Instruction
Understanding “open-faced hooks”
At the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Dustin Johnson hit an ugly quacker (read snap hook) off the tee on Tuesday afternoon that was headed in the general direction of Haleakala. After the shot, NBC’s broadcast team, Johnny Miller and Gary Koch, decided to take a look at what happened.
They zoomed in to impact using the high-speed Konica Minolta Swing Vision Camera and saw that as Johnson’s club collided with the ball, his club face opened — massively! The booth went silent briefly, as Miller and Koch were flummoxed by the fact that Johnson’s club face was opened and he still managed to hook it off the planet. After realizing that they had dead air, they probably figured:
“Hey, we have to say something!”
So Miller went on to talk about how Johnson must have opened the face at impact to try and hook the ball less, or that maybe he was trying to fade the ball, but opened the club too late. Sound hard to believe? That’s because it’s total nonsense.
Here’s what actually happened — when the golf ball collided with the toe of Johnson’s club, the face opened and gave the ball hook spin. It’s a phenomenon called horizontal gear effect, which is what created the spin axis that caused Johnson’s ball to hook. To say or believe anything otherwise is to go against what science knows. DJ hit a toe hook; it couldn’t have been more obvious.
This harks back to an article I wrote some time ago about controlling the face after impact, in which I pointed out that a player CANNOT control the face upon and immediately after collision if the hit misses the center of the face. But apparently Miller and the old school team still seem to think you can. I was saddened to hear the announcers try to explain what happened using antiquated theories that have since been proven wrong by Dopplar radar systems such as TrackMan and FlightScope, as well as other new technologies.
I am not going out of my way to criticize Johnny Miller, Gary Koch or anyone else at the network, but I am saying this: The job of commentating on national television brings with it a great responsibility to the viewers. The vast majority of viewers will take the word of these experts as Gospel; no questions asked. So they have the responsibility to stay abreast of all the latest science and what is being learned about impact.
It would be easy for me, as a teacher, to bury my head in the sand, never read another book, never attend another seminar and just go on teaching what I taught before the enlightement era. But I can’t. I am a professional. I charge for my services, and therefore have the responsibility to my students to learn all we know TODAY. I would think the famous ex-players who comment on swings and things should have the same responsibility. In this case, explaining to the audience what caused DJ to hit a toe hook might have been of great help to many watching and listening.
Like it or not, we are living in the “teacher era.” Gone are the days when the top players teach golf. Why? Because staying on top of all the latest information is a full-time job. It is wonderful to hear Miller and others tell us about how they played certain shots, course management, reading greens and how to handle pressure — for that, I’m all ears. But as for impact principles and swing science, Miller and Koch are still living in the days they played, and I think we should hold them to a higher standard.
As always, feel free to send a swing video to my Facebook page and I will do my best to give you my feedback.
Click here for more discussion in the “Instruction & Academy” forums.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Dennis Clark
Jan 31, 2013 at 9:41 am
path to face insignificant with extreme toe or heel hits. Could be +5, 0, or -5 path and toe will still have hook spin. Lie angle with 8 degree club has minimal effect compared to say 60 degree wedge.
paul
Jan 22, 2013 at 10:56 am
Great point! However, until we know how upright/flat his driver head is, we cannot know how much of the hook was caused by the gear effect. It also depends on club path. That is, if he swung 10* in to out, then 9* open face will still draw the ball. If the driver head is 7* upright, which is not unusual for a driver, then it will exaggerate the hook. That means that even if it was not toe shot, you can still hit a hook if by an in to out club path and an upright lie angle. Lie angle contributes to the side spin significantly.
By the way, I didn’t watch the tournament, but did they actually show where on the club face the impact was made? If so, how far off the center?
Austin
Jan 15, 2013 at 6:27 am
Good info and comments. Thanks DC.
John
Jan 14, 2013 at 11:48 pm
Sounds like an extreme version of the ol’ “toe-ball draw.” I’m good for at least one and as many as three a round.
paul
Jan 14, 2013 at 9:25 pm
Last summer i was driving a ball with a terrible shaft in my 909 D2, i hit a tried to kill it at the start of a long par 5, I caught the ball on the toe and could feel the shaft twist. i saw the ball start off left then hook right (yes Im left). It blew my mind because I didn’t know that was possible. Nice to read an article on it, though it wasn’t that tough to figure out what happened when you hold the club, but probably harder to understand when you are watching it on tv.
Doug
Jan 13, 2013 at 2:56 pm
The center and heel portion of the club head travel forward faster than the toe, since they are not “restricted” due to running into the mass of the golf ball, like the toe. This is the same as the clubhead rotating clockwise, while it is in contact with the golf ball. The golf ball rotates CCW (like a gear would) and boom you get hook spin. Not even Johnny Miller can stop the club head from rotating, much less Chuck Norris. The roatation itself (torsional compliance) can come all of the above: shaft twist, club grip twist, gripping, hand/wrist rotation. Yes I am an engineer.
andy
Jan 13, 2013 at 3:30 pm
Nice exlanation Doug…you should have been in that booth with JM & PK.
