Grip: Fingers or Palm?

[mutadayen]

So my confusion just hit an old time high in regards to the grip. I've gone from a strong grip to nuetral grip and found more consistency, but in watching the some Golf Channel programs (12 Lesson series), i became confused.

The latest episode featured Jack Nicklaus and the first question he was asked was what was the foundation of the golf swing and he said it was the grip. The question of the holding it in the fingers or the palm came up and he stated that he always held it in the palm, and how do you argue with that from the greatest? I've always been told (and read in countless magazines) to hold the grip in the fingers, but i'm thinking of moving to the palm (i've been practicing at home for the last two weeks holding it more in the palm but have yet to see how it translates to when you put a little annoying white ball in the way).

Wanted to get people's opinions and thoughts...

[sean_miller]

. . . i'm thinking of moving to the palm . . .

Go for it. What have you got to lose?

[jamo]

I've always gripped the club my fingers. That's mostly because I played baseball first, and in baseball you are supposed to grip the bat in your fingers.

[iacas]

More in the fingers. Nicklaus felt like he gripped it more in the palm but Nicklaus had very short fingers. Almost nobody has the grip too far in the fingers, but many have the grip too far in the palm.

I'm one of the few people who tends to get the grip too far into the fingers, so I work on keeping it just a little more in the palm. I get too much of my fleshy heel pad on my left hand on top of the grip.

[sean_miller]

I've always gripped the club my fingers. That's mostly because I played baseball first, and in baseball you are supposed to grip the bat in your fingers.

I played a lot of baseball too and I'd say my grip was 50:50 fingers / palms (basically, mostly in the pads).

[uttexas]

Golfers have been successful with all kinds of grips, so there isn't really a standard. I like Snead's grip, which is a tad more in the fingers than Hogan and significantly more in the fingers than Nicklaus.

see :45 to : 1:40 on the following video

[allin]

I have small hands, so does Nicklaus. If you have small hands you naturally tend to grip the club more in your palms. The lost power doesn't affect someone like him. It might contribute to short irons not being his greatest strength? OOPS I didn't see Erics post before I responded.

[Zeph]

Somewhere in between. I've had the grip too much in my fingers, if anything.

[saevel25]

You really got to find a grip that works for you. Copying hogan is good if you have a swing like hogan, have the tempo like his. What i think is more imporant is trying to figure out which type of grip works for your swing.

What type of swing works with a weaker grip, neutral, strong?

I read an article recently that it depends more now on how fast your hips clear out, if they clear out really fast that the stronger the grip you need.

[sean_miller]

So the grip is imporant now? Good to know.

[iacas]

So the grip is imporant now? Good to know.

Pretty sure that's directed at me... (if not, let me know).

The grip is important, but the grip is not a differentiator between expert golfers and poor golfers, nor is there "one grip" that makes it a fundamental. I only address a person's grip if it's causing a problem, and nobody's ever played good golf just because of their grip (nor has anyone played bad golf just because of their grip).

[Chas]

I went way into the fingers after reading about the benefits of doing that somewhere.  This didn't last, I think I regressed to the mean or something.  Then I read Tiger talk about how he went more into the palm and how that helped him with control.  So of course then I went more palmsy.   Now I'm pretty badly confused and just let my subconscious deal with it .......

What a crazy game this is.

[Arsenal8807]

I go with diagonal line formed in the left palm and right where my palm and fingers meet in my right hand and use a weaker grip and emphasize the trigger finger and I like the way it feels and I can still hit my push draw, pull fade and straight with my swing and tempo so thats me!

[Gary W]

I actually have the tape, and I think he describes gripping in the palm with the left hand, and in the fingers with the right hand. I like Hogan's setup with the grip running across the middle of the top joint of the index finger of the left hand, and crossing the palm ending up against the heel of the palm.

[RC]

A good starting place is "more in the fingers with the left hand" and a "little less so in the right hand."

[tshapiro]

Think about it this way... The last three fingers of your left are connected to the muscles going up the outside of your left arm and lead up to your Deltoid - the leftmost and leading part of your shoulder. These muscles are used for pulling or swinging the club. Since most amatures improperly push down on the club, I think its better to focus on gripping with the 3 fingers and leave the palm and thumb out of it. I also think it's good to think about swinging with those outer left arm muscles which in turn gives purpose to using those 3 fingers. In other words, if you swing with the outer left arm muscles, you will have a natural tendency to grip with those 3 fingers naturally - without having to consciously think about it.

[Bo the Golfer]

I saw this episode and actually used it in what is more than likely my last round of golf last weekend (lucky to get that in up here in chilly Boston). I have very small hands for a guy 6'3" 260 and thought the grip more in my palm of the left hand felt great. I hit the ball very well and felt much more in control of the club than I have in a while. I try to hit every couple of weeks over the winter so I will keep this grip and see how it helps me to progress.

[achase84]

I know this is an old post, but I'd like to add my expertise to it anyway. While there is not one definite right way to grip the club it is important to know what affect a 'finger' or 'palm' grip can have on the overall swing. I believe Hogan fell perfectly between a 'finger' and 'palm' grip. I'm not saying to use his exactly, but it is pretty neutral. I never suggest going to the extreme in either case. I fall into a bad habit of putting the club too much in the 'fingers'. Basically, if I grip the club normally then take my right hand and grasp the shaft of the club and then without moving the club around in my hand; slowly unwrap my fingers the grip is running almost parallel to my largest knuckles at the base of the fingers. This is really too much in the fingers. This 'causes' or 'allows' (depending on what you are aiming for) the player to engage the wrist more in the swing. It can also lead to a very strong left hand. All of this can create a powerful swing, but it can also lead to going beyond parallel at the top, unhitching and a number of other problems. So again... don't overdue it. Now a 'palm' grip... much like that of Moe Norman where the grip runs nearly up through the center of the wrist is again going too far in the other direction. It is, however, a very stable position and is commonly used in putting and chipping simply because it disengages the wrist and allows you to use the larger muscles and shoulders to move the swing. Each to his own, but I try and find the neutral position and this is how I do it. 1) Standing normally I take the club in my left hand at my left side with the club pointing toward the ground. 2) I use my left index finger to hook (feels like) grip and balance the butt end under the heel pad of my left hand. 3) Then I add the right hand a bit more in the finger so I can get my right thumb pad over the left thumb. Hogan gives a much better illustration of this in his book. Hope this helps. Hit em well!