A common cause of a hooked tee-shot is over-active wrists in the downswing. Practicing hitting knock down shots is really effective at reducing wrist movements. To properly perform this shot, you need to keep the clubface square to the target line as long as possible. Practicing hitting knock downs while focusing on trying not to be wristy. You’ll be impressed at how effective it is at fixing a hook.
Take a look at the image to the right – look at how delayed my wrist release is, even when the club is only two feet from the ball on the downswing, my wrists have yet to uncock. Practicing this move will not only help your knock downs, but it will increase your ability to create lag and thus more distance and also reduce your wrist movements in the downswing. This is because one of the tricks to hitting a solid knock down is to hold off the rotation of the clubface after impact – think about trying to finish your swing low and with the clubface still facing the target.
Try this fun drill out, grab range buckets and a rod of some sort (I used a wooden doweling from an old broom in this video). Pick a club, preferably a 6-3 iron, and set up a bridge like the one I did in the video) and try to hit underneath it. I was hitting a 5 iron for the video, and I was able to hit it about 180 yards, but only about 6 yards above the ground (on the lowest level). It’s a tough drill.. but definitely a fun one. Try it out!