"Reading" grip wear marks???

[rebby]

For as long as I can remember I've always worn my grips in the left thumb area very quickly. Is this representative of some sort of grip or swing flaw (underplane, late release, etc)???

I have a neutral to slightly strong left hand with my left thumb (long) laying just on the right side of the grip, similar to the pictures of Ernie Els as pictured here (although my left hand is slightly "flatter" on the club). I get a lot of wear on this part of the grip (especially with my driver). I do not wear a glove and have a slight callus running on the inside portion of my thumb roughly 1/4" on each side of my knuckle.

I plan on discussing this with my instructor tomorrow but thought that it might be worth mentioning here as well. I'm not terribly concerned with this but it would be nice to quit wearing out my grips here as quickly as I do. Thanks!

[gspjeb]

I wear out my golf glove in the same exact spot it sounds like....looking forward to hearing thoughts from others

[out_in_30]

For as long as I can remember I've always worn my grips in the left thumb area very quickly. Is this representative of some sort of grip or swing flaw (underplane, late release, etc)???

I have very similar wear marks on my grips.. My top hand looks almost identical to ernies when its on the club; only difference is that it is my right hand not my left. Ive always thought ive had a very sound grip, maybe tends to be slightly weak at times. I dont think the wear marks are an indication of what you mentioned. Maybe your grip pressure is a bit too high? I am not sure. but from what you describe it sounds like your grip is pretty fundamentally sound.

[rebby]

I discussed this with my instructor this morning and we came to the following conclusions...

• I have just a touch to much grip pressure with my left thumb. My fingers/palm are fine but I am applying slight downward pressure with my left thumb.
• My right hand grip pressure is to high. This causes pressure against my left thumb and more friction in this area leading to the grip wear. I'm also applying a touch of pressure with my right thumb and my right trigger finger is little high.

On the whole, my grip is pretty sound. I just need to lighten up the pressure a little bit and drop my right trigger finger a touch (see Ernie's grip in the link above, my right finger is slightly higher).

Lightening up my right hand grip pressure made it much easier to release my hands. I'm going to work on this change first and once I have a feel for it (a bucket of balls or two, I can generally adjust pretty quickly), I'll work on dropping my right trigger finger (this will give me a little bit more control in the long run).

It makes a ton of sense that this would be more prevalent in my long clubs too. As I hit balls this morning, I noticed that I had more grip tension with my driver than I did my 9-iron. I may throw a new grip on my driver just to help me monitor this long term.

[out_in_30]

I discussed this with my instructor this morning and we came to the following conclusions...

i had a feeling when i posted last night that might have been the problem as I too had high pressure for a while... then i loosened up and it was so much better! i actually started to hit the ball much more pure. good stuff glad you figured it out

[rebby]

i had a feeling when i posted last night that might have been the problem as I too had high pressure for a while... then i loosened up and it was so much better! i actually started to hit the ball much more pure. good stuff glad you figured it out

I worked with the grip quite a bit after work. Hit roughly 100 balls at the range and really started to get comfortable with it. I especially like the "longer" trigger finger. Gives me a better feeling of control, I have a much better feel for where the clubhead is. I worked mainly on wedges and short irons but worked in a few long irons and woods as well. As the clubs got longer, I was a bit more uncomfortable but it's already coming around. I just gotta remember, light pressure, light pressure. It's not like I'm gonna drop the club.

[out_in_30]

yea exactly. fred couples says that when he is at address you can literally come up and take the club right out of his hands. I always use the "bird in hand" rule to rememeber to keep pressure light. if a bird was in my hand would it be alive or would i strangle it? you want it to be alive obviously. haha.

[rebby]

yea exactly. fred couples says that when he is at address you can literally come up and take the club right out of his hands. I always use the "bird in hand" rule to rememeber to keep pressure light. if a bird was in my hand would it be alive or would i strangle it? you want it to be alive obviously. haha.

Fred is exactly who came right to my mind when you menioned grip pressure earlier. In fact, that exact quote came to mind. Must have been in a recent interview (although I don't remember exactly where, Golf Digest maybe?).

[out_in_30]

yea i dont remember where but i heard that rather recently.