Get a Grip

The fundamentals of the hand position on the club hasn’t really changed over the years and while a few variances come along from time to time in certain players, there are very good reasons why the grip hasn’t changed too much in the history of the game.

There are three popular variations of the grip which are all effective – interlocking, overlapping and ten finger or baseball grip. As a coach, I’m always looking for a couple of important characteristics of a player’s grip, regardless of which method they choose to use -

1. The palms of the hands must oppose each other

2. The club needs to be in the fingers of the bottom hand rather than the palm.  This means the thumb of the top hand should be covered by the bottom hand.

3. If the grip is correct, the right elbow should point to your right hip.  This way, as you take the club away, the elbow folds and the club stays on plane.

Many people have a very strong bottom hand when they grip the club – a sin the picture on the right.  Sure this may feel stronger but notice where my right elbow points – no where near my right hip.  As the club goes away, that right elbow folds into a weaker position and generally, the clubface is closed at the top of the swing.  So when the club returns to the ball, if the hands haven’t done some serious compensating, the result is a poor strike with a closed clubface.

Changing your grip to a more neutral position takes courage and patience – and no golfer has ever improved significantly without these two qualities.  So take the time to get the grip correct and you will definitely be rewarded in the long run.