Grip is important!

[alomar123]

Ok, my swing is coming along nicely, but I am inconsistent and I think my grip has a lot to do with it. For one I am concentrating on my grip too much before the shoot it is distracting me from the swing. Also, I really do not think it is the same every time.

My right hand is where I have the most questions, especially my index finger. I use overlapping grip and am not quite sure where to put my right index finger. Also, the thumb seems to move around a lot.

Any tips on how to make sure my grip is always the same, and where do you put your index finger and thumb.
Also, I know I grip the club way to tight, as I am always tense.

Thanks

[colin007]

i have one of those weighted clubs with the molded grips. i find that it puts your fingers in pretty much the right spots.

[sean_miller]

Ok, my swing is coming along nicely, but I am inconsistent and I think my grip has a lot to do with it. For one I am concentrating on my grip too much before the shoot it is distracting me from the swing. Also, I really do not think it is the same every time.

Google "grip" and "Jesper parnevik" for a pictorial from Golf Magazine. Basically your bottom hand index finger should resemble a pistol grip, with finger on the trigger. I'd post some other tips, but grip threads tend to disappear, so . . . meh.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Being unsure about your grip is pure death. Its probably the most important part of your swing. You have no chance of hitting the ball consistant if your grip is wrong. Put a pen horizontal in the second crease of your index, close it, and then wrap your thumb around. Thats generally what you should feel.

[alomar123]

Google "grip" and "Jesper parnevik" for a pictorial from Golf Magazine. Basically your bottom hand index finger should resemble a pistol grip, with finger on the trigger. I'd post some other tips, but grip threads tend to disappear, so . . . meh.

I see his grip is very similar to mine, including the strong hand grip, good post.

[sean_miller]

I see his grip is very similar to mine, including the strong hand grip, good post.

I'd say his grip is actually neutral.

[iacas]

You have no chance of hitting the ball consistant if your grip is wrong.

That almost couldn't be further from the truth. I can take all kinds of grips and hit the ball solidly.

Stop worrying about your grip. Odds are you're within an acceptable range. Work on your grip while sitting on the couch if you need to.

[Paz]

That almost couldn't be further from the truth. I can take all kinds of grips and hit the ball solidly.

Solidly yes. On the same line probably not. Too weak of a grip/strong of a grip will open/close the club face more. This will result in inconsistent ball flight. Just recently I've started to get my grip to feel almost perfectly neutral at address. Having a netural grip also ensures a more square face relative to the swing path.

For the longest time I could NOT figure out why my right hand felt so tiny and could barely even hold the club with an interlock grip. This was because my left hand grip was so strong my right hand grip had to be extra weak to even get it on the club. Once I figured that out my right hand feels much more secure on the grip as well as having fixed having a closed club face at address and throughout the swing.

[iacas]

Solidly yes. On the same line probably not. Too weak of a grip/strong of a grip will open/close the club face more. This will result in inconsistent ball flight. Just recently I've started to get my grip to feel almost perfectly neutral at address. Having a netural grip also ensures a more square face relative to the swing path.

Look, the point I was trying to make is that the grip is not as important as people want to make it out to be. If you grip it in the fingers and it's anywhere within a range from, say, Ben Hogan to Paul Azinger, then you're probably fine. Hit the ball and see what you're doing. At 15.2, any grip within that range is well, well down on the list of things to work on and improve.

[saevel25]

Old story here, i believe its from the little red book.

One of his students went to play in this tourniment, he looked at his opponents grip and it was a mess. He thought he would just whip this guy around the course. Guess what, the guy with the wierd grip whipped Harvey's student around the course. Because they guy knew how to hit consistant with that grip. Don't judge a book by its cover, there are many different types of grips.

Furyk, double overlap
Tiger, interlock
Estes, 10 finger grip

a few people played a cross over grip

hogan had a very weak grip

yeah there might be a few things that everyone does with there grip, probably needs some research into it, but all grips are different because everyone has there own hands.

[Breaking 80]

What about the club grip itself? How important is that? My understanding is that you need to feel comfortable with your grip or it is just going to throw the rest of your game off. When I set the grips down on my fingers I feel like my hand is too big for the grip. Would a club pro be able to tell me if I could benefit from moving to a medium size grip?

[sean_miller]

Look, the point I was trying to make is that the grip is not as important as people want to make it out to be. If you grip it in the fingers and it's anywhere within a range from, say, Ben Hogan to Paul Azinger, then you're probably fine. Hit the ball and see what you're doing. At 15.2, any grip within that range is well, well down on the list of things to work on and improve.

