Looking at the image, and knowing designers assumed the cable would rebound before being cought by the hook, the original design of the hook itself makes sense:

Looking at the image, and knowing designers assumed the cable would rebound before being cought by the hook, the original design of the hook itself makes sense: catch the cable in the air and make sure it doesn't slip down the hook. Obviously it doesn't work to catch cable lying flat on the ground. Which was, again, not the initial design requirement. In another thread about Boeing, the topic of good sources to learn about real engineering came up. Well, this is a great example. Just assume the engineers designing the initial hook were not complete clueless idiots.