The Grip

The “key” or “building block” of a good golf swing is establishing a good grip. When I teach the grip I always work with each student to find the most comfortable grip for them. Sure there are advantages  to each one, but working with your student to make them understand the correct placement and getting it correct every time they grab the club is the real goal.

The 3 most widely used ways to grip a golf club can be seen in the picture below:

 

There are common threads in each of these, as placement of the club in the hands is so important. Why? Well during the Golf Swing  2 major things happen:

1. The swing only takes on average 2 seconds from start to finish. This gives you about .05 of a second to have your brain tell your hands to”TURN” and get it right every time. (Not possible! Go ahead try that conscious thought next time!)

2. The force of inertia emitted on the club during a golf swing creates enough force that a club swung at 100 / mph will effectively weigh 120 lbs, which you cannot possibly move  as the force is increasing. In other words it weighs too much! (no matter how much you go to the gym…sorry!)

When setting your hands on the club there are couple of landmarks to pay attention to when setting your hands that can give you the advantage and when swinging the club the club will automatically rotate and square the club without your conscious thought. This allows you to create less tension and maximize your swing potential.

The landmarks you should look for are the direction of the “V’s” that are made between each thumb when placed on the club and you are looking down towards your hands. These “V’s” when placed correctly will be directed in the following manner:

Right Handed                            Left Handed

  
– Notice the arrows? This is key to have them placed so that they point to the trail shoulder (bottom hand) and the trail ear (top hand). This placement will allow the club to get back to the ball in the correct way because as the club comes into the ball the club bends, or “droops” which causes the clubhead to pull down to the ground and the hands to move upwards. (There is NO way you can stop this, remember the weight thing?) however when this happens, a proper grip returns the club to straight almost every time.