Grip Pressure Strangle or just enough

[Markrobert1980]

I grip the club quite firm and at times with driver tighter, Wedges seem to be a bit lighter.

 

Anyway the guy I was chatting to said he holds it light to the point I pulled it out his hands. 

Me on the other hand he couldn't take it out my hands.

 

Today I toyed about with a not so strangle type grip and although it felt weird I was hitting the ball well, where I could feel the club head travel back and forward.

 

I'll keep at it and see where it gets me.

 

Interested to see how others play and what experiences they've had with the grip pressure.

 

 

[North Butte]

I'll make a sort of tangential suggestion. When I was a beginner my teaching pro was always pointing out how tense I was and what a strangle hold I had on the grip.

 

I worked at it and eventually achieved a little bit lighter grip pressure. Then one day he pointed out to me I was still managed to have my shoulders and even my arms so tense I could barely move. It's like I had figured out a perfect way to stay tense as hell but loosen up just the fingers that were on the golf club.

 

So my suggestion is, grip it however snugly you can as long as your forearms, biceps and shoulders feel loose and relaxed. 

[Markrobert1980]

Interesting, 

 

I never thought about it all when I was gripping the club. I think about it more now when I grip it lightly. Arms just hang now.

 

Though my glove looks like its been through 10 years of wear haa haa.

[glk]

Firm.    One can be firm without tension in the wrists, forearms, and shoulders.    

 

Everyone has different hands strengths so going by what one feels is not a good guide (Monte has really, really strong hands so his light could be really firm for some) .    But I'd say if you can pull the club out of someone hands without much effort that is way too light - I'd say you don't want anyone even with some effort to be able to pull the club out of your hands) .    Remember the momentum of the club head is trying to pull the club out of your hands (I learned this when screwing with grip pressure in my garage years back - i got it so light that I threw the club against the back wall snapping the shaft of my driver).    So if you want to swing fast yet control the club then learn to be firm but to not create excess tension in the wrists/forearms etc.

[Zitlow]

Left hand clamp by wedging the heel pad on top of the grip. Right hand totally in fingers, very little grip pressure.

 

 

 

 

 

The arms are conduits for energy transfer, any pressure in forearms blocks the energy flow. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Zitlow

[Soloman1]

The longest players apply the most grip pressure.

 

You have to hold it with more force than the centripetal force applied to the club.

 

That is based on objective data and measurement, not on anecdotal factoids.

 

What people think they do and what they really do can only be confirmed by measurement.

 

Golf instruction through the ages has been comprised of many regurgitated myths.

 

Ask Monte if he holds the grip lightly.

[pinhigh27]

gripping club lightly is biggest, dumbest myth in golf instruction 

[Markrobert1980]

Interesting seeing the different views.

 

I gripped it so tight that I feared the club flying out my hands. I've since worked on a more less than strangle hold on it the club.

I see the thought in gripping it to lightly as you can throw the club depending on how lose you hold it.

I did see a good video of Shaun Clement with a clementine.

[North Butte]

Tom Watson grips even his putter so hard you can see his fingers turning white from the pressure. Somehow he managed to hit a few good shots anyway. 

[MonteScheinblum]

Over the years I have asked several dozen PGA tour players to shake my hand with the Amount of grip they apply.  Putter, pitches, full shots.

 

Without exception, they cut off circulation in my hand.  The key is gripping it as firmly as possible without excess tension in neck and shoulders.

 

Have you ever seen a good to elite player have sloppy movement in their hands on any shot that would be the result of you held it like baby bird or open toothpaste tube?

 

I agree with @pinhigh27 that it’s is on the Mount Rushmore of horrific myths that has ruined so many golfers.

 

The irony of tried and true golf cliches.  Most are the exact opposite of what’s objectively true and why improving at golf is so daunting.

 

Imagine if we proceeded under the assumption that alcohol regenerates brain cells.

 

John Daly would have an actionable plan to colonize Mars 

[shanx]

I'm so confused...

 

I have been working on a lighter grip, and when I seem to be hitting it best is with lighter gripping than with firmer gripping.

