diff --git a/src/main/java/competition/subsystems/hood/HoodSubsystem.java b/src/main/java/competition/subsystems/hood/HoodSubsystem.java
index 847fd837..68f5959c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/competition/subsystems/hood/HoodSubsystem.java
+++ b/src/main/java/competition/subsystems/hood/HoodSubsystem.java
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ public HoodSubsystem(XServo.XServoFactory servoFactory,
         if (electricalContract.isHoodServoLeftReady()) {
             var servoLeft = servoFactory.create(
                     electricalContract.getHoodServoLeft().channel, getName() + "/Servo");
+            servoLeft.set(0);
             registerDataFrameRefreshable(servoLeft);
             hoodServoLeft = new TimedAndBoundedServo(
                     servoLeft,
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ public HoodSubsystem(XServo.XServoFactory servoFactory,
         if (electricalContract.isHoodServoRightReady()) {
             var servoRight = servoFactory.create(
                     electricalContract.getHoodServoRight().channel, getName() + "/Servo");
+            servoRight.set(0);
             registerDataFrameRefreshable(servoRight);
             hoodServoRight = new TimedAndBoundedServo(
                     servoRight,
@@ -84,6 +86,8 @@ public HoodSubsystem(XServo.XServoFactory servoFactory,
 
         this.servoTargetNormalized = propertyFactory.createPersistentProperty(
                 "ServoTargetPositionNormalized", 0);
+        // make sure this starts at zero always
+        this.servoTargetNormalized.set(0.0);
         this.extend = propertyFactory.createPersistentProperty("MaxExtensionGoal", 1.0);
         this.retract = propertyFactory.createPersistentProperty("MinExtensionGoal", 0.0);
         this.readinessTimeoutSeconds = propertyFactory.createPersistentProperty("ReadinessTimeoutSeconds", 3.0);