Grip Tip

[Hacker James]

one way to ensure taking a neutral grip every time is to use what may be already built into it. Often taken for granted, the designs on  grips are often  put there for a reason. Take the Tour Edge TGS Wedge's for example: there is an ellipse near the top where your lead hand's thumb should go, then  a couple of chevron shapes either of which should be lined up between the crease formed by thumb and index finger of lower hand.  This is for a squared up address without depending on using the face of the club head or its top edge.  If you want the face angle a tad more open or closed, just rotate the handle so that the apex of the chevron is just to the right of the crease, or partially under the thumb. Now many might consider this a "duh" moment, I would wager that few ever take this into consideration. (Caveat: assuming grip is assembled correctly to begin with). Are there exceptions ? Of course, some naturally go for a stronger or weaker grip, but these can still be used as a reference point.  Duh!

Edited September 17, 2018 by Hacker James

[iacas]

4 hours ago, Hacker James said:

one way to ensure taking a neutral grip every time is to use what may be already built into it. Often taken for granted, the designs on  grips are often  put there for a reason. Take the Tour Edge TGS Wedge's for example: there is an ellipse near the top where your lead hand's thumb should go, then  a couple of chevron shapes either of which should be lined up between the crease formed by thumb and index finger of lower hand.  This is for a squared up address without depending on using the face of the club head or its top edge.  If you want the face angle a tad more open or closed, just rotate the handle so that the apex of the chevron is just to the right of the crease, or partially under the thumb. Now many might consider this a "duh" moment, I would wager that few ever take this into consideration. (Caveat: assuming grip is assembled correctly to begin with). Are there exceptions ? Of course, some naturally go for a stronger or weaker grip, but these can still be used as a reference point.  Duh!

I disagree. The lead thumb is often slightly on the back side of the shaft and the trail hand thumb is often slightly forward. The "V"s often point slightly to the trail shoulder or side of the face.

Also, what's "neutral" for one person may be slightly strong or weak for someone else.

[billchao]

My grips look like this:

And I install them with the logo down. I don't want decals on my grips.

My grip (with my hands) is what it is. It's automatic and I could do it blindfolded because I do it by feel and not by sight. If I want to open/close the clubface or aim it in any way, I do it by looking at the clubface. I'm not going to rely on the designs on my grips being properly aligned to the clubface by whoever installed them.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, billchao said:

My grip (with my hands) is what it is. It's automatic and I could do it blindfolded because I do it by feel and not by sight. If I want to open/close the clubface or aim it in any way, I do it by looking at the clubface. I'm not going to rely on the designs on my grips being properly aligned to the clubface by whoever installed them.

You wouldn't believe how many putter grips are 3-5° (or more) off of square.

[billchao]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

You wouldn't believe how many putter grips are 3-5° (or more) off of square.

Not mine 😉