Ten Finger Grip

[nwalsh8]

I use a ten finger grip and find the overlap and interlock grips extremely uncomfortable, however every fitter/coach ive seen has reccomended that i at least try the other two grips at a range and to see if i have improvements. i cant get past 3 shots with out feeling like the club will fly out of my hands or my fingers will break. is the ten finger grip necessarily going to impede my game?

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, nwalsh8 said:

I use a ten finger grip and find the overlap and interlock grips extremely uncomfortable, however every fitter/coach ive seen has reccomended that i at least try the other two grips at a range and to see if i have improvements. i cant get past 3 shots with out feeling like the club will fly out of my hands or my fingers will break. is the ten finger grip necessarily going to impede my game?

One of my best friends is an 8 HC and he plays with a 10 finger grip. He outdrives me by 20 yards. If your other fundamentals are good, the grip won't be a limiter. He has been playing with that grip for 40 years.

[mcanadiens]

I'm also a 10-finger person. Most of what I've heard and read suggest that it's fine as long as you keep the grip in the fingers and not the palm.

The few times I've tried overlap I couldn't make it past a few swings. Too unnatural.

 

[freshmanUTA]

No it won't, as long as you don't grip it in an extremely unnatural way.

[Gunther]

I have arthritis in my hands, just started creeping up about 2 years ago.  About 18 months ago the pain was so bad I had to transition to a 10-finger.  I have a pro friend who uses it and he was very encouraging and optimistic so I felt great about it, thought I'd gain some distance.  Never happened.  My game went into the ditch where it really has remained.

Pain moved to other areas of my hand awhile back so about 6 months ago I was able to revert to the interlocking that I've always used.  Best thing that ever happened, game is coming back, especially on those days I have little to no pain.

I put together a few rounds in the 70s with the 10-finger but my hcap increased by 4 or 5 strokes.  So, not saying it's useless but it sure wasn't the answer for me (although it did allow me to swing pain free).

[Buckeyebowman]

I have a buddy who uses the 10 finger grip, and I wish i could hit the ball like he does. Tried it a couple of times on the range and just couldn't do it. The right hand wanted to take over. Used the interlock grip and then the overlap, which I still do. They felt weird at first, but I got used to them. Now, anything else feels weird.

[Nagah]

I use a 10 finger grip after years of a pardon grip. Broke my pisiform bone in my wrist along with a 2mm separation after pounding balls at my local park. You see the ground was hard as a cats head due to no decent rain for 8 months and repeatedly hitting balls off it it took it toll. I have no pain in my wrist when using a 10 finger grip.

[kpaulhus]

I started with a 10 finger grip for the first 5 years then switched to overlap. It does feel weird at first, but like anything with time it became natural. I hit a cut before, now I hit draws. 

[boogielicious]

FWIW I played an interlocking grip until last fall. I switched to overlap because my right pinky was digging into my left hand cutting it. It took the winter, but now the overlap feels normal. 

[pganapathy]

I started with the interlock because my first coach taught me that when I was like 11 or so and he probably figured for a kid's small hands, the grip was better and easier than an overlap.  I am so used to it that it feels natural.  I reckon, interlock, overlap, 10 finger or even left hand below right (for a rightie) all work provided you put in the time to make it feel natural and you do not have a very unnatural grip.  Grip anyway is just a small, albeit important part of the swing, particularly if you are making corrections at the last minute.  I find that I have no idea where my clubface is on my downswing, and can only tell anything at or after impact.  My key is trying to ensure my clubface is always neutral, because my goal is to hit it straight every time, no draw no fade if at all possible

[lenman73]

I started with the interlock years ago then messed with an overlap. But with age and pain in my hands I have been with the ten finger for quite a while now and though I have tried the old grips on the range I will not go back to them. 

My grip is what I would call a modified ten finger to the point of being almost a 9.5 finger. I get my bottom hand as close as possible to my top hand to where my pinky starts riding up the side of my index finger. If someone looks, it appears to be a 10 finger grip but the right pinky isn't really on the club, if it is just barely, but I found it the most comfortable for me. 

[Suchmo]

I learned to swing a club (badly) with a ten finger grip. I now swing the club (still badly) with an overlap. Funnily enough, I didn't change consciously. I just messed about with it on the range, and after 60 or so balls, it felt natural. In short, if you want to change, give it a chance. I think it becomes natural feeling far quicker than many swing changes.

[EMC2144]

I actually just switched. Granted I've only been playing two years (this'll be three) but my pro never asked me to change. Was using 10 finger (baseball mentality) until one day at the range I started screwing around. Tried interlocking but my fingers are too large I think, but overlapping works well for me. Helped me release some of the pressure on the grip, which has gotten me more power. Also, even though I'm holding with less security, mishits actually come off better, even if I feel the club switch.

Only issue was a blister that formed one day on my right ring finger, because of the way the cut on the glove is on my left index finger. But I also hit about 120 balls every day for 2 weeks so I took a few days off, went back and now it hasn't come back. Hopefully it's not just because it's been cooler and therefore less sweat. But if it is I might switch to a different glove. Inconvenient but I'll take the extra yards. Got 5 or so on irons, probably 10-15 on my woods, and 15+ on my driver.

In the end though, it's about comfort and results. If it works, who is going to argue? And if they do, just beat them. That'll shut them up.

[Jeremie Boop]

It was very weird for me when I switched to interlock. Like other's have said, you can play well with any of the 3 standard style grips. Heck there are people who play with reverse hand low grips on full swings. 

[RFKFREAK]

I used to use the 10 finger grip but had an instructor suggest doing an overlap which was one of many things that I did to help cure the slice I had at the time. 

[DownAndOut]

If you look at this video where they discuss the Vardon grip , it makes sense not to copy it if you have small fingers and hands. Harry Vardons hands were gigantic and some of his fingers freakish long.

 

 

I've been experimenting with changing from a 10 finger grip to the Vardon grip and the results have been incredibly poor with sudden 'pull /snap' hooks or blocks way to the right . I have small hands and fingers and don't wear a glove, therefore need to have as much service area of my fingers on the shaft grip to create more friction . The more friction I have between my skin and rubber grip the less pressure I need to exert through my fingers. The less pressure means less tightening up of muscles in the forearms/shoulder areas.

When I used the Vardon grip , the little pinky finger of my right hand felt incredibly awkward to position  over the left index finger. I couldn't let it just lie loose and straightish over my index finger and therefore tried to secure it better by letting the top joint of my pinky  wrap over the 2nd joint of my index finger (the hands then felt more secure as one unit). But to enable my pinky to do this , I either had to either weaken my left hand grip or strengthen my right hand grip. So you can see that the end result is a right hand grip which can overpower the left hand , result being more tendency to hook the ball . And when you start hooking you tend to manipulate at the last second to stop the hands from rotating - result block to the right. The other fault with the Vardon grip (for me) is if I get ' tensed up, I tend to grip tighter which caused my pinky to press down firmer on my left index finger which in turn caused the radial muscles in my left forearm to also tense up all the way to the shoulder area. And once this happens you just can't release properly in the follow through and the ball can go anywhere.