My Grip - What to Do with It?

[tlstarkk]

This is the only way i feel comfortable gripping the club.. everything else feels so unnatural and has the ball going everywhere.  My club face is closed at the start of the swing, it also doesn't feel right not having the face closed.  But i never feel comfortable during my golf swing, i had a lesson from a pro a few months back and the grip he showed me/club position just doesnt work.  I have been golfing for about 4 months and when im concertrating and trying to do my best my score for 9 holes will be in the high 40's, and if im fooling around and kinda just hitting the ball. high 50's.  Am i eventually going to feel comfortable with my golf swing?

[iacas]

You've posted this three times now.

[tlstarkk]

I didnt think it was that big of an issue.  I just wanted an answer to the question and didnt know why it had been deleted.  My computer is messed up and i thought it could have been the computer not posting the question.

[David in FL]

You've been playing for 4 months, don't like what a qualified professional has told you, and want to stick with your own bastardized version of a grip...... So what's your question?

[Strandly]

I see a lot of random people with that under handed right hand it it just looks ugly as hell.  lol  I almost can't believe anyone can hit the ball holding the club that way.

[Ernest Jones]

Use the search function on this site, lots of good threads on the grip. A lot of different grips work but there are some general guidelines you should follow. Start with getting the club more in the fingers of your top hand. With your bottom hand you want the the lifeline of your trail hand palm to fit right over your top hand thumb. That will be a good place to start. From there you need to find what works best for you with regards to how strong or weak you should be. I don't know if you're familiar with those terms but a forum search or even Google will help you out there if you're not familiar with the terms. Recently I've started to pay a lot more attention to my grip. When I grip properly, with the grip that works for me, it is a LOT easier to perform a proper pivot and get my path going where I want it too. It's pretty amazing how much impact the grip has on everything else. When I'm I grip it properly I can really feel it in the last three fingers of my top hand and I have much better control of my swing bottom. It feels like I will have less control but I actually have more control. Many high cappers get it too deep in the palms because it feels more powerful and controlled but it actually hinders your wrist hinge which in turn ****s with your pivot and everything else.

[JCRuzanski]

That grip works... for putting.

[Ernest Jones]

That grip works... for putting.

Maybe. I could never putt like that. I would be steering it for sure. To the OP, do a little research on here and fix your grip. What you're doing now is likely causing you to scoop/flip, you want to hit down and through which us REALLY difficult to do with your right hand underneath the shaft.

[Mr. Desmond]

You've golfed for 4 months - of course it feels unnatural - the correct grip, in your fingers, and slightly strong or neutral, will feel natural if you give it time . If you want to do it your way, get out of the game now ... before you throw your clubs in the lake.... lol. At least, that is what I learned. Everyone needs a coach, listen to the coach, do what the coach asks if it makes sense. New things feel unnatural.

Unless you have a physical disability, get over it and adapt.

[Meltdwhiskey]

Got to agree w/ Desmond.  It seems like everything a golf teacher will show you feels terrible at first.  But if you stick with it, it will begin to feel comfortable and then that thing you have in the picture will not feel good anymore.

[mvmac]

[dbuck]

If you are taking lessons from a qualified professional teacher, you need to practice the grip he gave you, and use it until you get used to it. That is the answer you will get about 99% of the time on this and any other forum from anyone who has played for any length of time. If you can't hit the ball using a proper grip, something else is wrong with your swing. If you hit the ball with the grip in your picture, you are making compensations somewhere else in your swing. If you swing the club properly with that grip, you will hit low hooks. Learning to hit the ball and learning to score with that grip will hinder your long term development because you will develop a very unorthodox swing to compensate. There are persons for whom an overly strong, 10 finger grip would be appropriate, but most of them are under 12, over 80, or have a physically limiting condition such as arthritis or some other physical impairment. As others have said, understand the mechanics of the grip your instructor is teaching, and hit balls with a 7 or 8 iron until you are comfortable with it. It is infinitely easier to do that now at this early stage, than to try to correct after several years the compensations your pictured grip will cause. No one is trying to be rude or beat you over the head or be overly critical, but a lot of people have been there, done that with unorthodox methods. You don't need to re-invent the wheel, just learn to drive. Sure, through the ages there have been a few funky swings that worked, but 99 out of 100 of us are better off learning sound fundamentals and staying with those.

[dbuck]

The grip mvmac demonstrated is a classic example of a fundamental grip and probably very similar to what your instructor has shown you.

[Darg]

I had/have the exact same problem.  I am an amateur with a 23 handicap so by no means know what I'm talking about.  Having said that I've been taking lessons for a little over a year now and my instructor forced me to change to a proper grip (wouldn't have done it on my own cause it felt so awkward) from a grip that looks exactly like yours (Bubba Watson strong lower hand).  I've asked the same question 20 times and no one gave me an answer that would fix the awkwardness of it all. What I finally figured out was that with a neutral grip if I started my swing with my upper body, the club felt like it was slipping.  When I initiated the swing with the lower body, arms being passive it felt comfortable.  Hope this helps.