Dennis Clark
Jan 13, 2013 at 7:14 pm
There is also evidence to suggest that the head of the club has no influence at this point; that it is basically a free flying object through the ball sans player control? Again as a teacher, not a scientist, this is not my professional area of expertise but maybe you science-minded types might find it interesting to kick it around. Enjoyed the engineering perspective Doug, DC
4G
Jan 14, 2013 at 1:06 pm
That depends on HOW MUCH WEIGHT you have on the toe or the heel. The amount of force generated horizontally = fulcrum point = of the hosel will influence how much twisting there is at that point, therefore the shaft. To counter that effect, if you were to have enough weight towards the toe = would probably mean a HUGE swingweight to that end = you might lessen the twisting gear = but you also would have to be able to hang on to it! And by HUGE weight, I mean as much as it is necessary to counter the hit force generated at impact to equal the stabilizing of the shaft twist at the hosel. Ya dig? The opposite would be true, of course, if you were to have NO WEIGHT at all whatsoever at the toe but all the weight on the heel = that is, way above the total head of the club, lets say = can you imagine the twist? You would have no control over the toe end of the club.
4G
Jan 14, 2013 at 1:09 pm
Sorry, what I forgot to add was:
imagine a door with the hinge. The hinge would be the hosel/shaft. What would you have to to make the door from NOT swinging, thereby making the handle end to move equally in one direction thereby knocking the door down cleanly off its hinge? That’s the resistance at the hinge, you see? And that’s the tricky thing about engineering a club head that works well with all these weight configurations and such.
Rohan
Jan 29, 2013 at 7:49 am
Hi Guys, glad to see people catching on. I use global play golfs impact analyser and have seen these results for six years now but nobody believed me. Seeing wether the head is moving counter clockwise (ccw)or clockwise before impact and what happens during and after impact is essential to teach and club fit these days
MainMan
Jan 13, 2013 at 9:22 am
Surely you aren’t going out of your way to criticize the Announcing Booth, but in an article titled “Understanding The Open Faced Hook”, there is only one paragraph about the open faced hook, and the rest is criticizing the booth. I love your tips and articles, but this one fell kind of short, according to the title. No offense.
Dennis Clark
Jan 13, 2013 at 7:21 pm
No offense taken and all comments welcome…Maybe a better title might have been, “understanding Horizontal Gear Effect”. Maybe next Ill do something on not hitting the toe…Thx DC
yo!
Jan 13, 2013 at 1:58 am
Funny that I came across this article again. Different type of shot but made me think about how a shot is made. Dogleg right and I tried to hit a fade with an open stance and weak grip. It was a soft draw. Not exactly sure how I did that. Thankfully, shot still worked out ok.
stevie lee
Jan 12, 2013 at 9:07 pm
even i was able to tell he opened ‘too much’ and created hook by reading your article while back… i was also sad to head what the announcers said about his swing.
Dennis Clark
Jan 12, 2013 at 9:29 pm
Steve: not so much “he” opened- more like he couldnt stop it from opening when the contact was that much out on the toe. Not even the worlds strongest man can resist the twist. Thanks for reading. DC
stevie lee
Jan 13, 2013 at 10:07 am
i thought DJ had in to out swing path and opened club face to hit a draw but opened ‘too much’ and that created snap hook. so you are say that his club face got twisted as he made contact with the ball at toe, so my question is that does that contribute to the ball flight as well? or it does not because it got twisted after the impact? or does it contribute ever so slightly? thank you very much!
Josh
Jan 12, 2013 at 8:23 pm
Not even a mention of swing path? I know how gear effect works, but I do not believe simply hitting off the toe created the “snap hook”
Dennis Clark
Jan 12, 2013 at 9:27 pm
Final comment here: face to path causes curve WHEN THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF THE CLUB AND THE CENTER LINE OF THE BALL MEET. Today i saw a 4 degree closed face (closed TO THE PATH)create right axis tilt and a fade. Again when you see these readings day in and day out, they are as clear as a bell. I read the machine, i watch the ball, voila!Thx for reading. DC
tlmck
Jan 12, 2013 at 9:11 am
All I know is I play a nice tight draw with my 2 degree open face angle driver.
yo!
Jan 11, 2013 at 6:46 pm
Technical stuff probably not suitable for TV commentators or for their audience. Not sure if Dennis would be a suitable TV commentator, but he is easily one of the best writer with useful information for GolfWRX.
Steve
Jan 11, 2013 at 4:06 pm
So, as a follow-up…since the clubhead opened as a result of the off center toe contact, does the shaft twist, does the shaft tur within your grip, or are your hands moved as a result?
Amir
Jan 12, 2013 at 9:05 am
IMO the whole club goes in the initial direction that it was intended to, but it’s because of the face being closed in relation to its path. Imagine swinging to a tree that is 30 yards right , but your clubface is pointing at a bunker which is 15 yards right (both in relation to the target[the flag]). That difference is what caused the “hook spin” or in trackman terms , axis tilt which causes the ball to spin to the left.
Dennis Clark
Jan 11, 2013 at 2:32 pm
I think listening, reading and all forms of learning are best done with a questioning mind. Thx for comments
Nihonsei
Jan 11, 2013 at 9:16 am
Yes great article, I read another recently that spoke of open face draws with a sing plane even further right! Thanks for the updated info but science as truth??? That’s like saying that Pi never terminates, oh it? Ohhh???
Mat t Newby, PGA
Jan 10, 2013 at 10:18 pm
Dennis,
Great read. As a PGA Professional I cannot tell you how often I am pained by some of the scientific inaccuracies we hear from commentators. Don’t get me wrong there are varying principles and different ways to do things but there are also some things that are simply fact. Frankly it makes our job more difficult because now we have to explain to our clients why that is incorrect, and of course people love hearing what they heard on TV is wrong.
Tim Boegh, PGA
Jan 11, 2013 at 8:14 am
I agree great read! Being a PGA Professional I have to deal with this every day. Some of my best players in the world are amazed when you explain to them why certain things happens when it comes to ball flight. Better education leads to better players!