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I don’t mean for the title to
seem complicated; the concept is really simple. To evolve a
dynamic, efficient golf swing, certain parts have to grow.
When those parts become too powerful and top-heavy, another
force is then needed to offset that (now too big) force.
What I’m talking about is the
interplay between hook, and body motion.
I will try to explain:
The road to great golf goes
from slice, to hook, then to great golf. I first heard Hank
Haney say that at a teaching Summit in Dallas many years
ago. I have used that theme in my teaching ever since, to
great success if I may say so. He went on to say that a
slicer will never improve much, because the harder they hit,
the more it slices.
I would add, that if you
slice, then you had better restrict the body motion
through the shot, because again, it would make you slice
more. Also, slicers usually compensate by aiming left, and
swinging even more left (righty golfer). Now you have 2
problems! Enough said. Learn to not slice, by learning to
hook. In some ways you are being inoculated with a mild
form of the disease, to insure you will be immune! More on
that later.
Once a golfer can hit a
hook by squaring club by rotating the forearms, only then
can great weight shift and hip turn be introduced, to then
take away the hook. In essence, you are still hooking, but
hooking LATER. Another word for this is lag.
When the dynamic play
between hook and body motion are properly working, great
ball striking is the result.
How to hook: The
following information is for slicers only (85% of the
golfing population). Hookers can skip to the next part.

Next time you drive in your
car, and have to take a sharp turn to the left, you are
making the motion to learn a hook; both forearms are
rotating to the left. This makes the face also rotate,
resulting in the face close-ing through impact. Do it soon
enough, and the ball will hook.
I sometimes tell my
students that I am a traffic cop, and this is a
left-turn-only zone. If it goes to the right, you’ll get a
ticket. Turn left, and do it for a few weeks before going
to part 2. The best transfer athletes from other sports to
golf, is racecar drivers; I believe the reason is that they
know how to turn left.
How to get rid of the
hook:
You might say, you have
been inoculated with a mild form of the disease, to make you
better later. Certainly a big hook is not desired on the
course, it is only a step in the development process.
To get rid of it, shift
your hips to the left, as you turn them in a rotary
fashion. (Turn into your left leg). This motion carries
the hook motion more to the left, causing it to happen
later. Back to Mario Andretti, you still want to turn left,
but now do it at the last moment possible. The result is
that magical feeling called lag.
This is the process, in the
simplest form I can put it, to develop a quality golf
striking motion. Good Luck.
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