1. I have this problem with hooking the ball off the tee. Not the classic draw that all the pros say recreational players should learn how to hit.

It’s more like a hook that looks like it’s turning down even as it’s rising off the ground, if it even gets that high. Low left, aim at the right edge of the fairway and hope it doesn’t run out into the rough on the other side.

All in all, a useless shot, and I’ve had enough. If this shot is yours, too, pay attention.

I teed the ball lower, aimed a bit left, squared the clubface to my aim line, and took the club back a bit outside. I brought it into the ball a bit outside, too. Not a lot, a bit. It doesn’t take much of a change in impact geometry to make a big difference.

The result is a shot that takes off along the aim line, gets good elevation, turns a bit to the right and stays in the fairway. Love that last bit.

And it stayed in, shot after shot. Try this if low, running hooks with your driver are making you crazy.

2. They say “14 clubs, one swing.” (Well, maybe not your putter.) I don’t agree. The swing I described to you above works with my hybrid irons, too, but not with my irons, especially my short irons.

The swing I find more productive with those clubs is my standard swing, which brings the clubhead into the ball low and on line. I can keep the clubface square with my irons more easily than with the longer clubs, so it all works out.

That means I have two swings, one for the big-headed clubs, and another for the small-headed clubs.

3. Want to know how to hit that wedge shot that flies low into the green, bites once, and stops? It’s easy.

Hit it with a sand wedge by taking the clubhead back very low and letting the wrists hinge. As the clubhead comes back into the ball, let the wrists hinge back to where they were at address as you meet the ball, but at that point arrest the hinging. Keep the back of the left hand in a straight line with the left arm as you follow through.

Important! Keep the clubhead very low in the follow-through, and keep the clubface aimed at your target. Do not let it rotate over.

All this will put lots of spin on the ball. It will hit and stop within a few feet of where it lands.

Use this shot if you have to chip from, say, twenty yards to a pin in front with no room for roll-out. You get that a lot, and if you can hit this shot, you’ll get up and down at last.