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How to properly grip the club?


brew4eagle

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I have been struggling for over a year now on how to properly grip the club. There is all types of conflicting information on the web, which has left me more confused. Can someone please explain the proper grip?

 

It would be most beneficial if it was explained based on where the back (rib side) of the grip should rest in the left hand, i.e. which knuckles/joints the rib should rest on. Likewise with the right hand, which knuckles/joints should the rib rest on?

 

My best year playing golf was 2001, when I shot 79 twice. Since then I have been a wreck and often times struggle to break 100. On a good day now I'll shoot 85, but I'm usually in the 90's. I'm trying to get back to my old form, and I want to start with the fundamentals. So please help me with my grip!

PING i20 10.5*

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Maltby TS3 Forged 5-9

Vokey SM7 46F, 52F, 58M

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I've got a good Adobe .pdf file that goes into a proper grip in great detail. Send me your email address, and I'll send it to you.

 

[email protected]

 

PS: A "Proper" grip varies by the individual, and teaching method. For me - I prefer a somewhat strong grip (where you can see 2 knuckles of the left hand), and a neutral right hand.

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There are essentially 2 grips out there--the "finger grip" (which is what most folks use) and the "palm" grip (which is the natural golf/Moe Norman grip).

 

From what I've seen, a lot of folks use the palm grip, and then try and hit the ball conventionally (which usually results in a slice as you can't close the face appropriately).

 

With a conventional grip, you can have variations (ten finger, interlocking, overlapping (Vardon) etc.). What you use is what you like/grew up with (personally I use an overlapping). However, at least for me, the most important "revelation" was to hold the club in my fingers (not my palms) and to hold the club LIGHTLY (so your wrists can hinge properly). Making these adjustments (with the help of a pro) dropped my handicap significantly.

 

It's really almost impossible to describe a grip with text--my recommendation would be to find a pro and have him/her look at your grip, and make some recommendations. If you can't do that, you may want to find a "training grip" and have it installed on a practice club (or buy a Ledbetter Swing Setter that has his grip on it, although I think you can also buy that grip separately).

 

If you're worried about your grip, then see a pro--it's really the only way to get this right.

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I have been struggling for over a year now on how to properly grip the club. There is all types of conflicting information on the web, which has left me more confused. Can someone please explain the proper grip?

 

It would be most beneficial if it was explained based on where the back (rib side) of the grip should rest in the left hand, i.e. which knuckles/joints the rib should rest on. Likewise with the right hand, which knuckles/joints should the rib rest on?

 

My best year playing golf was 2001, when I shot 79 twice. Since then I have been a wreck and often times struggle to break 100. On a good day now I'll shoot 85, but I'm usually in the 90's. I'm trying to get back to my old form, and I want to start with the fundamentals. So please help me with my grip!

 

 

You're going to get a lot of conflicting information about how to grip the club. The best adivce that I can offer you is the best grip is one that allows your to hinge and unhinge your wrist freely. I just dealt with a huge problem with my grip that was turning me into a hook machine. I found out my left hand grip was set so that the club was on the knuckle area of the if my index finger. As soon as I move the club farther down toward my finger it freed up my wrist to move more freely.

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Ok........teaching someone to grip a golf club is VERY easy...........in person......hehehe...:fool: I'll do the best I can via the internet and this post.......

 

First.......

 

2 basic "types" of golf grips.......finger and palm

 

Palm is ok IF your a Natural Golf/Moe Norman freak......otherwise a waste of time and energy

 

Finger is the way to go.........

 

3 basic "types" of finger grips......actually 4......

 

- 10 finger or "Baseball"........GREAT grip for beginners/people with REALLY weak hands, etc. Main drawback is it doesn't place the hands in a position to work together very well......seperated on the club......IF you manipulate the club with your hands (especially the right hand) to square the face its a productive grip........

 

- Interlock........lil' finger of the right hand is "locked"/intertwined with the index finger of the left hand.......great grip for people with smaller/weaker hands......but that being said, Tiger uses it due to Nicklaus influence......(Nicklaus has TINY hands).......primary negative is the interlock tends to place the "pressure points" in the "lock" .......which is NOT where they should be......

 

- Overlap/Vardon........Best overall grip for MOST people IF done properly as it melds the two hands together into a cohesive unit the best.........and it places the pressure points where they should be.....in the last three fingers of the left hand and the middle two fingers of the right hand........

