How to Grip a Golf Club, Commonalities of a Functional Golf Grip

[mvmac]

While there may be many grip styles used by the best players in the world, there are certain commonalities of a functional golf grip and I wanted to put this thread together to help illustrate what those are.

If you found this thread by searching for information on the golf grip, welcome to our site, we have plenty of other great information HERE and make sure to JOIN, it's free! For any regular users of the site, hope this helps your game or confirms what you are currently doing with your grip.

There's another video filmed in 2021 here:

That video is:

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Some pics to highlight some common mistakes:

Lead hand

Big NO in the left pic, grip in the palm. Right pic, heel pad on top, grip in the fingers, it will automatically feel more secure.

General idea of how it should look

Anatomical snuffbox. If you shot a nail directly through the top of the wrist (in that little indentation underneath your thumb - the anatomical snuffbox) the nail should come out directly through the bottom of your wrist and into the center of the grip.

Most poor grips would have the nail come out the bottom of the wrist and miss the grip on the left side. This would indicate the wrist joint not sitting on top of the grip.

This is an important aspect of the grip because the incorrect position would assist in early club head throw away on the downswing, basically the wrist joint can't support the downward force of the club.

Two sides of the spectrum here. Too weak in the left pic, note the left hand isn't turned enough and the "nail" would be coming out of the left side of the grip. In the right pic, grip is too strong, left hand is rotated too much, lots of cup (dorsi flexion) in the lead wrist.

This next bit is more of a variation than a commonality, but I think it's beneficial and probably something new even for experienced golfers. Left pic, short lead thumb, right pic, long lead thumb. Make it easy on yourself and go with the long lead thumb. Greatly assists in the mobility of the wrist hinge on the backswing and downswing.

Trail Hand

The placement of the trigger finger pressure point (first pad of your index finger just above the knuckle) is important. Too far under can cause the club face to appear too "closed", face aiming towards the sky at the top of the backswing. Too far on top can cause the face to rotate too far underplane on the takeaway.

Left pic, pressure point is "on top". Right pic is ideal, pressure point on the side or aft side of the grip.

Left pic, pressure point is "under", ideal on the right.

Another common mistake in the left pic, right thumb is running down the middle of the grip. A more functional position on the right, just the upper right "tip" of the thumb is in contact with the grip. Left pic position can contribute more to "casting" or losing leverage at too fast a rate.

The curvature of the rear hand fits into the base of the lead thumb.

Other than looking at your hand position, how do you know if your grip is in the palm of the lead hand? Take a look at some of these clues.

Left pic, the "V" of the rear hand is pointing at my sternum, should be aimed more towards my rear shoulder. In the right pic I haven't "loaded" my wrists enough, shaft angle is also too shallow. The shaft would be pointing outside the ball.

Since there is a lack of structure to the grip, the shaft "collapses" and gets close to my rear shoulder at the top of the backswing. From there I will have to uncock my wrist angles rapidly to get the club back down to the ball.

Golfers will also have a pattern of the location of the wear spot on their glove, under the heel pad, into the palm like the example below. The thumb can also get "shredded" pretty quickly due to the lack of stability in the hand.

[billchao]

@mvmac , thanks for putting this together. Bits and pieces are strewn about all over other threads, but it's great to have it all in one place for reference.

[14ledo81]

Good info. On my phone with no club near by, but I plan on looking at this again with a club. Thanks.

[mvmac]

@mvmac, thanks for putting this together. Bits and pieces are strewn about all over other threads, but it's great to have it all in one place for reference.

Thanks. Yes that's the idea, make it easy for everyone to find. You'll probably start seeing more "how to" threads like this in the near future.

[Abu3baid]

Thanks, this is very informative.. Do you happen to have a picture of what the worn out glove should really look like with a correct grip?

[outlaw1984]

Excellent post Mike... Very informative!!!

[saevel25]

Thanks. Yes that's the idea, make it easy for everyone to find. You'll probably start seeing more "how to" threads like this in the near future.

Great information Mike!

I tend to have problems with the trail hand, were my right thumb likes to stay more down the center of the grip, rather than lay overtop. As seen on the left. Is there a specific issue this causes in the golf swing?

[boogielicious]

Thanks Mike.  I added to your skins, but frankly, every post you have is very helpful.

[14ledo81]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saevel25

Great information Mike!

I tend to have problems with the trail hand, were my right thumb likes to stay more down the center of the grip, rather than lay overtop. As seen on the left. Is there a specific issue this causes in the golf swing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvmac

Another common mistake in the left pic, right thumb is running down the middle of the grip. A more functional position on the right, just the upper right "tip" of the thumb is in contact with the grip. Left pic position can contribute more to "casting" or losing leverage at too fast a rate.

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[saevel25]

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Touche'

[Brian W]

Great thread!!

Sometimes when my swing is feeling off or I just dont have the control, I can almost always rethink my grip and get back on line

[14ledo81]

Here is a pic of my right hand.  Notice the pretty distinct callous.  What does this say about my grip?

[mvmac]

Thanks, this is very informative.. Do you happen to have a picture of what the worn out glove should really look like with a correct grip?

Good question, I'll have to get back to you on that, can't find an example right now and I don't wear a glove.

Touche'

With the rear thumb on top, it makes the thumb more "active", just changes how the wrists uncock. I think it's best if the thumb is more passive and goes along for the ride.

Here is a pic of my right hand.  Notice the pretty distinct callous.  What does this say about my grip?

I think it basically shows what part of your finger is coming into contact with the grip, reason your "V" isn't aimed at your right shoulder. And because it's not a secure position, there's some rubbing/wear going on. Gotta get that pad, green dot, of the trigger finger on the side of the shaft.

[boogielicious]

@mvmac ,

How long should you make the left thumb? I am assuming you are exaggerating in this photo.

[mvmac]

@mvmac ,

How long should you make the left thumb? I am assuming you are exaggerating in this photo.

You can make it as long as you want, when I was shown this piece, the instructor literally stretched my left thumb down the shaft. And just to be clear, I also said this in the first post, this is more of a variation that I think is beneficial, not necessarily a commonality.

In the example I'm just showing how much more mobility I have in my wrist when I go with the long lead thumb, I'm trying to max it out in both pics.

Couple pics of instructor Dana Dahlquist's grip. Think I'll add a view like this to the first post.

Notice how you can see the top of his left thumb

[CarlSpackler]

Interesting thoughts on the left thumb. I've never given it much thought. Hmmm...

[mpb1472]

Excellent thread and video. Thanks.

[scorpion12]

I'd just like to say Mvmac that this is great information. I tried this yesterday when I played 9 holes after work and one other tip I had read in another thread (keep your arms close to your chest through your swing) and what a difference it made in my game. Where my drives normally go out about 200 yards then fade/slice away from me an additional 30-50 yards, they went mostly straight. For as long as I've been hacking at golf I never realized that I had the wrong grip. Adjusting mine to what you showed help immensely.

I especially like the anatomical snuff box and the description you used in keeping it over the center of the club grip. That's a great tip.

One question though and I realize this is asking a lot. Is there a way you can do the same photos from a left handed players perspective? I realize we lefties are a mirror image of the majority of players and we should just substitute the right hand instead of the left for the primary grip like shown in your photos, but seeing it in a photo montage like you did above could help reinforce the proper way to do it.

Thanks and great post!