Weak Grip to Strong Grip or Vice Versa?

[P-Town Golfer]

When I first started playing golf I naturally had a weak grip when I picked up the golf club and that is the way I have been swinging for the past 5 years or so. I guess I have gotten pretty good with using a weak grip but I think one of the key moves in my swing is that I must "release" the club and I must keep my head still or even think about keeping it behind the ball but I usually make pretty good contact, ball first. So what I'm getting at is that if I try to swing a little harder sometimes then my release is a little late and I push/block it out to the right. Or so I think that is the problem. Now I have tried a stronger grip at the driving range a few times and most of the time I will hook the hell out of it, probably because I am so use to releasing the club with my weak grip.

To my question I guess:

Should I try a stronger grip with my irons so I can possibly hit it a bit farther and work my way up to the woods and driver? (keeping the driver with my normal weak grip for now)

Also I just feel like I should be hitting the ball a lot farther than I do. I mean I know I'm capable I just have to find it. Using a Pro V1 probably doesnt help much either haha.

One more thing...It seems people with a weak grip seem to be a little more accurate but a little less distance and people with a stronger grip seem to have more distance but can be a little less accurate

Thanks, hopefully I can get some good information on things

[Shindig]

First, welcome to the board!  Let me see if I can help you with a few things.

You just said that adjusting your grip caused an undesirable ball flight, so... I think the right answer is "don't do that then!"  For just about any reasonable grip variety (of which "weak grip" is one -- recall that "weak" in this context doesn't mean "wuss"), you can find some great players who use that grip.

(I also worry a bit when you talk about releasing the club -- are you consciously trying to manipulate it during the swing?)

You say you think you should hit it farther than you do.  I've picked up some distance lately just by focusing on fundamentals (having weight forward at impact, etc).  How short do you hit it, and how long do you think you're capable of getting?  You say you hit the ball first, and that's pretty vital.  Check out also some threads on this board about general fitness;  my recent gym-ratting is one of two things I attribute my improved ball striking to.

Finally, you joke a bit about the ball affecting your distance.  How much experimenting have you done with the golf ball?  I realize there's a strong desire to play the ball played by more folks on the PGA Tour than any other.  I remember when I first started, I bought a box of Titleist NXTs, thinking those were the Titleists I kept seeing on TV!   But I eventually got into playing balls that fit my game a lot more, and it's helped.

I hope this has helped in some fashion.  I'm sure others will chime in, and I'm happy to answer any follow-up questions you have.

[snowman0157]

All things being equal, Favor a slightly Strong Grip with "Vs" on both hands pointing between your chin and trailing shoulder at address.  This type of grip allows the club head to most easily release thru impact properly without manipulation/effort.  Also, consistently monitor your grip pressure and ensue it doesn't get overly Tight... this is a power killer and also will prevent the clubhead from releasing as it should.

Also, Go with 1 Grip for all clubs for your 'stock' shots.. Driver thru Wedges.   Maybe stronger or weaker for some special situations/shots but that is another discussion.

[P-Town Golfer]

Thanks for welcome and Thanks for the reply.

Well when I say release its something I think about sometimes, especially if I just push/blocked a shot. And I normally think about it with my longer clubs, like my driver. Its not that I cast or anything its just I feel sometimes I get a little late with my upper body, so I guess in my mind if I think about releasing that club head right at impact then I will hit it straight. I guess while I'm on the subject I'll tell you how I learned to play golf and I guess why I think the way I do. I played baseball all my life basically and got into golf my junior year in H.S. I think it was and I took my baseball swing and applied what I learned from that into my golf swing. For example in baseball (lets say a pitch right down the middle of the plate) if you hit the ball to right field then you are late hitting the ball. The ball has traveled to far and you didn't hit it out in front of you. Now I take that and apply it to my golf swing, for example if I push/block a shot then I know I was late getting the club head to the ball or my upper body was lagging behind. So I try to make sure I hit the ball out in front of me to send it down the middle (or in baseball to center field). If that makes sense to you.

Now that has kinda brought me to asking this question. If I had a stronger grip then I could hit it a little later and hit it straight (in theory) since with a stronger grip your club face is closed.

That kind of leads to the next part about distance, like I said above when I try to swing a little harder sometimes my upper body or my club seems to lag and there it goes to the right (or try to correct and duck hook it) but if I was to have a stronger grip then I could maybe swing a little harder and not have to worry so much about being late and having to release that club head. I mean its not a bad thing because I'll take accuracy over distance any day but I feel like I kind of try to stay in control to hit it straight but in doing so I don't get as much distance, I just kind would like to maybe try some things on the practice tee and see if I would like it. And you wanted to know how far I hit it. Well I can hit a 7 iron about 150 yards normally and +- 10 yards for each club above and below that. But I'm really not certain about how far I hit the driver. I guess it all depends on the conditions. And another reason I would like a little more distance is that I am playing at a new club and it is a lot longer than where I use to play at. Instead of Driver - 9 iron its more like Driver - 4 iron.

About the balls, I use Pro V1 and the reason for that is the course I played at was shorter and it had bermuda (sp?) greens so I would get really really hard in the summer time and the extra spin helped a lot, especially around the greens. Now I tried a Pro V1x the other day and I got to say I might be buying me a dozen of those because I swear I was hitting a lot farther than the Pro V1s. But maybe the conditions where a little better, I need to try another one next time I play. The conditions right now are bad, really its just wet. Its sad when you hit a driver and get up to your ball and it actually hit, made a big divot, and spun backwards a few inches haha. So that is making the course long too.

But this isnt really a huge concern because I'm fairly happy (who is ever happy haha) with how I hit the ball now but if I can tinker around with my grip and swing and start hitting it farther I will.

Like they say "Drive for show, Putt for dough" and thats my main thing I need to work on is getting up and down and making those putt or I should say being more consistent haha

Thanks so much for the reply though, if you have any more questions about what I'm talking or anything please let me know