“Yeah, I always felt like a man’s grip on his club just like
a man’s grip on his world”
-Bagger
Vance
from
“The Legend of Bagger Vance”
I’ve heard of a number of teaching pros who simply will not
change a person’s grip. They know that
if they do, they unravel all the pieces of the puzzle that the individual has
used to compensate for their improper grip over the years. I, on the other hand, believe that if
something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. Personally, I would rather struggle initially
with a change if I know that in the long-term it will produce the best results
in my life. That being said, I
frequently find myself wishing I was not so keen on doing things the proper
way, especially during the inefficient moments of awkwardness that follow
making a change in this direction.
I preface talking about the grip with these statements
because it is such a fundamental part of the golf swing. Your connection to the club determines much
of what will follow and how the rest of your body relates to the golf
club. When you change the grip, you
change everything.
Sam Snead said, “Hold the club as if you had a little baby
bird in your hand”. The most common
question I get asked from my students when they hear this statement is, “If I
held it like that, wouldn’t the club just fly right out of my hands?” It is an understandable concern and the
reason most folks hold the club far too tightly. This fear of losing control of the club is a
reasonable thing, considering the damage a flung golf club could do. However, once you understand the purpose of
the lever in your non-dominant hand, you can begin to feel what Sam Snead was
talking about with his little baby bird metaphor.
The Lever
There is a bone at the inside base of the hand. When you are typing at your keyboard, you are
most likely resting on that bone. To
create the proper lever in the top hand of the grip, you are going to want this
bone directly on top of the club. Using
this bone and the last three fingers of the hand, you should be able to bounce
the club up in front of you simply by cocking your wrist. That lever is the key to low grip
pressure. If you don’t have the lever,
you will have to use tension in your fingers and arms to manipulate the
club. With the lever, you can relax,
knowing that the club is under your control without the need for choking it to
death.
Bringing the Hands
Together
The basic idea of the grip is to get the hands as close
together as possible so that they become one unit instead of two opposing
forces. There are three ways that you
can hold the club properly. Which one
you choose will have a lot to do with the size of your hands and the relative
comfort of fitting your hands together.
Please note that comfort does not exactly equal comfortable. When most people put their hands on the club
properly for the first time they usually say, “Wow….this feels…weird/awkward/terrible/different/awful/etc.”. Because of the angles involved and the
rotational nature of the golf swing, very little about the game comes naturally
to us. Our general instinct is to think
in straight lines and this game is far from being linear. Comfort in this instance has more to do with
the lack of pain involved with repeating the same grip over and over again.
The hands should be oriented with the palms facing each
other, one palm pointing down the target line and the other pointing directly
away from the target line.
10-finger grip/Baseball grip
Usually recommended for individuals with smaller hands
Basically the idea here is to get the hands as close
together as possible without connecting the hands in any way.
Interlocking Grip
Used by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods…pretty good company to
keep
The pointer finger of the non-dominant hand and the pinky of
the dominant hand wrap around one another at the base of the finger
Overlapping Grip
Used by the majority of professional golfers
The pinky of the dominant hand wraps over the top of the
knuckle of the pointer finger on the non-dominant hand.
Experiment with each of these grips to determine which one
feels right for you.
Supporting Underneath
in the Fingers of the Dominant Hand
Most players put their dominant hand on the club in a way
that they feel “in control” with that hand.
Again, there is nothing natural about the game of golf. What we want to do with the dominant hand is
to neutralize it. Basically, for most
players this will mean making the grip in this hand “weaker” and in more of a
supportive role to eliminate the tendency to “use” this hand in the swing.
To get the bottom/dominant hand into this supportive
position, hold the club on the pad of the middle part of your fingers (next one
down from the tip). Here is where we
really can feel Sam Snead’s metaphor. In
this position, the dominant hand is barely even holding onto the club.
The purpose of this hand is to support the club from
underneath. Remember the hinge we
created with the lever in the non-dominant hand? The dominant hand only assists in supporting
the cocking motion of the wrist. It
does not push from one side to the other.
If you hit a big slice in your golf swing, I can tell you
that you are pushing with one hand against the other, trying to go in a
straight line….again, there is nothing straight about this game.
Summary
Create a lever in your non-dominant hand
Bring the hands as close together as possible
Palms facing each other
Support underneath in the fingers of the dominant hand
Light Grip pressure
Not sure if you’re doing it correctly? I encourage you to send me a picture or video
of your grip at presentmomentgolf@gmail.com.
I will give you the feedback to help get things neutralized and working
in harmony in your grip, the most fundamental part of the game of golf.
