Stop duck hooking driver

[John Son]

Hi I’ve been struggling with a low duck hook (starts left and continues to hook) on my driver for a few months now. I’ve been working on trying to rotate the hips more at impact, but the duck hook still occurs far too often. Appreciate any feedback.

 

Driver swing down the line: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZAy42-EJs8

[jholz]

I'm not a golf instructor so take this for what it is worth...

 

I'd say you are suffering from a classic swing pattern.

 

That swing patter is characterized by "the too far inside takeaway and early extension compensation, and it most often results in hooks." I've been there.

 

It's the opposite of the "too far inside takeaway and over the top compensation which most often results in slices" swing.

 

Other, better people will/may chime in, hopefully. Maybe some of them will agree with me.

 

In the meantime, check out the "Arm Swing Illusion" thread pinned in the Instruction forum by Jim Waldron. Additionally, Slicefixer/Enclycopedia Texarkana is also a good reference on WRX and the internet. Monte Scheinblum, of course.

 

You can look for "Early Extension" or "Goat Humping" as reference terms on WRX, YouTube, and other instructional sites. Good luck!

[golfarb1]

Lead arm too inside going back with closed clubface at the top. That position at the top gets your right elbow too far behind the seam of your shirt. This then forces you to lose posture and stalls your pivot.

 

The first still is just before impact

 

The second  still is at first parallel. Notice that the shaft is pointing to the right of the club on the ground. While not disastrously inside , you are starting to angle your lead arm at too much of an angle 

 

The third still is at 9:00 going back . Compare the angle of your lead arm at 9:00 to that of Tiger in the previous  still . This is an important comparison . Notice that his hands are over. the middle/ front  of his shoe while yours are over your heel. Also Notice that the angle of your left arm is considerably greater the the angle of his left arm. Finally notice that your right leg is almost straight while he has retained a good deal of flex.

The last still is your position at the top. Notice that the clubface is facing almost to the sky-closed

 

FIXES 

You need to swing  your arms back more vertically -less around with less pelvis rotation . 
1. Square off your rear foot at setup.While not a big change you are encouraging  a straighter rear leg and more pelvis rotation going back and a more horizontal swing when you flare the right foot.One of the side effects of squaring  off your rear foot  is that your backswing will be slightly shorter with more control. 
2. Your goal is to get the shaft parallel to the club on the ground at first parallel. There are a few ways to do so. 
a. Take your hands back STRAIGHT until they pass your right foot.  While doing so , do not rotate your wrists at at all 

b .Place a mid length tee in the ground about 14,inches directly behind the ball and knock it over going back As a side benefit , this will increase hand width which translates into clubhead speed going down. 
TRAINING AID

Get a narrow 2 foot long cardboard box , collapse one side so that it is triangular in shape and use it as a plane board. As an even better alternative get a 3 sided box that is used for shipping single clubs. Place it parallel to your target line and take the club back so that part of the shaft is always lightly touching the box . This is meant for backswing practice and not for hitting balls.

Hopefully these fixes will help your left arm swing back on better angles. Your your position at 9:00 and at the top should automatically improve. 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by golfarb1

[John Son]

Thank you both for the feedback, it seems I am way too far inside on the backswing. Appreciate all the pictures @golfarb1 , the comparison to Tiger displays the issue clearly. I'll try all these drills and maybe post the results in a couple weeks.

[Valtiel]

Agreed with both guys above, and i'll just add that the problems they outlined are also likely the source of the hip turn issues you implied you were addressing. Your hip turn going back is a little exaggerated, although not *too* crazy, and you're clearly trying to correctly fire your hips first in the downswing based on the slow motion, but they are immediately stalling after that. This is very likely your body reacting to the positions you've put yourself in and buying time to get your hands back out in front of you. If you actually rotated "correctly" through the ball then your hands and thus the club would end up stuck behind you pretty badly and you'd have to save it with a massive flip. Everything @golfarb1 described above is meant to keep your hands in front of your chest and connected to your turn, which they are pretty badly disconnected from right now. That disconnect needs time to reconnect in the downswing and that is what's causing your issues right now. As you get more vertical and connected in the backswing you will be more freed up to rotate correctly through the ball. 

[Righty to Lefty]

On 11/9/2021 at 2:24 PM, John Son said:

Hi I’ve been struggling with a low duck hook (starts left and continues to hook) on my driver for a few months now. I’ve been working on trying to rotate the hips more at impact, but the duck hook still occurs far too often. Appreciate any feedback.

 

Driver swing down the line: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZAy42-EJs8

You are out of position in relation to the ball.  You are very close when I actually froze you at impact though, but you still lost lag tension very near to impact: 

I can tell this because your trail arm is fully extended and this should not happen until post impact. The simple explanation is that you are striking the ball too far forward in your swing arc...barely! But that barely is everything!  Once your trail arm fully extends you will lose control of the clubhead and it will rapidly begin to point left and begin to create beautiful duck hook conditions!  I always work from impact back for a given solution and if you take this approach things in this way you will find that a lot of what ails you will clear itself up once you are in a better relation to the ball. You goal is to find the relationship to the ball that allows your natural swing to strike the ball prior to your trail arms fully extending.

 

 I don't want to get too technical but in my opinion this is where you should start prior to giving up or changing your swing motion as that should be a last resort in my opinion but I will share a video that I made for a buddy on setting the low point which will help you learn how to find your low point and orient yourself to the ball to find leverage.  There is only one point on your swing arc with a given club that will allow you to lever a shot.  You are not striking the ball at that point...you are striking the ball AFTER that point.