 

Now, this is how you PLACE your hands on the club properly....

 

First you need to get a clean white golf glove........LEFT handed glove IF your a right handed golfer......

 

Draw 2 parallel lines on the glove with the first one running from the inside of the crease of the last joint of your LEFT INDEX finger (furthest from the palm) DIAGONALLY across your fingers to the OUTSIDE of the crease of the FIRST joint/beginning of the lil' finger (actually touches the palm)........

 

Now for the 2nd line......it should run from the INSIDE of the crease of the 1st joint of the lil' finger DIAGONALLY across the fingers to the OUTSIDE of the crease of the LAST joint of the index finger........

 

Now you should have 2 parallel lines running DIAGONALLY across the fingers of your glove from the lil' finger/lower palm above the lil' finger to the last joint of the left INDEX finger..........

 

NOW, picture the butt of the grip of the club as a clock........the top of the grip would be 12 O'clock and be parallel to the clubface...........directly opposite of this would be the BOTTOM of the grip or 6 O'clock.............

 

Take the club and hold it just below the grip in your RIGHT hand.......aim the club @ your LEFT hip socket so that is out in front of your chest but pointing at an angle towards your left hip..........your arms shouuld be extended and waist high......RELAXED.......

 

NOW take your LEFT hand and fold it out and extend the fingers and place them TOGETHER.......you should now see the 2 parallel lines on glove........place the BOTTOM/6 O'clock position of the grip between the 2 parallel lines.........now CAREFULLY fold the upper portion of the LEFT hand OVER the grip until the left thumb and heel pad are on the center-right portion of the grip........the LEFT thumb will now be in a position to SUPPPORT the shaft at the top of the backswing and to SUPPORT the "blow" at impact.......this is VERY important so make SURE you get it right........IF its done correctly the "webbing" between the left thumb and index finger will be "disguised" to form a "V" which now points somewhere towards your right cheek to your right shoulder.......the LEFT hand will also feel VERY SECURE on the club.....like you could EASILY hit balls with just your left arm ONLY.......

 

Now for the right hand.........keeping your NEW and FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND left hand grip on the club NOW point the shaft just a tad to the left of your navel and keeep it at waist high.........fold your right hand out until you can see all the fingers......like you were going to slap someone.......take the MIDDLE TWO fingers of the right hand and "curl" them upwards to form a "C"...........place the BOTTOM of the grip into this "C" with the 6 O'clock portion of the grip DIRECTLY across the creases of the first joint of the middle two fingers that is NOT adjacent to the palm........fold them around the grip while laying the lil' finger of the right hand in the gap between the Index finger and 2nd finger of the LEFT hand........OVERLAP...........

 

NOW CAREFULLY fold the "slot" formed by the meaty thumb pad (muscle at the base of the thumb that is in the palm) and the "lifeline" of the palm........the left thumb should fit PERFECTLY into this "slot"......so well that on most people its almost like a jigsaw puzzle.........this "slot"/meaty pad-thumb cover the left thumb.....DO NOT fold the right hand OVER the left thumb.......just PLACE the left thumb in the "slot" until you cannot see it.......the "webbing" between the right thumb and index finger will "disappear" and also form a "V".........this "V" should also be pointing somewhere between your right cheek and your right shoulder......

 

Ideally with most people the "V" of the LEFT hand should be pointing a lil' bit more towards the right shoulder than the "V" of the right hand.......parallel to one another or with the "V" of the right hand pointing SLIGHTLY "weaker".........

 

Now, ONE other thing and this IS IMPORTANT......make sure there is a SLIGHT "gap" between the right INDEX finger and the other fingers of the RIGHT hand......it will form a sort of a "question mark"/"trigger"/upside down "J" look......make sure the 9 O'clock portion of the shaft is against the "crook" of the RIGHT index finger/trigger finger with the thumb lightly compressing against the 3 O'clock position of the grip....the two fingers LIGHTLY "pinch" together........forms at "trigger" finger.......stick the shaft up in the air and your index finger will feel EXACTLY like your going to pull the trigger on a pistol.....the "trigger finger" ensures that the club does NOT slip down in between the thumb/index finger at the top of the swing and the trigger also "supports the blow" at impact.........

