Greg's Right Hand drill and hooking????

I have worked on using my right hand according to Greg Willis' drill and now I'm afraid that I've got a little too much hook as a result of the drill. Does anyone have any suggestions on why? Is this normal for the right hand drill and has anyone else ran into this problem?

First guess: you are still releasing the cup into impact. Doing the drill forces the trailing hand to stay in this exaggerated position through the while swing, you might be releasing it and just not feel it anymore. Doing drills a lot, it is easy to get out of the sensation it originally gave you, and you might be falling back to your old ways.

Also another guess: Hooks are generally caused by a shut face at impact, right?...So it could already shut at setup while doing the drill correct...so look at the grip. Might need to weaken it slightly.

Or

Your swing path might be excessively in-to-out with a square face...this will draw the ball...you will start out to the right of the target and hook it in and sometimes it just keeps hooking too far. This is the least likely reason...but still putting it out there.

__________________
I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

Greg,
Thanks for the reply. So if I understand your answer from the first part of your post, I should keep my right hand in the cupped position throughout the swing? I watched the video on your website and understand the position of the right hand and body in the downswing but I'm not too sure I understand the release from this position. My swatting brain wants to swat at the ball at impact and I haven't quite got the up/down release part figured out yet.

Hey Greg, You got some great info in your videos. I saw a instant improvement in my game once I changed my swing. Thumbs up to you!

Thanks Jimbud... glad it helped!

Blackie, yes in the DRILL you keep the cup throughout the 1/2 to 3/4 swings. This is designed to get you to feel what it is like to not swat. Then when the full swing happens without the drill, you attempt to maintain the cup, but natural forces take over and the cup is not as pronounced. The idea is the same though, that you do not want to have the trailing wrist flip the club through impact, have your hip and shoulder rotation do that for your power, and use the hands to control the club for shape and hight.

"Release" in the impact position is nothing more then allowing the trailing side overtake the leading. Hands will roll over, trailing arm will extend, wrist hinge will go from a vertical up-to-down...all this as the last action into the ball. If the body leads into impact, this creates lag of the arms and wrists. Relaxation of the arms and hands is essential to allow for a fuller range of motion. Tense arms and hands cause short bursts of power that are hard to time...short range of motions do not have the same ability to accelerate.

To properly hinge the wrists up and down, just set the club up and over your trailing shoulder. Then bring it back down to setup. Don't rotate anything here, just practice the club raising up and over your shoulder...keeping your leading arm straight. This will give you proper feeling of the up/down in your hands. Then all you do is incorporate the takeaway as a rotation of the shoulders 90 degrees back, letting the hips maintain balance.

__________________
I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

Hey Greg, Your right hand drill works great with the irons as I noted earlier. Is this lesson transferable when using my driver or fairway woods? If not what changes do I need to look at. Thanks!

Thanks Greg.

Excellent post!

Yes, it is the same for the woods.

One last question Greg. On the right hand up/down movement I noticed in video that the clubface on the downswing is pointing almost directly away or parallel with the target line until right before impact when the wrists/hands move the club back down from the up position. That being the case, and to get this movement down correctly, should I assume that the back of the hand should not move toward the forearm, i.e., the knuckles move closer to the elbow, and that the hand maintains a cupped position but moves up, i.e, the the thumb and forefinger moves toward the chest? Thanks again. Blackie

Yes, that sounds good..."the the thumb and forefinger moves toward the chest".

Thanks for clearing that up. Now practice, practice, practice...

I know this sounds odd but to get rid of my hook I feel like im swinging more up and through the ball than around it (with my hands). Shift left, swing *up* and out (not down and around)

Sometimes I need to go excessively the other way to help straighten me out