Snap hook on everything

I've been really struggling since the middle of last year. It started with me snap hooking my driver, then progressed to my long irons and then to a big hook with my mid irons.

My handicap ballooned up 3 strokes because of this, and I know I'm a much better golfer than I'm scoring. Current handicap is 19.9.

Here is what I think the problems are.

1. My grip is to strong. I try to correct it but always end up falling back into my old ways.
2. I release the club really late, which causes me to come into contact way to steep. Which can be proven by my HUGE divots.

When I'm hitting the ball straight I'll usually shoot around a 43 on 9 holes. A more average round of 9 is about a 47-48 for me. When I'm hooking as bad as I am now it's probably 5 strokes worse.

I've only been out 3 times this year. First round I was trying to shallow out my swing a little and couldn't get good contact. 2nd round I hit the ball pretty good but had a significant hook. Parred 3 out of 9 holes which is a pretty decent round for me. My last round was ugly. I snap hooked just about every shot. Double bogeyed about every hole except my last which I birdied (got to have one good hole to keep me coming back).

Here is my other issue when I am hitting it straight. Off the tee I'm always hitting a low line drive shot. I like a fairly low penetrating drive do to the winds we always have here but still need more carry than what I'm getting.

I think I can work on the grip myself, just a matter of incorporating it into my pre-shot routine. Any suggestions on flattening my swing out would be appreciated.

If I lose some power flattening my swing out, it won't be a big issue. As I'm pretty long with my irons currently.

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Dan,

Looks like you have a flip in the wrists closing the face down at impact. This is probably the most common reason. Work the Right hand drill for a session at the range and see if that helps. If you are not flipping, look at your divot (that deep hole in the gound you have been creating), where is it pointing? If it is to the left, you are probably on an "out-to-in" path. If your face is square to that path, you won't will feel it in the hands as a flip, but still causing pulls, to slight pull-draws. Work the hips first, then the shoulders, the arms, then the hands last to try to get rid of the dreaded cast.

Without seeing the swing, post one if these 2 are not helping. Also remember, this is the beginning of the season (for the nothern hemisphere), so your swing will be out of whack if you haven't been practicing in teh snow and ice! Be patient and work drills at the range a lot before going out and playing.

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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

I'm pretty sure I'm not casting the club, if anything I'm releasing it to late. My divots are pretty much in line with my target line.

Does flipping my wrists mean rotating them closed. If that's the case I might be doing that as I was hitting a lot of straight shots well right of target last year and started rotating my wrists to temporarily fix the problem. I don't think I'm doing that now, but I won't know until I take some video.

It's supposed to be pretty nice tomorrow, besides the wind so I'll try to get to the range and get a video taken. What clubs should I video besides my driver? Which I'm sure I have a ton of problems with besides what I have on my irons.

__________________
TaylorMade Rac Lt. These sticks are awesome!!!!

Now featuring brand new TaylorMade Burner Draw 10.5, Stiff Shaft.

if you are taking huge divots, there is a chance your swing upright. ie your lifting the club up and then down. check 3 things
grip - as you said - should not be too strong
stance - good posture with enough spine tilt, arms should hang straight down and do not reach for the ball.
alignment - most players face to far right. this can cause pulls and hooks because you are trying to get the ball back at the target.

Danny:i know of what you speak.i too have fought the hook/pull hook/duck hook for the last year..and for the last year i have put a lot of effort into finding the cause and cure.Like you i have a natural inside out swing that will put the hook spin on the ball.After endless balls at the range i finally isolated the problem..in my takeaway at waist high position my clubface would be closed..but why?I had a backswing that was too upright literally going too far up the line.This was not letting my RIGHT ELBOW TO FOLD properly.But instead it was flying out to the right closing down the clubface on the backswing and on the downswing.To correct this i started my takeaway with my LEFT shoulder TURNING to the right(not dipping)and letting the elbow fold up against my rib cage on the way back.Now you cant hold it there or it will surely wreck your shot..but merely let it separate as you PUSH the club on up to the top with your left shoulder and hips(without swaying of course)and then just lead down with the hip bump to the left.Yesterday i hit drives with my Taylor Made 3 metal that would make Greg Norman proud.Long and straight with sometimes a slight draw.Later on.. on the back 9 i snapped hooked it again..My wife who was playing along side me saw that i DIDNT let the RIGHT ELBOW FOLD rather letting it fly..result a closed clubface and a huge hook.I really have to guard against this flaw.I find that when i take the club back SLOWER and getting that LEFT SHOULDER TURNING TO START the takeaway..i usually get it folded properly letting the club square up.Sorry for the long post but when i read your post it sounded oh so familiar!!But i tell ya Danny..with this takeaway and the folding of the right elbow the swing feels really compact and your balance is much better and the shots fly straight!!David..ps and i swing the same swing with the irons and they have Dramatically improved!!

Well I took some video the other day, but none of it turned out to be worth looking at. My camera just doesn't capture enough frames per second. Out of about 20 swings I didn't get any frames near impact to look at what my hands were doing.

I changed my grip with my left hand a bit and that seemed to give me the opposite problem now.