Proper Grip Pressure (It's Firmer than You Might Think)

[WillieT]

On 7/29/2019 at 12:22 PM, mvmac said:

Would also recommend checking this thread out. I'm not a fan of Hogan's weak grip for most players.

 

@mvmac - Great read and excellent info all the way.  Can see why my hand alignment has been all over the place.  Not focusing on the grip first One thing I really like is the "green dot" illustration for properly aligning the right hand.  I had read on another site about doing similarly using medical tape and a Shapie to mark an "X" on the tape.  The premise is the same - getting the index/trigger finger 1st pad on the side of the grip. These two threads have definitely turned the "grip light bulb" on for me.  I took this to my back yard practice area w/foam practice balls.  Initial strikes were straight and farther carrying. Of course foam balls are not real ones, so it remains to be seen what will happen then.  However both threads have provided excellent primer info to better grip technique at address.  

[downbylaw11]

I've read studies that stated that one of the greatest determiner in driving distance was a players grip strength.  So yeah, while a great player might say, 'use light grip pressure', it's because they could probably turn a diamond into dust.  I would say the grip pressure being too tight and causing issues is only because of how the rest of peoples bodies tent to react when they grip the club too tight, which is too much tension in the arms and shoulders and even in the upper body.

[Buckeyebowman]

Many good points here. Some are gifted with natural grip strength, and others are not. My Uncle, who taught me most of my early learning about the game had "Popeye" forearms and big hands. I had the forearms, but not necessarily the hands. My palms are enormous, but my fingers are relatively short. Make of that what you may, but I was always able to grip the club firmly without introducing unnecessary tension into my wrists or elbows. We were changing the oil and filter on my buddy's wife's vehicle, and we could not get a wrench on the filter. I put my leather work gloves on and just grabbed the thing and twisted. I felt it give and twisted again. It moved more, and I eventually removed the filter from the block. 

This was not an ability I developed, I've always had it. I once read a story where a sports writer was invited to interview Ben Hogan. He wrote that shaking hands with him was like sticking your hand in a vise! 

[Par666]

Ahh grip pressure, the true mystery of the golf swing.

Does anyone remember a golf informercial from the mid '90's selling a grip pressure training aid ? It was endorsed and demonstrated by non other thqn Jack himself. It was basically a neoprene sheath/condom that went over your existing grip. It had sensors built into it that let out an audible beep when it was squeezed too hard. There were 5 settings of sensitivity, the lightest they called "pro" then 2,3,4,and 5. Mr Nicklaus was on a practice area doing the demonstration to about 6 amateurs of various playing ability. He set the device to "pro" level and hit a shortish iron, 8 maybe, and, silence, no beep. Everyone of the gathered amateurs tried it and not one could hit the ball without it beeping ! In fact most couldn't take it away in silence! and a couple of them were low single figure players!! They decreased the sensitivity to 5 or 4 and eventually 1 of them hit a full shot without the beep.

I found the advert fascinating, I think it was on the golf channel but the name of the product escapes me. Basically the whole tenet was that a soft grip was the holy grail, its what pros do and what amateurs can't. Fascinati g.

[Warlock]

There is a good article by Dave Tutelman about grip pressure if you want to delve a bit more into the physics.

Required grip pressure (tutelman.com)

 

[mvmac]

 

 

 

 

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[iacas]

Everything I’ve been saying for so long. 🙂

[saevel25]

I've just upped my grip pressure on all most shots, except putting. 

I probably went from a 4-ish to an 7-8. Just find it cleans up a lot of contact issues, especially in pitching. For me, an 8 still allows me to hit flop shots, so plenty of wrist flexibility is maintained. 

 

[phan52]

I was watching the John Deere Classic a few weeks back and they were talking about a player (I forget who) who had changed his grip pressure on his putter. He held the putter with a tight grip with his lead (left) hand and a light grip with his right and that he was putting much better. The announcer also mentioned that Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus took this approach. I gave it a shot and I was very pleased with the results. I had been leaving putts short and, with the new grip, I felt that it freed up my right hand a little at impact and I made a more solid strike and was getting to the hole more often. I was on the range a couple of days later with my pro and I mentioned it to him because I thought, if that works with my putter, why not the other clubs? He said he pretty much does that instinctively and I should do it. I started hitting irons with that grip pressure (tight left, right lighter) and was very surprised that it carried over. I felt that little lag with my wrists that I was looking for and was striking the ball better. I have been hitting much better shots recently and my scores reflect it. 

