How To Grip The Golf Club
The Grip is the life blood of your swing. It’s the only point of contact between your body and the golf club.
So start, as you mean to go on, by getting the correct hold on your golf club.
When you grip a golf club you must allow the handle to be gripped more within the fingers of both hands. Gripping in the fingers helps you to keep control of the club without holding it too tight. A tight grip is not recommended as it inhibits club-head speed and reduces the distance of the ball.
This will ensure you can gain maximum range of motion for the golf club and for it to help you engage in the correct body positions not only at address but also throughout the swing.
If you get this wrong you are going to have to create idiosyncrasies within your golf swing motion to compensate for it.
Which will lead to less swing efficiency, most likely swing inconsistencies and a possible long term injury.
Looking At Some Common Grip Errors
If you don’t have the correct grip on the club when you play, you can make the game much harder for yourself than it needs to be.
A lot of golfer’s who have played for a while have developed bad habits, most of which usually stem from a lack of practice and poor basic fundamentals.
The Grip is a key area of the golf swing, get it wrong and it can lead to a world of problems
So rather than teach you and hope you get things right, let’s first look at some errors that you will need to avoid.
Check out this short video where Rich shows us how to get it right and avoid the common grip errors most beginners make
It will be good to keep these errors in your mind, as something to avoid, while you learn how to do it correctly
As mentioned earlier, for maximum range of motion for the golf club and for it to help you engage in the correct body positions not only at address, but also throughout the swing, you must allow the handle to be gripped more within the fingers of both hands.
But hold it too loose and you can lose control.
On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being as loose as you can grip it and 10 being as tight as you can grip it) try to grip it with a pressure of about 6.
The size of the handle on the club is also important. If it’s too thick or thin the forearm muscles will become too tense and cause a reduction of wrist mobility, power in the swing and possible injury.
Check your golf glove (if you wear one), see where and how heavy the wear marks are.
This is a good indicator to how well you are currently holding the club.
If it’s worn too much in the higher part of the palm it is a good indication that you need to adjust your grip.
How do you achieve a good golf grip?
Everyone’s hand shapes are different so it’s just as important to get right what’s happening on the inside of the grip as it is just looking at it.
Is your grip Air Tight?
When placing your top hand on the club check to make sure it’s a secure fit between the handle and all the way round back of the little finger.
There should be no gaps.
This provides great contact with the club, reducing the amount of possible club movement within the hands during the swing.
It also allows for a great range of motion for this wrist with the least amount of effort. If you remember the routine of fingers under & hand over you won’t go too far wrong.
The lower hand
Again placed in the fingers where the thumb pad fits with a nice snug male/female fit with the top hand’s thumb.
Keeping the hands together throughout the swing is important, so a good fit is imperative.
Use the clubs grip markings to your advantage.
A lot of manufacturers design the style of markings to help you place your hands consistently in the same place each time.
This is not always the case but you could always change your handles if you feel its going to help you remember the correct position each time.
The Interlocking Golf Grip
The Interlocking Golf Grip is a good grip for golfers with smaller hands. If you have bigger hands you may find it a little less comfortable to use.
Remember to keep the grip pressure to about 6 out of 10
The Over-Lapping Golf Grip
The Overlapping Golf Grip is a good grip for golfers with bigger hands as you may find it a little more comfortable to use.
Remember to keep the grip pressure to about 6 out of 10
The Baseball Grip
The Baseball Golf Grip, also known as the 10-finger grip, is a good grip for beginners golfers as you may find it feels like you have a bit more control over the club.
Remember to keep the grip pressure to about 6 out of 10
A word of warning when making a grip change
Even the slightest grip change can make your swing feel completely different and in my experience it often initially gives the feeling of less power when the hands are positioned correctly.
Undoubtedly changing old habits and creating new pathways to your brain will be a challenge.
It’s all about getting out of your comfort zone and stretching your learning, generating new and unfamiliar feelings. If you repeat a new process enough you will forge a new pathway.
Old habits die hard. I often see golfers soon drifting back to their old grip and swing movements. These old movements will always be there.
All we can really do is to create a new pathway and keep the process on that new parallel pathway to the brain.
For example try folding your arms the opposite way to how you normally would, or even lacing your fingers together with the other thumb on top.
An unfamiliar feeling, possibly feels awkward, doesn’t it?
There is always something new to learn at golf. Make it your mission to keep challenging your brain and create these new pathways.
It will keep your brain stimulated and generally improve your overall awareness and zest for golf. Out with the old and in with the new.
You must understand a grip change alone will probably not solve any problems or lack of power you are experiencing at the moment. Its just the key starting point of the golf swing.
If you want more power and accuracy with your driver then take a look at the article we wrote, which is imaginatively called How To Hit A Driver In Golf,
The article covers the 5 key stages to a great golf swing and is a perfect next step after you have learned how to grip the golf club.
Do the Grips On Your Golf Club Still have life left in them
Being able to place your hands correctly on the handle of the golf club is key to a good swing.
But if the condition of the grip on the handle of the golf club is poor or has deteriorated then placing your hands, and keeping them in that position, becomes difficult.
Your golf grips will degrade over a period of time regardless of whether you play every week or once a year.
Ozone, oil from your hands and dirt will all cause them to lose there effectiveness.
The traction that a fresh grip provides will help you to keep control of the club throughout your shot.
This added traction will also help to improve your swing mechanics, as a worn grip will cause you to grip the club too tightly and result in unwanted muscle tension in the hands and forearms.
This increased muscle tension will lead to a reduction of correct wrist hinge in the back swing and reduce club head speed on the through swing.
I’m sure you don’t want to hit the ball shorter and less accurate just because your grips are worn!
How often should you replace the grips on your golf Clubs
As your grips will become worn over a fairly long period of time, most of us don’t notice their bad condition until its too late.
Make a point of getting your grips replaced at the start of every season.
Depending on the type of grips you use or how much you play this change might need to be more frequent.
For example grips with a softer compound will wear much faster than ones with a full cord.
A fresh putter grip is also extremely important.
This is the club that you will use most and as a result it will lose its tackiness quite quickly.
Again this lack of tackiness will then lead to a change in your grip pressure to keep control of the putter, changing your stroke mechanics and subsequently you miss more putts!
If you are going to wash your clubs, wash the grips at the same time to keep as much dirt and debris off them as possible. This will keep them as tacky as possible and prolong their life, saving you money.
When you do need to re-grip your clubs make sure you choose a grip that suits your game, there are plenty to choose from.
Some that feel soft, some much firmer and even some with markings on them to help you to position your hands correctly.
Go ahead and bring your clubs back to life with some fresh grips and shoot lower scores!
