A different grip for different clubs

[phillyk]

A friend of mine has been volunteering at our course and thus he has been playing a lot more in the last few years, and has started taking and applying many people's advice.  Needless to say, he has a lot going on in his head and can't stick to one routine or swing.  I would help him every once in a while just trying to help him swing towards the target and how to have a better swing plane.  

The other day, I went to play with him, because he has liked the little advice I have given him.  He mentions quite often that on days he hits his driver well, his irons suck and vice versa.  Now, this seems pretty common but it got me thinking about why. As I watched him hit driver, he had such difficulty in getting the club head through or he'd over-do it and shut the face way too much.  His grip was super strong, so much that it was stopping him from allowing the right hand/arm to rotate over the left at impact, meaning the face would be wide open.  So I mentioned that he did that, which he responded to saying that he was told to take a stronger grip to stop a slice.  Well I put him in a somewhat more neutral grip and he hit it straight several times in a row, and he can now feel that turnover and release much better.  But, funny thing is that this more neutral grip is the grip he uses for his 3 wood, for which he always said that he hit well.  His irons were a little bit too strong, so I told him to try that more neutral grip for everything.  He went out to play the next day and shot one of his better rounds of the year.  Now it could be a fluke round, so I'll wait to see how his next few rounds go and then check back in.

It's odd to me that he had almost 3 different grips he would use as he played.  This creates slightly different swings in the long run and thus is very hard to create a consistent swing.  He had been so frustrated lately, because he played better golf before he started playing so often and he knew it was because of the advice and knowing it will take work to get better.  Sometimes you just have to start at the basics and make sure they are solid.

As for me, I am not a change the grip type person unless it is essential to change for the overall game to improve.  Does anybody else use different grips for different clubs?  If so, do you feel like you take a different swing because of that?

[Liko81]

I don't. When I address the ball, I find myself using the same, centered Vardon Overlap for every swing, with every club. My swing is variable enough as it is without intentionally rotating one hand or the other around the grip for every shot.

Now, before I read the full post, I thought it was going to be about grips, as in the ones on the Muppet end of the clubs. In that case, I have soft Winn grips on my woods, and rubber wrap-styles on all my other clubs. It's a question of durability and of feel; unlike some, I don't regrip every club every year, so I use the nicer and pricier Winns on the woods to encourage a softer pressure on the grips for those faster clubs, while the wrap styles will last years between regrips, thus saving me money.

Edited September 7, 2016 by Liko81

[Piz]

I grip the club in a specific manner when setting up for a sand shot; but I don't know that it would appear all that different to a casual observer.  The grip is secondary to the swing.

[Buckeyebowman]

I can see taking a slightly stronger or weaker grip depending on the type of shot I'm trying to play, but not simply because of the club I'm using!

[phillyk]

8 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I can see taking a slightly stronger or weaker grip depending on the type of shot I'm trying to play, but not simply because of the club I'm using!

I've heard of people changing their grip to hit a fade instead of their normal draw.  I don't think it's that I can't do that, but for some reason I don't like the idea of changing my grip in order to hit a fade.