Hook vs Slice: Learn to Hit Both — So You Stop Hitting Them by Accident

Stop letting your ball flight control your game and start taking control of it. If you’re the golfer who hits 35 slices in a row on the range, it is time to change that. Learning to hit a hook on purpose can teach you exactly what you need to fix a slice. If you are ready to take control of your golf shots, here is what you need to know about the hook vs slice and how to hit both.

Hook vs. slice: What’s the difference?

To start out, let’s look at the difference between the hook and the slice.

• Hook: A shot that curves hard from right to left for a right-handed golfer (left to right for a left-handed golfer).
• Slice: A shot that curves hard from left to right for a right-handed golfer (right to left for a left-handed golfer).

Both shots happen because of a mismatch between your clubface angle and your swing path at impact.

How to hit a slice on purpose

Most of the time, golfers research how to fix a slice or how to stop hitting a slice. This is a bit of a different approach that teaches you how to hit a slice so that if you run into an issue with a slice on the course, you should understand the fundamentals of how to fix it.

To hit a slice for right-handed golfers):

• Aim your body left of your target
• Open the clubface slightly
• Grip the club as it’s set up with a slightly open face
• Swing along your body line, (left of your target), not toward the target

How to hit a hook on purpose

The hook tends to be the less common miss for amateur players when compared to the slice. The tricky thing about a hook is that it tends to go a long way. Hooks roll for a while, so you’ll probably watch this one get further and further away from you.

To hit a hook (right-to-left shot for right-handed golfers):

• Aim your body right of your target
• Close the clubface so it points slightly left of the target
• Grip the club as-is, with the face already closed
• Swing along your body line, (out to the right), not toward the target

How to fix your miss: Think in opposites

When I was teaching golf, one of the fastest ways I found to help a golfer stop slicing was to ask them to try hitting a hook. Not because I wanted them to start hooking, but because in the process of exaggerating the opposite motion, they often landed somewhere in the middle.

The same logic works for hooks. Feel what it takes to leave the face open and swing across your body. By learning to create both shapes, you’ll start to understand how the golf swing works.

Most golfers who slice the ball don’t know why it happens. They know it’s infuriating. Once the slice becomes their default miss, they aim further left to compensate.

That adjustment usually makes the slice worse.

What to do instead

If you are on the golf course and start running into trouble with a hook or a slice, these are the steps to take:

• Don’t aim away from your miss: Learn to correct it. The more you understand what creates each shape, the quicker you’ll be able to adjust mid-round and get back on track.
• If you’re slicing golf shots: Try to hit a hook on purpose. Aim slightly right, feel the face close down through impact, and swing more from the inside.
• If you’re hooking golf shots: Try to slice it. Aim left, feel the clubface stay open, and swing on a straighter path.
• Grip check: Many slicers use a weak grip. Strengthen it slightly by rotating your lead hand until you can see two or three knuckles at the address.

Final thoughts

There are many ways to fix a slice, but sometimes the fastest solution is learning how to hit one on purpose. Here’s the good news: by learning both shots, you improve your ability to fix your miss and gain a new skill. Knowing how to hit a slice or a hook will help you when working the ball around trouble. Knowing how to curve the ball, whether a tree, a dogleg, or a tucked pin, puts you in control.