Grip killed my round, whats up?

UKGolfer86 · May 2

Played an evening 18 last night. 5 straight doubles to start, literally no good shots in those 5 holes. 6th tee i can feel 3 sore contact points on my left (lead) hand. Took glove off and i can see already i have 2 blisters forming 1 being particularly bad on outside of my left index finger between knuckle and first bend. I could tell i wasnt releasing the club at all on those holes, lots of low sh**ky shots that squirted right.

Now i couldn't tell if this was likely arm/shoulder tension and grip too light, club turning a bit in hands which caused the friction to create blisters or if i was death gripping the club, but i really relaxed myself and somewhat rescued the round with a birdie on 18 for an 89, so +7 for those remaining 12 holes with a stupid triple on Si 1 where my ball nestled into the base of a tree in long, thick, rough off the tee. For my 11 handicap, those 12 holes (excluding the triple) were decent.

Based on the somewhat limited info i can provide above, anyone have any pre round warmup drills etc to get loose and keep grip pressure in check. I know its suggested most AMs dont grip tight enough and often carry too much tension, so maybe this was my problem, rather than the initial thought i was gripping too tight.

TheDeanAbides · May 2

You have to show us what you’re doing for any advice to be worthwhile.

SNIPERBBB · May 2

How do you get a blister on or around the index finger? Baseball(10 finger) grip?

Have you looked inside your glove for foreign objects?

Ri_Redneck · May 2

I only have calluses on the pinky and ring finger of my left (lead) hand as those are the fingers holding the club. I get nothing on the index finger.

BT

Pepperturbo · May 2

When I got to blisters, my thought was you're choking a chicken, leaving grip marks on the surface of your grips??? LOL

I used to practice 5 of 7 days, hit 1100–1400 balls, play two rounds and practice my short game each week, never once, did I get a blister?

IMO, for that to happen, you are doing something wrong; what that may be is impossible to determine online. You should contact an instructor.

Socrates · May 2

11 hours ago, UKGolfer86 said:

Played an evening 18 last night. 5 straight doubles to start, literally no good shots in those 5 holes. 6th tee i can feel 3 sore contact points on my left (lead) hand. Took glove off and i can see already i have 2 blisters forming 1 being particularly bad on outside of my left index finger between knuckle and first bend. I could tell i wasnt releasing the club at all on those holes, lots of low sh**ky shots that squirted right.

Now i couldn't tell if this was likely arm/shoulder tension and grip too light, club turning a bit in hands which caused the friction to create blisters or if i was death gripping the club, but i really relaxed myself and somewhat rescued the round with a birdie on 18 for an 89, so +7 for those remaining 12 holes with a stupid triple on Si 1 where my ball nestled into the base of a tree in long, thick, rough off the tee. For my 11 handicap, those 12 holes (excluding the triple) were decent.

Based on the somewhat limited info i can provide above, anyone have any pre round warmup drills etc to get loose and keep grip pressure in check. I know its suggested most AMs dont grip tight enough and often carry too much tension, so maybe this was my problem, rather than the initial thought i was gripping too tight.

Blisters. Sore hands. No beating around the bush - you have a very poor grip. Your first move is to get a professional to correct your grip.

SNIPERBBB · May 3

On the death grip...you can't get a blister with a death grip unless you're regripping during the swing. The club has to be able to move in your hands in order to create a blister

UKGolfer86 · May 8

I never came back on this, but yea, the blister is on the side of my index finger essentially where the tip of my thumb rests. Its a real strange one. Its always been a spot on my hand that i have a callus, but it really doesnt make sense why. I have had my grip checked and actually changed it from a very weak right hand to stronger early last season which was a good move for me. But the other sore points i actually found were caused by a new glove, a seam in the palm had what seemed like some plastic (or something else hard) caught in it, took into the proshop at the weekend (only 2 rounds old) and they replaced it. Some sort of manufacturing defect it seems so while my grip may be poor, maybe its a little less poor..

But, yea i expected the "go see a pro" responses and should have been my first port of call. One of those frustration posts!