by Lawrence Poploski

Created on: November 17, 2009

Old time great Tommy Bolt was in the midst of a tournament playing well when his game was suddenly afflicted by the snap hooks. After pounding the last of several tee shots out of bounds left, he gingerly walked over to a rose bush near the end of the tee and raked his bare right hand back and forth across the thorns, tearing up his skin in a blootletting display of anger still talked about today. Staring menacingly at his right hand, he exclaimed "that's the last time you ruin my game." The lesson to be learned ihere s two-fold: one, it's your right hand that is usually responsible for the dreaded snap hooks and second, there are better ways to fix a duck hook than intentional injury.

I've suffered from the duck hooks on many occasions. What's disturbing is a duck hook is almost always hit by a powerful swing, one that is not that far off from dead center perfection. At the critical moment of impact, the hands and forearms roll over, closing the club face in a violent manner that sends the ball hard left. It's a very unpleasant feeling. I once stood on the tee of a par-5 with out-of-bounds lining the left side and smacked 5 consecutive tee shots over the fence into a corn field. Having only one ball left in my back, I tossed my driver in digust down the fairway and teed up a pitching wedge. I also snap hooked that club, but thankfully it hit the fence and bounced back right into the fairway about as far as I whirly birded my offending driver. When I walked off the green, I carded 14 blows and laughter and sympathy from my playing partners.

I learned how to guard against the snap hook. One thing that works especially well is paying attention to the most basic fundamentals of the golf swing beginning with the grip. Snap hookers more often than not have their right hand riding "high" on the top of the club, with the "V" of the right hand turned noticeably to the left. If you start with a grip adjust ment, chances are it will be the cure you seek. Simply place your hands in a more neutral position, elbows pointing down, and take a swing, Doing this prevents the right hand from dominating the downswing. Because it's in a neutral position, neither strong nor weak, neither hand has a chance to take over the swing especially at the critical moment of impact. As with almost all golf swing problems, it's getting back to the core fundamentals - grip, ball position, posture and stance - that effects a cure. The snap hook is a very easy problem to fix, and simple is always better when making corrections. Enjoy the game! Until then, fore.

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