How to Fix a Duck Hook with the Driver
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Have you ever been on the golf course or driving range and wondered how to fix a duck hook with the driver?
The duck hook is a shot that nobody wants to hit – especially if there is trouble down the left side of the fairway.
Neal was experiencing some of the same issues and wrote:
I’ve been struggling lately with my driving. I’ve been hitting a duck hook with the driver, and I would love to be able to hit the ball straighter. Do you have any suggestions to help me out?
Before we get started, there is one thing I would like to bring to your attention, which is the importance of where you are striking the ball on the clubface.
I would like you to get a cannister of Dr. Scholl’s foot spray, and lightly spray the face of your driver.
After you’ve done this, I’d like you to hit a few shots.
The chalk on the face will give you visual feedback, showing you where you’re striking the ball. If the ball marks happen to be out on the toe, this is contributing to the excess curvature that you’re experiencing on your tee shots.
We must address and fix this issue before we start working on anything else.
If the ball marks are in the middle of the clubface, and you are still struggling with a duck hook, then this next segment is going to be for you.
How to Fix a Duck Hook with the Driver
I am going to use alignment rods to explain what’s going on with your duck hook.
First, the golf club on the ground is going to represent our intended target line.
When you’re hitting a duck hook, what’s happening is that your club face is pointing left of your target, and the swing path is significantly right your target.
From the picture below, you can see the alignment rod that is pointing left of the intended target line represents the clubface, and the alignment rod that pointing to the right of the intended target line represents the path.
The greater the difference between our face and path the more the ball is going to curve.
To reduce the curve, we are going to have to close this gap.
To ultimately hit a straight shot at the target, we will need our face and path to align at impact in relation to the intended target.
I find with some students when they see the ball starting left and then curving even more left , their instinct is to swing the club out to right field as far as they can to correct the problem.
Unfortunately, this exacerbates the problem, because the greater the difference between our face and path, the more the ball is going to curve.
How to Fix a Duck Hook with the Driver Drill
I’m going to give you a drill to practice when you go to the range.
First, we are going to address the path, and secondly we will address the face.
I want you to grab a head cover. We are going to use this to help change the path of the club.
Start with making a few swings.
If you find that you’re catching the head cover on your follow through, this will indicate that the path of the club is going too far right (i.e. too far out to right field).
This drill will force you to swing the club more around your body, in an effort avoid the head cover.
This will help produce a more efficient path.
Initially, when you start hitting shots, a lot of them will go left; this is because your clubface is likely still going to be aiming left of your target at impact.
If this happens, I don’t want you to worry about it.
As time goes by, you will instinctually learn to correct the clubface, as it will feel more open to what it originally was. But in reality, the clubface will be aiming to where you want the ball to start (i.e right down the target line).
What we are trying to do is to reduce the difference between where the face was originally aiming at impact and where the path was travelling. As the relationship between the face and the path tapers, the curvature of the ball will decrease.
The end goal is to get the face and path to align at impact in relation to your target. When this happens, you’ll hit dead straight shots every time.
One Final Consideration…
Finally, if you are fortunate to have access to a Flightscope or Trackman unit, ask your golf professional if your angle of attack is influencing your path.
For those of you you who hit down excessively on a driver, this attack angle will have a big influence on the path.
The more you hit down on a shot, the further your path gets pushed out to the right.
Remember, the greater the difference between the face and path, the more curvature you’ll see on your shots.
Having a shallower angle of attack will reduce the amount the path gets pushed to the right. In turn, this will make it easier to produce an efficient path, resulting in straighter and more consistent shots.
