Right Hand Grip

[Cizzle]

Hi.

I've been working on my swing for the last few months a lot and have been reading a lot of different books. Anyways, as soon as I read Hogan's Five Fundamentals I have stuck with his grip the whole time, until now. After reading another book, the author states that Hogan's right hand grip (no he does not call him out ) is too strong for right handed players. That for you to feel most confortable you grab something with your stronger hand in the stronger way; at the base on your fingers. This is what Hogan taught. Could he be right? Hogan was a left handed but golfed right handed. This means to make his stronger hand (left) weaker, he would need to take a stronger grip in his right hand to make his grip neutral. What is stated to be the correct way is to have the shaft laying in the middle joints of your right hand. Here's a couple of pictures.

Hogan:


"Correct Grip":



Any comments? Am I just a little slow and mis-read? Apparently, taking the weaker grip in your right hand will feel uncomfortable (because you are not holding it like you normally would) but you get used to it, and it actually feels more solid than my grip before. It feels like the club is now an extension of my hands, I never really understood how that felt until now. Anyways, just wondering if this is how some of you grip the club, or if Hogan is the standard? I think everyone should experiment with it and see what they think.

-Thanks

[Avid Golfer]

Hi.

Both positions for the grip are acceptible and used by pros on tour. Ben Hogan, Greg Norman, Ernie Els, and Annika Sorenstam position the right hand like you showed in the first picture (red line below). Steve Elkington and others position the right hand like you showed in the second picture (green line below). Finally there is a third option used by Nick Faldo and other tour players, and that is the diagonal position where the grip extends from the base of the pinky finger (where the finger meets the palm) diagonally into the the last joint of the index finger (blue line below). My recommendation is when you're on the range experiment with each and see what promotes the best combination of ball flight, consistency, and comfort.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/5527/3gripsfy5.jpg

[Cizzle]

Great post Avid, thank you. As of now I'll probably stick to the "Elkington" grip as I'm really liking it so far but I'll be sure to experiment with the "Faldo" grip as well. I posted this because I had never heard of another grip other than the "Hogan" one, so I thought it was unusual and could be a bad choice for me in the long run. It's always good to know tour players are doing the same as you.

[Franco!]

Using the picture AvidGolfer posted, I think that you get the most feel from the blue line and I need feel.

[Avid Golfer]

One other thing that may factor into which grip style you find most comfortable and consistent is your hand size. Ben Hogan, Greg Norman, and Annika Sorenstam all have relatively smaller hands and/or shorter fingers (red line players). Steve Elkington has slightly larger hands and slightly longer fingers (green line player), and Nick Faldo has big hands and long fingers (matching his 6'4" height) (blue line player). That suggests that hand size (or finger length) may be a factor in determining which method fits you best, but again there is no harm in trying each method.