Right Trigger Finger

[bmartin461]

This one might be for @iacas or @mvmac, but open to anyone's opinion.      

I'm a right-handed player and on my right hand, the joint between the tip and 2nd bone was fused together because of a baseball injury when I was in little league.    The result of this injury is I cannot bend it at all, say to wrap it around the grip when setting up for a shot.

My question is, how much does the right trigger finger play a role in controlling any aspect of the swing?   Obviously, I have compensated for it and I don’t ever think about it when I play, but a recent post showing the Ben Hogan grip made me think of it again as it clearly shows him wrapping the finger around the grip.

Any thoughts?  

[billchao]

  On 6/28/2017 at 8:40 PM, bmartin461 said:

My question is, how much does the right trigger finger play a role in controlling any aspect of the swing?   Obviously, I have compensated for it and I don’t ever think about it when I play, but a recent post showing the Ben Hogan grip made me think of it again as it clearly shows him wrapping the finger around the grip.

Any thoughts?  

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I think it depends on the golfer. Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, and Fred Couples are three prominent golfers known for almost releasing their bottom hand at impact. I have read that Ernie Els holds his right index finger down lower on the grip than the rest of his hand, creating a gap between his index and middle finger, supposedly for a lag feel. In my own experience, I've found that gripping the club with too much pressure in the index finger makes it easier for me to roll the club inside during the takeaway so I've been trying to move away from that.

If your hands are in a good grip alignment, you probably don't need to wrap that finger around the club (especially if you physically can't).

[iacas]

I don't think it matters too much.

The top and bottom of the grip are where the most pressure is, but you can still apply a bit of pressure across the next knuckle down.

[Jack Watson]

I believe Hogan called that a swing wrecker in his book.  I think he recommended practicing without that finger pressure.  Meh,  imo not a big key whatever you do on grip.

[mvmac]

  On 6/28/2017 at 8:40 PM, bmartin461 said:

My question is, how much does the right trigger finger play a role in controlling any aspect of the swing?   Obviously, I have compensated for it and I don’t ever think about it when I play, but a recent post showing the Ben Hogan grip made me think of it again as it clearly shows him wrapping the finger around the grip.

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I don't think it's that important, unless the index finger is well on top of the grip. I think Hogan even said that you should be able to hit shots with the index finger off the club.

[bmartin461]

OK, cool, just thought I would eliminate that as an issue. Appreciate the responses.

 

[gogreen03]

I agree, probably not too much. The older generation loves to talk about hitting "three finger" shots which is basically removing all pressure from the right index finger and thumb during the shot. That being said I have heard Johnny Miller call the trigger finger a power source

[Buckeyebowman]

  On 6/29/2017 at 5:03 AM, mvmac said:

I don't think it's that important, unless the index finger is well on top of the grip. I think Hogan even said that you should be able to hit shots with the index finger off the club.

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I recall reading somewhere that Hogan felt that the tip of the right index finger should never close around the club so that it touched the tip of the right thumb. I don't remember the reason why, It may have been that it would give the right hand too much influence in the swing, maybe bringing on the dreaded hook.

[mvmac]

  On 6/29/2017 at 5:03 AM, mvmac said:

I think Hogan even said that you should be able to hit shots with the index finger off the club.

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  On 7/2/2017 at 2:50 AM, Buckeyebowman said:

I recall reading somewhere that Hogan felt that the tip of the right index finger should never close around the club so that it touched the tip of the right thumb. I don't remember the reason why, It may have been that it would give the right hand too much influence in the swing, maybe bringing on the dreaded hook.

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Here's what I was referring to.

[iacas]

  On 7/2/2017 at 2:50 AM, Buckeyebowman said:

I recall reading somewhere that Hogan felt that the tip of the right index finger should never close around the club so that it touched the tip of the right thumb. I don't remember the reason why, It may have been that it would give the right hand too much influence in the swing, maybe bringing on the dreaded hook.

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Yeah, I don't know about that. Here's a Hogan quote:

"As far as applying power goes, I wish I had three right hands!"

But that's a different thing than the right index finger.

[Buckeyebowman]

Also, Nicklaus once said, something like, "The longer I play golf, the more I realize it's a right handed game!"

BTW, I usually introduce quotes with the words "something like", since I can't guarantee that my memory will reproduce them verbatim!