 

I'm gonna start playing tennis instead.

[Pepperturbo]

16 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Without exception, they cut off circulation in my hand.  The key is gripping it as firmly as possible without excess tension in neck and shoulders.

I agree with the above.  I grip the club firm/tight enough that it can't be pulled from my hands for fly with a really strong swing.  Then again, I am self-taught using 3 books, Ben Hogan's 5, one from Nick Faldo another from Jack Nicklaus and had a PGA Tour player in the family. 

 

In their day, grip the club tight enough to hold a bird, but not enough to kill the bird.  As a hitter, I still swing hard and use that grip.  I equate the latter part of gripping a bird so as not to kill him - to firmly as possible without excess tension in neck and shoulders. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[North Butte]

8 minutes ago, shanx said:

I'm so confused...

 

I have been working on a lighter grip, and when I seem to be hitting it best is with lighter gripping than with firmer gripping.

 

I'm gonna start playing tennis instead.

If by gripping the club more lightly you also got rid of the anvil-like pressure that many of us tend to accumulate in our upper arms, shoulders and neck then you'll hit the ball way better. It wasn't the lighter grip per se, it was the side effect of freeing up your entire body to swing athletically. 

 

The ideal is to have it both ways, which I feel like I've done to a certain extent by lots of careful attention to how my body feels. Unfortunately, it all goes out the window after about my second double bogey of the round!

[shanx]

I sat on a sod farm near San Diego with Gene Parente, watching his "iron Byron" hit countless golf balls.

 

The "Byron" had a very loose "wrist" (hinge), and that made an impression on me that I had to loosen things up...

[glk]

Just to add, if you follow any of the research along speed generation, especially from Sasho, you'll see that a fundamental of speed generation is creating as large of an average force  into the club as possible - since the hands are the only thing attached to the club they are the primary way to apply such force - would one hammer a nail or swing a sledge with a light grip (rhetorical)?

 

If you saw Bryson clip on the secret he found you'll see his right hand come off the club slightly just before impact - as Sasho notes at high speed it is very difficult for the trail hand to continue to continue to push across the shaft

 

see comments too.

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by glk

[leekgolf]

2 minutes ago, glk said:

Just to add, if you follow any of the research along speed generation, especially from Sasho, you'll see that a fundamental of speed generation is creating as large of an average force  into the club as possible - since the hands are the only thing attached to the club they are the primary way to apply such force - would one hammer a nail or swing a sledge with a light grip (rhetorical)?

 

If you saw Bryson clip on the secret he found you'll see his right hand come off the club slightly just before impact - as Sasho notes at high speed it is very difficult for the trial hand to continue to continue to push across the shaft

 

see comments too.

 

I think Phil Mickelson's does that too.

[Markrobert1980]

20 minutes ago, glk said:

Just to add, if you follow any of the research along speed generation, especially from Sasho, you'll see that a fundamental of speed generation is creating as large of an average force  into the club as possible - since the hands are the only thing attached to the club they are the primary way to apply such force - would one hammer a nail or swing a sledge with a light grip (rhetorical)?

 

If you saw Bryson clip on the secret he found you'll see his right hand come off the club slightly just before impact - as Sasho notes at high speed it is very difficult for the trail hand to continue to continue to push across the shaft

 

see comments too.

The way he hits the ball as well this is fun to see. Weird seeing it with his swing speed. You just picture the club flying down the fairway.

 

[GLF4EVR]

Still go with what I was taught long ago.  Hold it firm enough so it does not slip, but not so firm that the muscles are tense.  That will restrict the movements needed for the shoulders to turn for the backswing.  Most of the swing mechanics I was taught were from the old Nicklaus tips in Golf Digest in the 70's.  He kind of seemed to know what he was doing.

[GLF4EVR]

Still go with what I was taught long ago.  Hold it firm enough so it does not slip, but not so firm that the muscles are tense.  That will restrict the movements needed for the shoulders to turn for the backswing.  Most of the swing mechanics I was taught were from the old Nicklaus tips in Golf Digest in the 70's.  He kind of seemed to know what he was doing.

