Overlap vs Interlock vs Baseball Grips

[birdiemachine]

Didn't some hacker say holding golf club is like holding a dove-you dont want to crush it be you dont want it to fly away.

HMMMMMMM,

[Jenks465]

The two 'different' grips are basically the same (placing your hands as close together as possible to stop the right hand 'over powering' the left). In terms of technical differences there are very few, and both have been used successfully (interlock: Tiger, Nicklaus, Daly. Overlap: Watson, Norman, Faldo), Steve Jones (reverse overlap) and Jim Furyk (double overlap) even use very individual ways of connecting their hands but it isn't really important, more important is the orientation of your hands to the clubface.

[starchuk]

It does make sense but you can't tell me that this is the first thing with golf that you have said "what sense does that make"

Holding a dove, a tube of toothpaste, light enough so someone could pull it away or the "2 on a scale of 1 to 10". What is 2 out of 10? or 'light' ? These are all relative terms. What a 2 out of 10 for Joe is not the same FEELING as 2 out of 10 for Frank.

Where do YOU feel it when the clubshaft starts down from the top, building speed and pressure and creating lag? You feel it in your hands - ideally in the index finger of the lower hand and the last 3 fingers of the top hand. If the shaft is bending then your hands are holding pretty tight and if the shaft is lagging, the wrists are bent and loose.

The trouble is most people squeeze too tight and stress out their lower arms, so "light grip" was a tip that made thou$and$. How about "keep your head down." There's identifying the effect and missing the cause .

This has been quite a threadjack. I only ask that what I have to say makes you think. To improve your ideas on this game, I challenge you to ask "why" to everything you've heard.

[iacas]

This has been quite a threadjack.

Recognizing this, you shouldn't have posted.

Back to topic.

[Hoselrockets]

well from what I can tell with a couple of buckets the interlock it doing well. It seems to remove the over powering of my right hand. Seems that I've lost some of the flip at the bottom becasue my left wrist is staying flat at impact. Now is this a direct result of the grip change? Not sure but I'm going to hit some more and see what happens.

I appreciate all the comments and the help.

[HytrewQasdfg]

I disagree that "tighter = better."

I believe he used the wrong word when he said tighter. A better description would be firmer with less pressure.

I noticed the same thing with the interlock grip. when I take my left index finger off the club, my other three fingers would seem to try and compensate by gripping tighter. Because I don't feel I have full control of the club with only 3 fingers on it, I subconsiously (sp?) grasp the club to tightly. My left hand feels more in control with all four fingers in contact with the club. Consequently I'm able to use a lighter grip because I feel more in control of the club.

[MiniMoe]

I used to have a bad time flipping the club at impact. I switched to the 10 finger a long time ago. I like it because it puts more feel in my right hand, and it helps me drive my hands through the ball instead of flipping through it. The key with it is to keep your hands from getting separated. They have to stay close together. If they get too far apart, bad things start to happen.

[willman611]

Wheni started playing i had a baseball grip but after a few lessons i started using an interlocking grip. i used it for a good while but when i started hit the ball bad and the club slipping in my hand i started to expreiment with the overlapping grip. i find that it gives me a more stable hold and better grip on the club. it doesnt hurt my pinky at all like it does with other people. i have tried the interlocking again but didnt seem to work at all so im sticking with the overlapping..

[I KyotE I]

I was just wondering if there are any pros and cons for any of the different grips (i.e. distance, control, accuracy). And if anyone uses the double interlock grip?

[MA5Bergey]

There aren't really any notable cons to any correct grip, it's mostly just about what feels most comfortable in your hands.

Personally, I use an interlock, which I started using because I have small hands, and have stuck with it since it feels the most right. I haven't really heard of anyone using double interlock other than Jim Furyk (he also uses a double overlap), but I don't know why you'd want to copy anything off of such an awkward swing.

[Zeph]

The most common ones are interlock and overlap. Try those two and use the one you feel most comfortable with. After playing for some time with either I don't think it makes that much of a difference. I was recommended the interlock because of small hands, has worked for me.

[Felenah]

The interlocking grip I believe helps quites your wrists while the overlaping grip I believe allows more wrist and hand action. When I started playing golf years ago, when I was a wi little lad, I started with an interlocking grip. this grip gave me control and kept my wrists quite. I played well with that grip when I was young and through High School. I shattered my right wrist when I was 19 and didn't play golf for years. when I returned to golf my old grip wasn't the same. I realized I was unable to turn the club properly through impact. I switched to an overlaped grip after noticing my issues. The switch has allowed me to play consistant golf.

[daveh]

I took a couple of lessons from different instructors and they both told me to use whichever (interlocking/overlapping) is more comfortable. I wish they had said "try both and see which works better for you". Overlapping is more natural and comfortable for me, but out of desperation I tried interlocking and (knock on wood) it is working much better for me so far. I guess the lesson is don't be afraid to try both just because one doesn't feel natural in the beginning.

[whip_it_out]

I have huge index fingers, and tiny pinkies, so the overlap doesn't fit my hands at all. Interlock has worked great so far.

[FloridaGolfer]

I use overlapping. This comes from a lesson I took 3 years ago.

[sp33d]

God grips it the plague of my game. I have switched grips 4 times this year. Went from a baseball grip, to overlapping, to interlocking and back to over lapping.

I cant get comfy with any of them, I have this problem with my thumb, it has to be holding the right side of the club, Ive tried to move it so its not on the club but I feel like i have no control... its a pain in my arse.

[I KyotE I]

I hear ya on the changing. I went overlap to interlock and it worked for a while but feels different to me. I went back to overlap. Now I have a slight fade but I don't mind that as a natural swing. I still use a interlock on my driver can't really say why. Just feels okay.

[daveh]

I was hesitant the address the 'difference' between the grips because I'm no expert and no fan of spreading bad information, but I guess it's safe to give my personal impression if I stress that it's my personal impression.

So, my personal impression as a beginning golfer is that for me the interlocking grip seems to lock my hands hands and wrists into position making it more difficult for me to do something goofy with my hands/wrists during the swing. This in turn seems to help my entire swing. So basically, with the interlocking it is easier for me to keep from "doin' it wrong" (tm). If I had a proper overlapping grip and kept it throughout the swing it would probably work just fine.

For the record Men's XL golf gloves are snug on my hands so it's not a matter of small hands for me (like I've read in some articles).