switched from interlock to overlap, MUCH BETTER

[djbehr]

slice/fade nearly gone

Just for the heck of it, yesterday I hit a few warm-up shots before my round with the overlap grip. Just to explain, I had been hitting a fade ever since I quit in 91 (used to hit a draw). What I mean by 'since I quit' is the couple of rounds that I'd play a year. The bigger problem is that my misses with my driver were HUGE slices.

My first few shots with the driver after changing grips were big nasty duck hooks. Uh, this is a good thing. It seems that the grip was helping my hands release a lot sooner. With a few more swings I had either a straight drive or slight draw. I hit some with the irons and found the same thing.

Went out on the course and my first 3 drives were PERFECT. I was swinging really easy (75% - or so it feels like) and they were straight down the fairway about 250 to 270. As the day wore on, my fade snuck back in but I think I can see what happened. However, the fade wasn't a slice and I just needed to stop aiming for a draw. The last couple of holes I aimed at the left side of the fairway and ended up right down the middle.

Considering I'm using a new iron swing (S&T - 3rd round now), new blades after switching from cavity backs, and yesterday a new grip, I'm not dissapointed about the 87 that I shot. I did have 3 birdies yesterday and missed an eagle putt by about an inch.

An interesting side-effect is I have a much longer, looser follow-through. Instead of the Arnold Palmer weird 'up' finish, I have that 'tour-like' wrap-around the back follow-through. I presume it's because my hands are releasing better/more/properly. It's kind of cool knowing that I have that tour-like, athletic looking swing now. :lol:

I look forward to some more practice with the new grip.

[titleistnutter]

okay, no offence here to you, but people with stories like this really rile me.

 

if you were in the worlds top 100 and this made an inch difference then id say yeah, maybe it works. however, you have just shot 87 (+15?) and are claiming that a miniscule difference such as this is stopiing you coming over the top? no chance mate

 

the only difference is between your ears.

 

the only difference interlocking makes is that it tends to weaken your grip as the interlocking fingers want to feel 'together' instead of just touching. so unfortunately, it cannot cure a slice/fade and turn it into the opposite.

 

the likelihood is you did not expect to hit a good shot when you first tried it so the slice you imagine as you usually step up to the ball was absent in your head, as you had no expectations. you hit a good shot. subsequently you imagine a draw and therefore you make a more rounded swing. its a vicious circle.

 

as for the s&t comment, i reserve judgement because i have never seen you play. however i seriously doubt that you can swing a club like badds after reading an article, a swing that took months upon years to create. again, the same scenario as the grip mentally was present i presume.

 

im sure many will disagree, but this is further proof to me that 90% of this game is played in your head.

[djbehr]

okay, no offence here to you, but people with stories like this really rile me.

 

if you were in the worlds top 100 and this made an inch difference then id say yeah, maybe it works. however, you have just shot 87 (+15?) and are claiming that a miniscule difference such as this is stopiing you coming over the top? no chance mate

 

the only difference is between your ears.

 

the only difference interlocking makes is that it tends to weaken your grip as the interlocking fingers want to feel 'together' instead of just touching. so unfortunately, it cannot cure a slice/fade and turn it into the opposite.

 

the likelihood is you did not expect to hit a good shot when you first tried it so the slice you imagine as you usually step up to the ball was absent in your head, as you had no expectations. you hit a good shot. subsequently you imagine a draw and therefore you make a more rounded swing. its a vicious circle.

 

as for the s&t comment, i reserve judgement because i have never seen you play. however i seriously doubt that you can swing a club like badds after reading an article, a swing that took months upon years to create. again, the same scenario as the grip mentally was present i presume.

 

im sure many will disagree, but this is further proof to me that 90% of this game is played in your head.

 

The duck-hooks were in my head? I didn't intentionally do anything different on those swings and the results were unlike anything I'd EVER seen.

 

The follow-through is in my head? It's a huge difference from what I had before. Unlike any follow-through I've ever had.

 

S&T? I didn't say I HAD Badd's swing. I said I SWITCHED to that type of swing. That swing isn't rocket science. If you check it out, you'll find that it's pretty simple. Other people have said that the results of this swing may just be from eliminating lateral movement; I have no qualms with that. The results for me have been stunning. I've gone from hitting five or so fat shots a round to zero or maybe one. By fat I mean going half the distance of normal, not 10% shorter than normal.

 

As for the 87, use a new set of irons for only the 2nd time, use a new swing AND switch grips and let me know what you shoot.

 

FWIW, I'm an 11 HC after only having been playing 3 months (after 16 years off) - I'm not exactly a duffer out there.

 

Having said all that, I'm very much a 'zen' type of athlete. I've read the Inner Game of Tennis and The Inner Game of Golf. I believe people get caught up way too much in mechanics and this game like most IS played between the ears. I played college tennis and have hit 4 aces in a row in one game and a week later can hit 2 double-faults in a row. It TOO is a mental game once you hit a certain level. Certainly, I'm not as good a golfer as I was a tennis player so I have much more time of getting my mechanics ingrained.

[titleistnutter]

it was intended to be a general reply rather than a dig at you - but so many people come into the pro shop saying how s & t is doing wonders for them (mostly high handicappers!) when they dont have basic fundamentals in place to make it work. i thought you may have been one of those cases but clearly not. i agree with the way you play the game and agree that at our amateur level we get far to caught up with swing mechanics when we could get low by doing otherwise

[lowballhitter]

You want to get rid off the slice forever - try Steve Jones' reverse overlap.

[bankrate]

My PERSONAL OPINION is that the grip makes a huge difference in how the hands release. I have a different result then you but by switching to a 10 finger grip it is easier to hit a big hook, if needed like around a trees, and my tendency is to draw the ball. If I go from interlocking (my regular grip) to overlapping It is easier to hit a huge slice, if needed and my tendecy is to fade the ball.

[slicefixer]

It's a better group for MOST.......places the pressure in the correct fingers rather than so much being in the "lock".........and also "organizes" and "molds" the two hands into ONE "unit" much better IMOP........it's NOT for ALL, but, the best alternative for MOST.......IMOP