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Distance vs. Accuracy

rbarthle17

rbarthle17

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Historically I have a strong right hand, and much of my power comes from there. But it also leads to losing shots to the left sometimes, especially with my hybrids. Yesterday at the simulator range I decided to tinker with the right hand grip, and made it much more neutral. The difference in accuracy was astonishing. Every club was hitting it laser straight. I was speechless.

But... it was also hitting on average 20y shorter! Every club as well. As an example, my 7i went from 150y to 132y. That's a big drop off to me.

So, the question is, does there come a point where there is too much tradeoff? I struggle with the idea of maxing out at 180y with a 3hy when it used to be a reliable 210 club.

It doesn't affect my driver because I have figured out how to keep that club pretty accurate with the stronger grip. I can get that out there 275-290 and playable most times.

Also, I don't know enough about ball technology other than to know that on the course I can hit basically the same shot and see a difference in distance depending on the ball. Is it possible that my ball will go farther IRL than it does on the simulator?
 
Anybody?
 
Straight and predictable is always better

With the overly strong grip you were likely trapping the ball at impact, leading to a lower ball flit, more distance, and a good chance of pulling it or hitting a pull fade
 
20 yards is a tough pill to swallow imo. I think you can find a good middle ground.
 
I agree with Hawk. It's hard to accept the fact you won't be as long but I think you can work back to a little stronger grip and keep it straighter and get some of that distance back.
 
Hawk and GregDan are correct you should be able to find a good middle ground there somewhere.

Once the weather breaks and you can get outside where you can see actual ball fight would be the best time to find the middle ground IMO.

Also once you become more comfortable with the new grip you may pick some yards back up.
 
Thanks for the responses. Glad to know I'm not crazy on that being a bit extreme. :)

jlukes: My ball flight has always been high, at least what I and people I play with perceive as being high. So if I could be going higher, I'm pretty sure the FAA would stop me from golfing. :)

I am definitely looking forward to a lot of outdoor range time to work on things. I have learned through experience that my Srixon balls go about 15 yards farther than the range balls do, so I have a basis for comparison at least. I've also lasered the yardage markers on the range I use and they are accurate to within a couple of feet.

But since they are calling for more snow today (and this could set the all time area record for winter total, which is 73") and there is still over 3 feet on the ground in many places from piling and drifts, and a foot most everywhere else, I'm thinking maybe a good plan would be to get the neutral grip feeling more natural, not worry about distances on the simulator, and start tinkering when I get back outdoors?
 
If you think you hit the ball high, attend a PGA Tour event... Chances are you will not think so any longer.
 
thewitt said:
If you think you hit the ball high, attend a PGA Tour event... Chances are you will not think so any longer.
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Hell, a THP event. Some of these guys really put high into perspective.
 
Hawk said:
Hell, a THP event. Some of these guys really put high into perspective.
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This is the truth there are some guys who launch the ball high especially with driver.

I believe the "target height" is right around 100ft give or take a couple for most pros. I know when I get on the LM this is a number I look at as well as the others and try to stay right around 100ft.
 
Chances are, when you went to the more neutral grip, the club face was open more with loft. With a strong grip you have to manipulate your swing some to square the face. With your hand in a strong position, when you they come back to impact they usually come back to a neutral position and thus the club face closes down and de-lofts to a strong degree.
When you use a neutral grip, and your hands come back to neutral at impact you have basically two options. The club is at it's normal loft, or with your swing manipulation it might actually give you just a bit MORE loft than normal since it's not closing down like it normally is.
The neutral grip is a more consistent grip to use, as that is the way your hands hang off your body, so that would be less manipulation you would have to do in a swing, and it's why I went from strong to neutral in my own swing....a number of years ago.

The 20 yard difference is a bit much though, so it leans me more towards the second option I mentioned. Your swing, because your use to the strong grip is lofting the club a bit more than normal when using the neutral grip. Since you go after a shot hard with your right hand, my guess is it's opening up your club more than normal. Maybe the result of a cast and pulling your hands through before the club head is able to square up at it's normal loft? Hard to saw without seeing your swing, just speculation.
 
Hawk said:
Hell, a THP event. Some of these guys really put high into perspective.
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Someday I plan to play in a THP event, so we could see then!
 
I wonder if using your modified grip, you will develop the unique set of muscles and close the distance gap over time.
 
I've always had a neutral left and right wrist. This has result in my ball flying straight. I would take accuracy over length all day. Who cares if you hit a wedge 160 (not you but those who brag about how far they hit a club). My wedge goes 120 maximum. If I have a 120 yard shot I'll hit a 9 iron. I'd rather be long than short. I hate coming up short.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
Golf is a combination of NON POWERFUL GOLF STROKES TIED TOGETHER THAT EQUAL A SCORE HE WHO HAS THE LEAST WINS 100% of the time a fact non arguable changeable and the key to golf game improvement. MILKING EVERY OUNCE OF NON POWERFUL YOU ON EVERY SHOT IS HOW YOU IMPROVE AND GET BETTER. SPEED SPEED SPEED..... Learning to MANAGE CONTAIN AND CONTROL SPEEDS is the Foundation of game improvement. EVERYTHING ELSE YOU WORRY ABOUT TAKES YOU FARTHER FROM GAME ADVANCEMENT EVERY SWING.
 
Went back to the simulator today for more range time. Played around with the grip for about 30 minutes until I found something I liked. The draw was back on my hybrids but not as severe. My irons were playing straight accordion to the sim. Best part was the distance numbers were within 5 yards of what I am used to. Might have something here.

I ended my hour long session with taking one swing with each club. Started with the GW and went up. First bad shot was the 5hy, next swing with it was better. And all pretty nicely gapped. A couple went farther then normal and I could feel the difference too.

Left feeling like I have something to go on next time out!
 
Glad to see you got some yardage back and hopefully some things figured out to beat the jook
 
golfinFF said:
Glad to see you got some yardage back and hopefully some things figured out to beat the jook
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I am going to keep a club in my office to reinforce the grip feel.
 
rbarthle17 said:
I am going to keep a club in my office to reinforce the grip feel.
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Got to hit some at the simulator yesterday. Pretty happy with the results. The grip change on the hybrids felt good, notable because on those I am using an overlap grip. I normally use a ten-finger grip but that was leading to a lot of hooks. I also figured out that on my irons (7-GW) which are steel I could use my ten-finger grip and gain about 10y in distance on those clubs while keeping the ball flight pretty much straight. My hybrids (3-6) are 65g R-flex which is good for me because I can slow my tempo down on the longer clubs and get good results. That was something I was looking for when I changed clubs last fall.

Yes, I have different grips for different clubs. It works for me though. :) I use a 10-finger grip on my driver too. I was working with one of the pros at the facility there on getting my launch angle down on my driver. I have it set to 8 degrees but my launch was 19 degrees. Swing speeds of 105-110 were only going about 260y. After moving me back some to where the ball is in line with the outside of my left foot, we got it to 13 degrees launch and distances jumped to 285-291y!

One thing I love about this simulator time is I am getting all my long club work in now while the practice greens are buried. Once spring finally breaks here, I can spend so much more time on chipping and putting, feeling that I have my long clubs in good shape to start the season.
 
Glad to see you are getting things worked out.
 
Well I did on a simulator for one day. A lot of practice time and course time between this point and "got it figured out"!

But thank you to everyone for the help.
 
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