Golf Slice vs Hook: Understanding the Difference

Golf is a damn difficult sport, no question, and mastering different shot shapes helps when you get to that more intermediate/advanced level of the game.

You might be thinking, "hang on 'mastering' is a bit of a stretch" and you would be happy just getting the ball in the fairway on consecutive holes off the tee. That is a pain felt by every golfer at some point in time.

The majority of golfers tend to have a slice over a hook. 

Even so, understanding the differences between a slice vs hook, while making necessary changes to your swing mechanics, will help you control your ball flight more to stay out of trouble.

Key Takeaways

• Slice means your ball has too much curvature from left to right (as a righthanded golfer) mainly caused by an outside-to-in swing path.

• Hook means the opposite direction (right to left for righthanded golfers), mainly caused by closing the clubface too much and/or a swing path too inside-out.

• The majority of amateur golfers suffer from a slice rather than a hook.

• Work on getting a consistent inside-out swing path with a closely matching, slightly closed face-to-path for straighter shots or a draw.

The Terms: Slice vs Hook

A slice is a shot where the ball curves from left to right for a right-handed golfer. If you’re lucky, this means your ball will hug the tree line and stay in the rough or dive into a bunker.

More often than not, if your slice is bad enough, it also means your ball could end up in the water, forest, or some other hazard. 

Not only that, you will lose a fair amount of distance on your shots the more your slice is exaggerated. The slice is the most common problem with beginner golfers, who have a much more difficult time hitting driver with consistency.

A hook is a shot where the ball curves from right to left for a right-handed golfer. Again, this could have your ball in trouble but on the other side of the hole instead.

Left handed golfers, I didn't forget about you. Your slice will curve from right to left and a hook from left to right.

The below image illustrates a common result of your golf ball when you don't fix your slice or hook

Why do I Slice the Golf Ball and How Do I Stop?

Grip

One HUGE cause of a slice is an open clubface at impact. 

The big culprit as to why this happens is usually when you have a weak grip on the club, making it challenging to square the clubface during your swing.

To fix this, you can try adjusting your grip by seeing more knuckles on your top hand when holding the club, which will help close the clubface at impact and reduce the chances of slicing the ball.

Alignment

If your body is not correctly aligned with the target, it can affect your swing path and lead to a slice.

When addressing the ball, you have to have your feet, hips, and shoulders are all parallel to your target line to maintain proper posture throughout your swing.

Use alignment sticks on the range to practice what it feels like to set up correctly when aiming at your target.

Outside-to-in Swing Path

Another factor that contributes to a golf slice is an outside-to-in swing path. This path can cause the club to make contact with the ball at an incorrect angle, sending it off its intended line. To properly learn how to correct a slice, you should really learn how to hit a draw.

Often, golfers hinge their wrists too early at the start of their backswing causing the swing path to become inside quickly, sending the rest of the swing out of sorts. To help correct this, focus on your takeaway and initiate it with your shoulders rather than your hands, with your wrists not hinging at first.

A good example of this is if you have ever seen Justin Thomas' pre-shot routine, as he struggled with bringing the club inside too early on his takeaway and worked hard on correcting to be more consistent.

Also, try a drill where you put a water bottle about a foot behind your ball and practice the start of your swing takeaway with firm hands, tapping the water bottle with the back of the clubface to get a feel for this motion.

The downswing is another big area that can affect your ball flight. If your downswing is too steep, it can lead to an outside-to-in swing path and ultimately a slice. The outside-to-in swing path can also lead to inconsistent contact, and even hitting shanks. 

There are many tips out there that mention maintaining angle between your arm and club shaft to ensure a more inside-to-out swing path, but I find it difficult trying to remember all the geometry points on the range.

One of my favorite tips to promote an inside-to-out swing, and one that helped my swing tremendously, is to visualize your swing almost in a reverse figure 8 motion. It is something that feels counterintuitive to the average golfer. Let me explain...

If you picture a shot tracer that makes a blue line following your club head movement, the majority of golfers with slice issues will have a figure 8 pattern that shows them bringing the club back on the backswing and then up and over the top on the downswing, almost like chopping wood with an axe (a bit exaggerated, but try it out for yourself and visualize).

This is not what you want.

Instead, combine the water bottle takeaway drill from above and visualize the reverse figure 8 pattern for your swing path (I told you, it WILL feel counterintuitive at first).

Start your backswing and feel the swing path of a reverse figure 8 coming down inside; it will promote an inside-out plane on your downswing causing better lag and a squarer clubface at impact with the ball.

If you follow the reverse figure 8 concept, your downswing will promote an inside-out plane as per the green arrow in the image below. You do not want to follow the red trajectory, which would promote coming over the top causing a slice

I promise, if you understand the concept of this motion and practice enough on the range to incorporate it naturally into your swing, it will eliminate one of the biggest issues that the average golfer encounters and you can focus on other aspects of your game.

What Causes a Golf Hook?

You can basically think of it as the opposite of a slice. Club face might be too closed and your swing path is becoming TOO inside-out.

This results in the ball spinning in a clockwise direction, causing it to curve left, right before you yell “FORE!”

Now, it is highly recommended that your swing plane is inside-out when trying to improve your swing, however, if it is too exaggerated or you are closing the club head on impact it will cause this hook.

Well balanced stance ready for downswing transition and wrist rotation to square the clubface at impact

Stance and Alignment

Incorrect alignment and posture may also lead to hooks. When you set up for your shot, check that your feet, hips, and shoulders are parallel to the target line.

Choose an intermediate target to aim at a few feet in front of your ball, which will help with proper alignment.

Additionally, make sure your weight distribution is balanced throughout your swing, avoiding leaning too far back on your downswing.

Conclusion

Thanks for checking out the Golfer Performance breakdown of the slice vs hook in golf.

Take it from me, if you put a bit of effort into understanding which of the common causes are impacting your swing, you can start attacking them.

Once you correct what can be a frustrating and expensive (if you play courses with a lot of water) issue, you can move on to other techniques and keep getting strokes off your card!

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