I think the point people who claim a good grip is important are making, is that once a beginner can make some type of contact with a ball, they should consider developing a

relatively standard and natural grip, as it will likely increase the odds of repeatedly returning the club face to the ball at the proper angle. Of course there's some wiggle room on what successful players' grips will look like since they've probably experimented with every aspect of the setup, swing, and equipment. Once a solid grip is ingrained, a player can work on making subtle changes. If they every time they pick up a club, grip it different way, they're introducing an unnecessary variable into the equation and their uphill battle will be a little steeper and a little longer. Basically, nobody is saying, "you must grip the club exactly this way and no other to have success", but if a guy has no clue, there are good examples to follow - just like following the example of a good player when swinging the club.

[iacas]

I think the point people who claim a good grip is important are making, is that once a beginner can make some type of contact with a ball, they should consider developing a

And the point I'm making is that that's a waste of time at that juncture.

You see it all the time - beginners go to some clinic and they spend an hour working on their grip, their setup, their alignment, and their posture, and then they can't hit the ball. Spend a minute with the grip and then teach them to HIT THE BALL first and then the ground - that's the point I've continued to make. What's the retention rate of those beginner clinics? It's lousy because too many people spend too much time working on things that are way, way down the list. What's more "fundamental" to playing and enjoying golf - hitting the ball first or having a good grip? It's not the latter.

[Phil McGleno]

I give a lot of beginner seminars and our beginners hit the ball better than anyone else's beginners around despite having ten-fingered grips with space between their hands because the object of golf - and the way people have the most fun at golf and so come back and play more - is to hit the ball.

You have one chance to hook a golfer when they come for a beginner type class - they want to hit the ball in the air and reasonably far. There are twenty things I'll tell people before grip is an issue.

Why would anyone spend more than 30 seconds demonstrating to everyone how to hold the club? Put the left pad on top and keep it in the fingers. Then you move on.

If they turn into a somewhat serious golfer you can get to the grip much, much later in their instruction, but the first 10 hours of instruction should be 99% related to hitting the golf ball solidly. Then you ramp up the speed and power. The 1% can be non-dynamic things, but beginning students don't realize or care what a subtle change to the grip will do, and a grip won't change a guy who's whiffing the ball or hitting two feet behind it into a guy who's threatening to break 100.

[sean_miller]

. . . once a beginner can make some type of contact with a ball, they should consider . . .

What's more "fundamental" to playing and enjoying golf - hitting the ball first or having a good grip? It's not the latter.

I guess we're saying the same thing, for someone who can't make any kind of even remotely solid contact, a baseball or hockey grip probably is just fine.

[sean_miller]

Why would anyone spend more than 30 seconds demonstrating to everyone how to hold the club? Put the left pad on top and keep it in the fingers. Then you move on.

Yeah, that's about how long it takes to get someone on the right path. 30 seconds well spent don't you think?

Some people have never played sports and they have absolutely no idea how to hit a ball with a stick with any kind of power, so many other things come first - possibly even working on their fitness, flexibility, and maybe even dose of reality somewhere along the line. Some beginners do bring with them some basic swing fundamentals from having played baseball, tennis, squash, hockey and other such sports. They also bring with them the understanding that gripping the bat/stick/raquet/club in a reasonably standard fashion right out of the gate, will help their long term growth. PS. I was recalling my own start in the game - didn't move from 10-finger grip to overlap until my 3rd full season. I then moved from a 15 to a 10 in about a month. I did learn to hit the ball first - and did a decent job for a couple years before grip was a focus. I see your point - rather, I AGREE with your point.

[gir]

When I first started playing, using the grip out of 5 lessons got me hitting quality golf shots right away. Where as before I read 5 lessons, I did have an interlock grip, but beyond that I knew nothing of how to grip it, and even my good shots were very weak. But once I started using the grip in 5 lessons, my shots immediately became 100X better and more consistent. Now three years later or so, grip changes don't have as drastic or as an immediate of an effect as they did then. I can have a correct grip and still hit it very poorly. But when I first started, there was a drastic difference in shot quality for me once I had an acceptable grip.

[saevel25]

Well i guess the issue is that you have to have the grip to match the swing. So i gues you can go at it saying, just make solid contact if it goes way left, we will weaken the grip later.

I was taught the grip first, because what i does is get me used to the grip. nothing worse than trying to change a grip after a few years, its wierd. So if you get them to have the grip from the beginning, you can get them use to playing with that grip. Really i rather teach a weak grip first, then get them to hit the ball, if they are missing it right then strengthen it. They will feel like they have way more control because its less in the fingers that way. I got my cousin to get through the ball, he nuked his iron, then he proceeded to hook the ball a ton. Trying to get him to weaken the grip, it felt like he couldn't hold it.

I think its more comfortable to go from weak to strong than strong to weak. So i rather spend a short time on getting them a weaker grip, than letting them make solid contact with a strong grip and try to go weak later.