 

NOW you've got a FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND GRIP.......and IMOP the grip is BY FAR the most important fundamental in golf.........without a sound grip you'll be building a golf swind designed to OVERCOME a poor grip rather than a golf swing thats GREATLY aided by a sound grip..........or as the Great Harvey Penick stated, "show me a person that won't bother to learn to place their hands on a golf club correclty and I'll show you a person that does NOT want to be a good player!"

 

I KNOW this description of the grip seems COMPLICATED when its in writing.....in fact, its 100 times easier to SHOW somebody in person.........its ALWAYS MUCH easier to show a golfer something rather than try and describe it in words........so forgive me if this post seems complicated.........;) :D

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How about the Hogan grip in the golf fundamentals book?

 

Seems a combination of palm and fingers?

 

I have been using it for 2 months now and seem to work for me. It lessens my tendency to give the club a "death grip", maintain pressure of 3 /10. It is a bit neutral but i can make it stronger by turning my left hand to show more knuckles but still maintain the shaft on the fingers and palm.

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Hogan in 5 Lessons is perfect if you'll strengthen it a bit from the description.......even his grip was stronger than he describes in 5 Lessons.......and it ain't in the palm.......I've got Hogan himself on tape describing the grip in great detail.......and its in the fingers.......and its a "2 knuckler" too.......;)

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Steve Elkington's Five Fundamentals of Golf

 

Steve does a nice job describing the grip in detail with lots of pictures.

 

I just ordered this book. Primarily because I think Elkington has one of the best golf swings I've seen and the emphasis he places on the the grip which has been a recent problem area for me.

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Hogan in 5 Lessons is perfect if you'll strengthen it a bit from the description.......even his grip was stronger than he describes in 5 Lessons.......and it ain't in the palm.......I've got Hogan himself on tape describing the grip in great detail.......and its in the fingers.......and its a "2 knuckler" too.......;)

 

So is this another case of what he wrote he did not practice? coz in the book it shows left hand forefinger and pad of palm. Also the v points to the right eye (which i guess is ok anywhere between right eye...cheek..and strongest at right shoulder).

 

How about the way he describes the right hand? The left thumb fitting into the slot/cup of the right hand seems to be a good way as you described yourself SF. How ever the "V" will be pointing to the chin??

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Exactly.......just another "description" of what Hogan "felt" he was doing, but, when you study it you see that he was NOT doing it as he described in 5 Lessons..........there are a number of these "contradictions" in 5 Lessons and you can spot them IF you REALLY KNOW the book AND study a LOT of video of Hogan's golf swing........:D

 

Hogan's right hand WAS more on top of the club than his left......in fact, BOTH hands were more on top of the club than anyone I can think of TODAY........but it was still a "2 knuckle" left hand as I can stop action the video of him describing his grip (priceless video.....lucky Ebay find) and there is a DEFINITE "cup" between the back of the left wrist and the back of his left hand.......left radius bone is pointing at an angle to the shaft and also to the right side of the shaft while the back of his hand is pointing towards somewhere inside of his right shoulder.......you'll find that the "angle" of the back of the left hand is directly parallel to the "V" of the left hand and thats what I look for when I cannot see the left hands "V".....which I should NEVER be able to see in a good grip........

 

Basically he had a VERY strong grip for his "era" in "Power Golf".......not by today's standards, but, by his era........and he weakened it quite a bit and "felt" like it was "on top" of the club and very weak.......and this is evidenced by the "drawings" in 5 Lessons (and the grip described) as they show a VERY, VERY weak grip.......but when you study the video (taken in 1978) and pics that I have (taken in the mid 50's at Tamarisk) you can plainly see that his grip is NOT as weak as described in 5 Lessons or as pictured in the drawings........not really close........

 

However, I think Hogan's description of the grip in 5 Lessons is excellent provided you either start with the club a lil' bit shut to quite a bit shut......place your hands on the club as described......then rotate the clubface back to square at address.........OR simply place the club slightly more to quite a bit more in your fingers of your left hand than is described - then place your right hand on their based on this left hand grip..........

 

Either way you end up with a slightly stronger grip to a definitely stronger grip than Hogan describes, but, a strength of grip that allows the average guy a "chance" to get the clubface squared WITHOUT manipulating the club WITH the hands..........;) Then its simply a matter of hitting balls to determine YOUR correct strength of grip........which can be accomplished hitting nothing more than 3/4 wedges........

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