All Points Of The Golf Grip

[collegefbfan]

I have been thinking about the golf grip a lot lately. Mainly irons. Nothing can or should be done correctly with the club until the grip is the way that feels right to you and delivers the best results. I know all about holding it in the fingers, not palm. The V’s pointing to the trail shoulder. I have seen some drills where the person shows taking your index finger and thumb of the trail hand off the grip or have it touching very lightly on the downswing. This should show that the strength comes from the remaining fingers/gripping parts. Does this work? I haven’t tried it. In saying all that, what has helped you out the most with the grip? Do you have two knuckles showing? Do you ever choke down? What are some good definite points to look for in a good grip of the club?

 

[Chef23]

I would recommend working with a teaching pro to make sure your grip is a good match for your swing. There are some fundamentals for example more in the fingers, under the pad of the top hand and not in the palm. How many knuckles are showing may vary based on what your swing looks like.

Regarding what feels right to you I don’t think is always correct. When you make a grip change it doesn’t feel “right”. It takes time to feel right and attention to make sure your don’t backs slip to your old grip.

 

[badolds]

I went to a ten finger grip a couple months back and my ball striking is much improved. It's not a baseball bat grip, my thumbs are still on top of the shaft. It's the same as my old interlocking grip but I do not interlock or overlap my right pinky. It gets jammed tight against my left index finger. I use a short thumb on my left hand to get things as tight as possible. I found it by accident while frustrated with my shots in the sim. I just grabbed a club out of anger and hit the purest shot of the day.

 

[MacTourney]

I have seen some drills where the person shows taking your index finger and thumb of the trail hand off the grip or have it touching very lightly on the downswing. This should show that the strength comes from the remaining fingers/gripping parts. Does this work? I haven’t tried it. In saying all that, what has helped you out the most with the grip? Do you have two knuckles showing?
Do you ever choke down? What are some good definite points to look for in a good grip of the club?

Sure it works, by demonstrating a delay mechanism within the trail hand so the shaft doesn't move out and away too soon, if that is what's needed for the motion involved.

Never had too much problem using different gripping styles but I would say the best overall grip for being able to handle just about any motion you choose has a little bit of both Leadbetter's dish angles, and Hogan's oriented lead hand snuff box.

Yes, I have 2 knuckles showing when not moving the head to take a look.

Only choke down when wanting to ensure acceleration or accuracy at close range.

Last point, we've heard an idea about how a grip should nearly assimilate reaching down and grabbing a suit case handle that is fixed upright. I agree with that alot...but don't make the mistake some do by grabbing from underneath the handle. As Kool and the Gang would say, Get Down on It.

 

[TxAggie2018]

I played my best golf when I took my right thumb and pointer finger off the grip. I literally made a finger pistol with them as I swung the club. That's extreme, but it worked for me.

The idea is that it's very hard to flip the club without using your thumb to push on the shaft. So if you have a trail-hand slap or flip motion, taking those fingers off almost immediately helps to break it.

Everyone defines choking down differently, but I would recommend trying it as well. It makes contact easier, because shorter clubs are nearly always easier to control than long ones. The tradeoffs with choking down are a small loss of distance, and it can cause posture issues in setup when taken to extremes. But if you're just trying to make solid contact, I'd absolutely give it a try.

I play with a weak or neutral grip. When I'm playing well, the V on my left hand points towards my right eye, which is much weaker than most golfers would recommend. I basically found it through trial and error... hitting balls with the Vs pointed at my nose (almost universally too weak for anyone), hitting balls with the Vs pointed at my shoulder (too strong for me), and working it back and forth until I found a sweet spot in between where balls started flying straight.

 

[collegefbfan]

Whoa! Many thanks for all the replies. I will be seeing a pro instructor on Tuesday. I really hope this instructor is the one that gets me on a decent to great path.

 

[Buckeyegolfnut]

I have been thinking about the golf grip a lot lately. Mainly irons. Nothing can or should be done correctly with the club until the grip is the way that feels right to you and delivers the best results. I know all about holding it in the fingers, not palm. The V’s pointing to the trail shoulder. I have seen some drills where the person shows taking your index finger and thumb of the trail hand off the grip or have it touching very lightly on the downswing. This should show that the strength comes from the remaining fingers/gripping parts. Does this work? I haven’t tried it. In saying all that, what has helped you out the most with the grip? Do you have two knuckles showing? Do you ever choke down? What are some good definite points to look for in a good grip of the club?

The main "strength" of your golf grip comes from the two middle fingers of both hands. Taking the index finger and thumb of the right hand (right handed player) , off the grip lessens the effect of the right hand. Another way to do that is to rotate it a bit counterclockwise. I once played a round with a guy who had a powerful game, but his tee shots would just kind of bleed out to the right.

I noticed that his left hand grip was a bit weak, and asked if I could offer some advice at the turn. He had his grip with the left thumb right on top dead center of the shaft. I showed him my grip and suggested that he turn his left hand just a hair clockwise. He didn't miss a fairway the whole back nine!

I was once told to stand erect with your arms hanging naturally, then look down and see how many knuckles of your left hand you see. That's how many knuckles you should see on your left hand at address. You can modify from there depending upon the shot shape you desire.

As for choking down heck yeah! Golf is a game that requires a lot of imagination, and sometime you have to mix things up. You might want a lower ball flight but less distance than you would usually get from that club. So choke down! That shortens the club, but gives you their loft. This can get you under the wind but the distance that you want.

 

[WLG1952]

I'm an outlier when it comes to gripping the club. I don't subscribe to the "in the fingers", and "Vs pointing at my right shoulder". I did at one time, but with constant tinkering I found a better grip, that gave me better control of the club head. More consistent, straighter ball flight. Its also the same grip I use when putting.

I use a more "in the palms" grip much like the Natural Golf grip. Think the Vardon grip combined with the palm grip. A hybrid I guess. Also, the Vs are pretty much pointed at my sternum.

My "in the palms" grip works because my fitted specs call for my irons to be 2.5 degrees up right. Natural Golf clubs are designed very up right to work with their palm grip.

The Vs direction came about by adjusting (rotating) my hands on the club's grip, 1/8" at a time, both CW, and CCW. This while keeping the club face square to my target line. Eventually I found the hand grip that kept the club face square to my target line at ball impact.

To this day I can swing just about any iron and still see a reasonable ball flight. Flex, or lie angle doesn't matter. Distance is the only thing impacted with non fitted clubs.

 

[pattyboy21]

I try to curve every ball I hit, and with irons, I'll often flight it high or low too. I'm constantly changing my grip to match the shot I'm playing, but it's still a fundamentally sound grip.

One thing I'll often do if I find myself casting is to play entire rounds with my right thumb off the grip; it's amazing how that one change can cure casting and allow me to compress the ball.