[mvmac]

On 7/23/2021 at 8:57 AM, phan52 said:

I was watching the John Deere Classic a few weeks back and they were talking about a player (I forget who) who had changed his grip pressure on his putter. He held the putter with a tight grip with his lead (left) hand and a light grip with his right and that he was putting much better. The announcer also mentioned that Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus took this approach. I gave it a shot and I was very pleased with the results. I had been leaving putts short and, with the new grip, I felt that it freed up my right hand a little at impact and I made a more solid strike and was getting to the hole more often. I was on the range a couple of days later with my pro and I mentioned it to him because I thought, if that works with my putter, why not the other clubs? He said he pretty much does that instinctively and I should do it. I started hitting irons with that grip pressure (tight left, right lighter) and was very surprised that it carried over. I felt that little lag with my wrists that I was looking for and was striking the ball better. I have been hitting much better shots recently and my scores reflect it. 

Think that makes a lot of sense feel wise with how the club sits in the hand/fingers and the direction you're moving the club.

[mvmac]

[iacas]

[cdh79]

I just read through the whole thread and initially did not want to resurrect an old one, but given that the last update was just in January I don't have to feel so bad about asking my question here.

 

I go through 2 sets of grips each season, and I know that I have a very soft grip at address and then start squeezing once I transition into the downswing. I can see that on the wear pattern of my grips, the wear pattern of my gloves (usually the thumb goes first as well as the inside of the index finger.. this is also where I get calluses). I believe that i am regripping lightly during my swing and those movements cause the wear and tear on my equipment (and me).

Some of the information, and especially the graphs here were very eye-opening, and after reading all this, I am certain that I am one of the typical players that fall into the amateur-graph. I will test around with starting out with more pressure and try to keep this more even along the swing.

 

Something I wondered is how does grip-size affect all this? 

I have small hands (size S for gloves) and with my last regripping I went for the MCC plus4 (non tapered) in standard size and had the feeling they were a bit too big (for my right hand specifically). When doing the check on the golfpride site it states I should go undersizsed based on my glove-size (yes, I know that's just an estimation and everyone is different). My pro said to not go smaller than regular and when I went to a golf-fitting on Friday the fitter (who's supposedly on of the most experienced ones here in my country) even said that my current grip is even tending towards being on the smaller side.

When doing some shots to try out a new shaft/head combo, he had a Lamkin midsize grip on the shaft and it felt actually much better than I had anticipated. 

Later when I was on the range of my home-course a friend walked by and we talked about it and he had the MCC plus4 in midsize and let me test those as well, and I had the feeling that with the bigger grip I have a steadier hold and then put less "squeeze" in when doing the transition. My current clubs are being regripped again at this point, and I asked them to put midsize grips on as well. This way I can test those until my new irons from the fitting will arrive (which may take up to 3 months).

Is this just a subjective feeling from myself, or is it correct that a bigger grip would lessen the peak-pressure and could help to keep one from squeezing? 

[boogielicious]

3 hours ago, cdh79 said:

Is this just a subjective feeling from myself, or is it correct that a bigger grip would lessen the peak-pressure and could help to keep one from squeezing? 

I can’t speak to the peak-pressure part, but grip feel is subjective for all of us. I have large hands with thin fingers. A proper grip is deep in the fingers. If you can do that with MCC+4 midsize, then it’s fine to play them. That is the profile I use.

[iacas]

Grip size is, IMO, about the comfort level you have. I can play and hit the same shots with jumbo grips and junior grips.

I have larger hands than average and use standard grips.

[jmanbooyaa]

@iacas why do you think there is such a misconception about grip size? You still have grip size selector on websites.  I remember a while ago getting clubs re-gripped and was told I should be in mid size grips. I currently don’t due to it not feeling comfortable. 

[cdh79]

thanks!

I went to the range today to test applying a bit more pressure and trying to keep it more consistent throughout the swing. too bad that my regular clubs are being regripped at the moment, so I had to test this on a set of blades which are still a bit outside of my ability range (at least for on a course.. on the range they have gotten much better compared to a few months ago, which shows me that I have improved quite a bit with consistency).. those shots that I did hit well, felt very connected and had a good flight path, but it’s more about the mishits for me, so I will have to do a bit more testing when I get my irons back (and then a side by side comparison when I get my new clubs in a few months)

 

[saevel25]

8 hours ago, iacas said:

Grip size is, IMO, about the comfort level you have. I can play and hit the same shots with jumbo grips and junior grips.

I have larger hands than average and use standard grips.

I might switch back to midsize grips next time I have to re-grip the clubs (which means like 5 years from now) 😛. 

I am trying to grip the club firmer, and maintain better grip pressure. I think I lose grip pressure through impact sometimes because I can feel the butt end of the club sometimes move in left hand. My grip pressure is not consistent in the last three fingers of the left hand. Also, probably why my left hand gets beat up when I swing a lot.