Fix Your Hook: 4 Training Aids I Tested for 4 Weeks

I had a hook so bad my playing partners started calling me “the left turn.” Not a gentle draw. A snap hook that started at the right rough and dove hard left into the trees, bushes, or worse. Under pressure, it got tighter. First tee with strangers? Snap hook. Forced carry over water? Snap hook. I spent two seasons trying to fix it with grip changes and YouTube drills. I weakened my grip. I strengthened my grip. I tried holding the face open through impact. None of it worked.

What finally fixed it was not one thing. It was four training aids that gave me objective feedback on the three things that actually cause a hook: a closed face, an over-rotated release, and a path that is way too far from the inside. The total cost was about $200 to $600 depending on how deep you go.

Why You Hook (And Why Your Fixes Are Not Working)

A hook is not a power draw. It is a clubface that is too closed relative to a path that is too far from the inside. The ball starts right of your target because the path is in-to-out. Then it curves hard left because the face is closed to that path. You get the full banana, just in the opposite direction of a slice.

The root cause for most mid-handicappers who hook is not a lack of knowledge. You already know you are too far from the inside. You have probably been told to “swing more left.” The problem is that the pattern is grooved. Your hands have been over-rotating through impact for years. Your lead wrist has been too bowed at the top for so long that it feels normal. You cannot think your way out of a hook. You need feedback that tells you when you are wrong, in real time, on every swing. That is what these four training aids do.

The Aids That Fixed My Hook

1. Tour Striker Educator: $40 to $60

The Educator is a small plastic bracket that straps to the back of your lead wrist. When your wrist cups or over-rotates through impact, the bracket presses into your forearm. The feedback is instant and physical. You do not need a screen or a video camera. Your wrist tells you when you are wrong.

The drill: Strap it on and hit 10 half-swings with a 7-iron. Focus on keeping the bracket off your forearm at impact. Then 10 three-quarter swings. Then 10 full swings. The first day, half your swings will flag you. By day five, you will be clean on most swings.

Time commitment: 5 minutes a day for two weeks. Dry swings in the backyard work.

What it fixed: The over-rotated face. My snap hook softened to a controlled draw in 10 days. At $40 to $60, about the price of one round at a decent public course, this is the best dollar-for-dollar hook fix on the market.

2. HackMotion Core: $275 to $345

The HackMotion is a wrist sensor that straps to your glove and gives you real-time data on wrist angles: flexion, extension, ulnar deviation. For a hooker, the most important number is flexion at the top of the backswing. If your lead wrist is bowed 15 degrees or more, you are closing the face before you start the downswing.

When I first used it, I thought my wrist was flat at the top. The sensor said I was 12 degrees bowed. I had been doing it for so long it felt normal. Your feel is lying to you.

The drill: Set a target of 5 to 10 degrees of flexion at the top. Make 10 slow swings watching the phone. Hold at the top and check the number. Then 10 full swings, checking the trace after each one. The goal is to groove the new wrist feel.

Time commitment: 10 minutes, three times a week for two weeks.

What it fixed: The hidden problem. The HackMotion showed me the wrist position I could not feel. Once I got my flexion down to 5 to 8 degrees at the top, the face was no longer dead shut before the downswing. At $275 to $345, it is the most expensive of the four, but it is the only tool that gives you wrist data you cannot feel. If you have been hooking for years and your feel is untrustworthy, this one pays for itself.

3. PlaneMate 2.0: $127 to $157

The PlaneMate is a resistance band system that wraps around your trail arm and clips to the club. It was designed to fix the over-the-top move that causes slices, but it works for hookers too. The band physically prevents the club from dropping too far inside. Try to come from the inside and the band tightens immediately. You are forced to stay on a neutral plane.

The drill: Clip the band to a 7-iron and make 20 slow swings. Keep the band taut through the downswing. If it goes slack, your hands have dropped inside. If it stays taut until your hands reach hip height, you are on plane. Alternate 10 swings with the band on and 10 without. Your normal club will feel like it is coming from the outside at first. That is the point. You are recalibrating.

Time commitment: 10 minutes, three times a week for two weeks. Pair with the Educator in week one.

What it fixed: The excessive inside path. After two weeks, my path went from 8 degrees in-to-out to 2. The ball started closer to my target. At $127 to $157, the PlaneMate costs about what one lesson with a PGA pro costs, but you can use it every day forever.

4. Alignment Sticks: $15 to $25

You already own alignment sticks. But I spent years using mine for foot alignment when I should have been using them for path correction.

The drill: Place one stick on the ground pointing at your target. Place a second stick two feet in front of the ball, angled about 10 degrees right of the target line. That second stick is your path limit. Your downswing should not cross inside it. Hit 20 balls with the sticks down, then 20 without. Alternate.

Time commitment: 10 minutes, twice a week at the range.

What it fixed: The visual feedback for path. The PlaneMate fixed the feel, but the sticks gave me the visual. When I could see my club staying outside the stick, I knew the path was neutral. At $15 to $25, this is the cheapest path fix in golf. Start using them for this drill, not just for foot alignment.

The Four-Week Plan

Week one: Educator for 5 minutes every day. HackMotion for 10 minutes, three times. Get the wrist data first. You cannot fix the path if your face is dead shut.

Week two: Keep the Educator daily. Add the PlaneMate three times a week. Start the alignment stick drill at the range. By the end of week two, your snap hook should be a controlled draw or a straight ball.

Week three: Wean off the Educator. Use it for the first 10 balls of every range session, then take it off. Keep the PlaneMate and alignment stick drills.

Week four: No Educator. HackMotion check once a week to make sure your wrist angles are not drifting. PlaneMate and alignment sticks as maintenance, twice a week.

What I Would Skip

The Divot Board at $40 to $60 is a good tool for low-point control, but it is not a hook fix. If your hook is purely a face and path problem, the Divot Board does not address either. Spend the $40 on the Educator instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a weaker grip fix my hook?

A weaker grip can help, but if you have been hooking for years, your hands know how to close the face no matter where they start. The Educator and HackMotion give you feedback that your grip change alone cannot. Change the grip, then use the aids to retrain the release.

Where to Buy

• Hook Fix Training Aids — Check price at Amazon

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