Vardon vs Interlock Grip ; Club face?

[jabwind51]

I ask the question now in 2020 since these threads appear to be old: has it been studied at all what these types of grips may promote for a golfer with a standard traditional strength grip?

 

I am a fader of the ball and I have always used interlock. Even when I try to draw it or go straight it still wants a tiny bit of fade. I started experimenting with the overlap grip and I noticed it felt like my hands were more unitized to each other but less so with the club....lo and behold hitting straight balls and varying my release hitting draws.

Psychological or has anyone out there also noticed the interlock promotes a fade like the esteemed golden bear?

[Hawkeye77]

Jack played with an interlock because of the size of his hands.

[Zen_Golfer]

I find that when I interlock that I block/fade/slice the ball because the interlock limits my wrist action and makes it more difficult for me to release the club. With an overlap/Vardon, Im more able to release the club because it allows more wrist action and I end up with a draw/hook/pull. With a Vardon, I can just aim down the right side and trust that the ball is going to curve back to the left. With an interlock, Im just dead with weak shots that go right.

[Hawkeye77]

Which is why golf is so interesting.

I ended up switching to an interlocking grip several years ago after decades of Vardon because I get better and needed wrist hinge with it and eliminated an issue with not staying 100% connected in my backswing. LOL, now I just can't handle the feeling of an overlapping grip (use reverse overlap for putting and no issues there).

[jabwind51]

Interesting!

[lenman73]

I can hook the ball off the planet with the interlock, vardon, or ten finger. But I do have a better release with the interlock. I had to really work on my grip going back to the interlock this year to keep my right pinky pain down but for me, it frees the wrists up.

[Circaflex]

I cannot use Vardon, I have tried many times and I just dont know if my hands aren't strong enough, or what the deal is but I just dont feel connected to the club and always thing it is going to fly out of my hands. I use interlock.

[ChipNRun]

I would suggest that individual differences in hand size and finger length could influence the effect of the grip.

On pp. 74-75 of the 1974 Golf My Way softcover book, NIcklaus has the outline of his left and right hand. More or less medium-size hands. In hand comparison, my fingers are the same length as Nicklaus', but the palms of my hands are longer. This plays out in that I use midsize grips rather than regular, which surprises some people. Also, when I would wrap my hands prior to boxing workouts, I would put three extra wraps in the palm of each hand to take up the slack of the longer palms. Otherwise, I would end up with slight sprains in the back of my hands if I landed some solid punches.

 

[jabwind51]

I agree it just feels like it will fly out of my hands and I consider my hands pretty strong but they are not very large. I wear a Med-Large glove and my grips are standard up to 1 extra wrap

Interlock feels pretty good now. I think my main issue was my grip needed to be slightly stronger which helps me radially deviate a bit instead of the forearm flexing feel to bring the club down with a proper release.

 

 

[Phjames44]

have to be careful with interlocking that it’s done correctly. When done incorrectly the left index finger and right pinky (for RH), sit deep in the webbing between the fingers instead of locking around each other. This puts the lead hand in a weak position, the trail hand in a strong position and makes it very hard to control the club face

[JCray33]

Switched from overlap after only playing with overlap my whole 10 years of golfing and read a tip about if you draw too much to try interlock and it has helped me tremendously it's insane! I will be sticking with interlock grip! And yes I 100% agree that interlock helps with being a little more fade biased

[OrangeGravy]

Exact same issue with interlock, but I can't do the Vardon grip. It's horribly uncomfortable with the size of my hands. I had to go with a "golf" 10 finger grip. Hands close together, but no interlock or overlap. I went from not being able to release to now being able to. Bonus is a bit more speed do to being confident enough to "let it go" when I swing

[OrangeGravy]

I think hand size has to be the major driver doesn't it? I'm an M/L glove or Cadet Large (I think-shorter fingers?). My fingers are shorter than my palm size suggests. I use Standard +2 wraps. I can use Midsize grips, but again, it leads a bit more of a hold-off swing and less release.

[mootrail]

I used both grips for years; interlock for long clubs, driver, woods, etc. and overlap for irons. But in the last year plus, I switched to overlap only, mostly because I was getting some friction soreness from the interlock grip. My driver game also hit the skids about the same time.

Fast forward to just today. I switched back to the interlock for my long clubs and bingo, the light went on. With the interlock, my pull hook tendency became suddenly manageable. It felt like I could control the face easier at impact and just like that my driver was back. I hit some extra tee balls using the overlap; no suprise, duck hook city.

I play to a draw with my irons, but like to move the ball that other way as well. Nothing moved to the right until I tried the interlock, and again, bingo, I was fading the ball.

In searching around this seems to be the consensus; play the interlock if you struggle with a hook and the overlap if you struggle with a slice. As an overly right hand dominant player, I completely get why. With an overlap, the right hand can easily get too strong and take over, where the interlock locks the right hand grip and tempers the right hand dominance. I could feel my right hand try to snap the club face close with the overlap, where I felt I could hold the face open with the interlock. So I'm back to both grips plus the interlock for fades.

I always say back to the basics; grip, alignment and stance. Amazing that it actually works!

[DNice26]

On 7/29/2020 at 7:51 PM, mootrail said:

I used both grips for years; interlock for long clubs, driver, woods, etc. and overlap for irons. But in the last year plus, I switched to overlap only, mostly because I was getting some friction soreness from the interlock grip. My driver game also hit the skids about the same time.

Fast forward to just today. I switched back to the interlock for my long clubs and bingo, the light went on. With the interlock, my pull hook tendency became suddenly manageable. It felt like I could control the face easier at impact and just like that my driver was back. I hit some extra tee balls using the overlap; no suprise, duck hook city.

I play to a draw with my irons, but like to move the ball that other way as well. Nothing moved to the right until I tried the interlock, and again, bingo, I was fading the ball.

In searching around this seems to be the consensus; play the interlock if you struggle with a hook and the overlap if you struggle with a slice. As an overly right hand dominant player, I completely get why. With an overlap, the right hand can easily get too strong and take over, where the interlock locks the right hand grip and tempers the right hand dominance. I could feel my right hand try to snap the club face close with the overlap, where I felt I could hold the face open with the interlock. So I'm back to both grips plus the interlock for fades.

I always say back to the basics; grip, alignment and stance. Amazing that it actually works!

Reviving an old one here....but man, think I could have written this post for myself.  
I’m a low single and I’ve gamed the overlap for years.  Just yesterday, I got a bit frustrated and tried the interlock for 9 holes.  It was far more difficult for me the hit my crappy pull draw.  So much so, that I’m very seriously considering a switch...which is kinda nuts..