the impact zone.

3)      The golfer’s full body weight should transfer into the ball.

Once stance and set-up are under control, the next area of focus will be the rhythm and balance of the golf swing.