Gripping to tight and lost distance

[jnug]

Thought I would ask you guys about this one. I noticed today as I try to get my feet under me here in the spring that I will on occasion find that I have started to grip the club a little tighter than normal. I seem not to realize it until too late. When I start to grip a little bit more than normal, I simply cannot whip the club through the hitting zone like I should. This tends to be more of a struggle for me with woods and driver. Suddenly I find that my distance goes down the drain. I mean I lose yards! Once I catch it I go back to my normal grip and the yardage comes back as well.

Do others find that there distance with woods especially is effected if their grip gets a little tighter than normal?

 

[DawgDaddy]

I try to monitor my grip pressure pretty regularly, but if I really need the ball to bend from left to right, I will grip the club harder, I don't really notice a loss of distance other than the bend of the cut. I have a harder time fading the ball than I do drawing it.

 

[Brian T]

This may sound silly but it is something I have always listened to since I heard it. I play a bunch of tennis too and cannot remember if it was a tennis pro or golf pro (believe it was golf) but it applies to both.

Tight muscles are slow muscles. When I taught tennis I would get players to hold the racquet as tight as they could and try to swing fast. Then i would tell them to hold the racquet as loose as they can and try to swing. You can do this with a golf club. I think this answers your question you asked but yes I think I lose distance and feel when my grip gets tighter . As Dawgdaddy stated i continuously monitor my grip pressure especially in my right hand being a right handed golfer.