And yet, on many occasions when I have made this simple explanation of how to hook and slice, I have had pupils throw their hands up in the air, as if in horror, and many have come forth with the same statement. "I don't want to be a tournament player. I don't want to hook or slice. I just want to hit a straight ball."
Well, the truth of the situation is that in all games where a ball is used, the basis and the measure of control that is developed is the amount and type of spin or English applied to the ball.
Of course, the object, the goal, the desire in golf is to drive the straight ball, but that perfect club position, the one that drives the ball straight, is the in-between position that is incapable of description, because it is neither open nor is it closed.
To express it another way, unless a player can distinguish between the open and the closed position he will never learn to steer that middle course, the square position.
One more comment before going into the detail of how and when the hands work in a golf shot. In some circles, the matter of hooking and slicing is taught as being a matter of foot position or stance, and it won't be denied that if a player takes an open stance, advancing the right foot to the forward position, there is a tendency to slice the ball.
On the other hand, if the player assumes a closed stance, moving the right foot back, then a tendency to hook the ball is developed.
This change of stance is by no means a positive method of hooking or slicing. It is only a means of creating a change of movement in the body which might influence the hands to bring the club into position to produce the desired result or effect. But if the hands do not respond, or if they act contrarily, then a hook can result from an open stance, and a slice might result from a closed stance. All of which proves that the positive control of the direction of a golf shot is entirely within the province of the hands. continue the crux of the golf stroke...