Gripping down on the club - a huge difference?

[DJYoshi]

the past week, my ball striking's been crappy. With my back starting to give way to the pain after the oxycotton's magic goes away, I haven't been able to control much of anything.
I've also noticed that I've been gripping down A LOT on the club. It's to the point where you can have a good inch to sometimes inch and a half or 2 inches of the butt showing for some of my tee shots. Yes it's easier to control the shot like this, BUT how much yardage am I loosing? I was 185 out the other day. elevated green (10 foot increase). I couldn't even stick my 5 iron on this this green. the shot was perfect. slight draw, but I was gripped down about 2 inches.

Does anyone have an estimate of how much yardage you actually loose when gripping down on the club?
I'm playing PX 5.5 standard length.

[BigDaddy_Sean]

well if you think about it, each club is 1/2" shorter than the other and about 4 degrees difference in loft. If you are gripping down about an inch, you'll lose 5 - 10 yards depending on trajectory and swing .. it's simply clubhead speed .. it will be slower.

[m11]

5-10 is a pretty good estimate...i'd personally say closer to 10 yards.

Another issue with gripping down and trying to get control when you are injured is the mental aspect that comes with it. Are you normally relatively long and accurate...and just the back pain is making swinging the club more difficult? Frequently instead of just adjusting course management and club selection when you are injured, many try to compensate by adjusting their swings and setup. If thats the case, i think just clubbing up until you get to a club that you can swing easy and still get the distance that you need...while mainting the same swing fundamentals and setup positions. If you normally make a nice turn and hit your 5iron 200 yards, it might be easier to pull a 3 iron or wood. It'll sacrifice trajectory and your game play style will likely change a bit...but you are injured and thats what happens. Hopefully when you bounce back, you'll be swinging your normal distances and trajectories, and by not compensating your swing, you would have not ingrained any bad habits.

[Chief Broom]

I don't think it's a good idea for you to be playing if you've got to take oxycoten(sp?) in order to bear the back pain. Pain medication simply masks your condition and playing a back intensive game like golf (even if you try to swing arms only) can't be good for your recuperation?

[m11]

I don't think it's a good idea for you to be playing if you've got to take oxycoten(sp?) in order to bear the back pain. Pain medication simply masks your condition and playing a back intensive game like golf (even if you try to swing arms only) can't be good for your recuperation?

and yea i forgot to mention that part in my post.

and just mentioning a little info on the topic.....if you are going to the doc to get some pain medicine...asking for oxycotton is like going to get a medicinal marijuana prescription and instead of tellin the doc you need some medicinal marijuana...you tell him that you need some bud.....haha probably should stick with the drug's actual name...OxyContin

[goblue107501]

Gripping down on any club will reduce the distance. Exactly how much you have to figure out for yourself because it will be different for everyone.

In my head I use six terms in figuring out what shot to play. Full grip, 3/4 grip (choke down 1/2 - 3/4 inch), 1/2 grip (choke down 1 - 1 1/2 inches), full swing, 3/4 swing, 1/2 swing. I will use any of these grip/swing combinations depending on what I think I need to do for a shot after taking into account wind and elevation and lie.

Here is what different grip/swing combinations do for me. The yardages are 'play as' distances after deciding on wind and elevation. Example with a 7-iron:

Full swing / full grip = 165 yards
3/4 grip / full swing = 160 (or full grip / 3/4 swing)
3/4 grip / 3/4 swing = 155
1/2 grip / 3/4 swing = 150

It is not an exact science, and I will frequently adjust if I need to. I don't have a chart that I carry around, it is all just kept in my head. My general rule is that a 3/4 grip, 3/4 swing is about a club down. So rather than trying to overswing an 8-iron from 157, I'll just grip down and control the swing with a 7-iron. The last two are what I would use out of the rough so that I can take an aggressive swing, but not have to worry about being able to control the shot by overswinging.

If you are more comfortable choking down on a club just use more club and adjust the swing a little. I do it on probably 90% of all iron shots. I have a friend who kicks my butt all over the course and I don't think I have ever seen him hit a full shot except for a driver or 3-wood.

[Chief Broom]

I just wanted to add that my above post wasn't intended to be a flame. Rather that's just what stuck out to me more than anything else. Of course not knowing anything about your situation giving advice is even more meaningless than usual.

[DJYoshi]

oh no...it's all good. of course being injured SUCKS. I've had a bad back & neck since I was in 7th grade. I was in PT at 14 trying to prevent loss in range of motion.it's noticeable. I'm in the gym 4 - 5 times a week & PT 2 times now. ice baths, eletro stimulus, etc.

I was fine for a few years up until about 8 years ago I was smashed into a truck one morning driving home from the club. since then I had to work hard to gain motion back. my neck isn't flexible at all. I can turn my back, but shoulders are horrible. It feels like a constant pinch in my neck that's only getting worse.

On top of that, I have a partially torn ligament in my left wrist (i'm a righty) and a partially torn right shoulder r.c. that's gonna need surgery in January (of course after golf season).

I grip down b/c I can't stand tall on the ball anymore. but you guys make a good point...especially medicinal marijuana. That's hilarious.
Thank you for the yardage estimates. I didn't think that gripping down would even bring on some bad habbits..but it makes sense...

I'll have someone take pics of my swing next time I get the chance...you can see how the posture has gotten ridiculously worse over the past year and a half

[bgsworld]

i find when i grip down on my short irons and wedges it promotes a fluid tempo and i hit the ball solid and far...