 

To add into this.....I still never wear a glove.  Just no need for it.

[Forged4ever]

6 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

The longest players apply the most grip pressure.

 

You have to hold it with more force than the centripetal force applied to the club.

 

That is based on objective data and measurement, not on anecdotal factoids.

 

What people think they do and what they really do can only be confirmed by measurement.

 

Golf instruction through the ages has been comprised of many regurgitated myths.

 

Ask Monte if he holds the grip lightly.

 

3 hours ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Over the years I have asked several dozen PGA tour players to shake my hand with the Amount of grip they apply.  Putter, pitches, full shots.

 

Without exception, they cut off circulation in my hand.  The key is gripping it as firmly as possible without excess tension in neck and shoulders.

 

Have you ever seen a good to elite player have sloppy movement in their hands on any shot that would be the result of you held it like baby bird or open toothpaste tube?

 

I agree with @pinhigh27 that it’s is on the Mount Rushmore of horrific myths that has ruined so many golfers.

 

The irony of tried and true golf cliches.  Most are the exact opposite of what’s objectively true and why improving at golf is so daunting.

 

Imagine if we proceeded under the assumption that alcohol regenerates brain cells.

 

John Daly would have an actionable plan to colonize Mars 

Two best posts in the thread!!

 

Oh, and that Ole Sammyism about your grip bein tight enough to hold a lil birdie in your hand was a crock of sh*t, and Sam knew that it was a crock of sh*t however he said that he said it cuz most guys, like some in this thread, grip a club so tightly that their muscles tense in their neck and shoulders, thus restricting a good full turn, so he figured that if they visualized that bird, their grip would be lighter than a stranglehold and more where it should be. 
 

As Monte mentioned, if any of you ever shook hands with a Pro or really any Plus Am, you'll encounter a very strong grip. Sam had one of the strongest grips that I've ever encountered and he stated that he gripped a club with the same pressure, and trust me here, his grip, while it wouldn't kill a bird, would be extremely unpleasant and painful experience for that lil birdie, lol

 

Bottom line, grip it like ya mean it and then let 'er rip🏌🏻‍♂️ 
 

Cheers🍻

RP

Edited June 21, 2021 by Forged4ever

[Simpsonia]

So my question for the experts then is how do you gauge grip pressure as it relates, or rather affects, wrist tension/movement. I feel the stronger I grip the club, the more wrist tension and the less movement I have in my wrists, ie any sort of wrist movement needs to be more of a conscious thought rather than the forces exerted by the club. The old saying was to keep your wrists "oily".

 

Where I'm going with this is the release. Many instructors state that the release is subconscious and is a result of the club dragging the hands through ulnar deviation and into the release, others seem to state that you really need conscious ulnar deviation to release into the ball. So, how do you keep intense grips as described here, without affecting your wrist movement? Or is it supposed to affect your wrist tension and you just need to find the sweet spot for your personal situation and figure out out on your own? 

[Markrobert1980]

8 hours ago, Simpsonia said:

So my question for the experts then is how do you gauge grip pressure as it relates, or rather affects, wrist tension/movement. I feel the stronger I grip the club, the more wrist tension and the less movement I have in my wrists, ie any sort of wrist movement needs to be more of a conscious thought rather than the forces exerted by the club. The old saying was to keep your wrists "oily".

 

Where I'm going with this is the release. Many instructors state that the release is subconscious and is a result of the club dragging the hands through ulnar deviation and into the release, others seem to state that you really need conscious ulnar deviation to release into the ball. So, how do you keep intense grips as described here, without affecting your wrist movement? Or is it supposed to affect your wrist tension and you just need to find the sweet spot for your personal situation and figure out out on your own? 

Great point, suppose when the shoulder and arms feel relaxed you can grip it as hard as you like, if going by what the others have said. But you then run the risk of tensing up the shoulders etc. So its finding that balance.

 

Sure others with more experience will have a more definitive answer.

[GoGoErky]

Start at the 10 minute mark

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12_5Yr-eQ6U