The Grip
The goal of the newsletters for the next 5 months is to address the five fundamentals of golf. At the Classic Swing Golf School we use the acronym G.A.P.B.S. when discussing these fundamentals and the techniques for controlling them during the address routine. The G stands for Grip, A for Aim, P for Posture, B for Ball position, and S for Stance width. This month, we will begin with how we put our how hands on the golf club, grip.
Do you overlap? Interlock? Perhaps you prefer an 8-finger baseball type of grip. Whatever your form, you should know that in the golf instruction world, there is NO consensus as to which grip type is most "correct" when holding the club. Comfort should guide your preference and style is unique to the individual, but "palms facing one another" is the general rule of thumb when placing your hands on the grip. The pictures that follow illustrate what is termed in the golf world as:
a strong grip with both hands rotated counterclockwise or to the right
a weak grip with both hands rotated clockwise or to the left
and a neutral grip with both hands centered.
A neutral to strong grip is most widely recommended because these two types allow more desirable control to the clubface. If you are slicing the ball, chances are your grip is weak. If you are hooking the ball, your grip may be too strong. The responsibility of your hands in the golf swing is to control the club face. Not only should the palms face one another for optimal control, but the pressure in your hands should be monitored and kept at the same level. In our schools we rate grip pressure on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being tight and 1 being light. We find that most of our students need to bring the grip pressure down and keep it down! We suggest a level 3 to 4 grip pressure as optimal.
If you find your golf ball flying with an undesirable spin, take a look at how you are putting your hands on the golf club as your initial checkpoint! As Homer Kelley, author of The Golfing Machine stated, "The direction of the ball will always be properly at right angles to the leading edge of the clubface when the ball separates." Your hands control the condition of your clubface which, good or bad, dramatically influences the spin on the ball. Do all you can to fix and educate your hands!
Next month's topic, Aim....
Ted Frick
Owner/Director of Instruction
Classic Swing Golf School
2005 Carolinas PGA Section Teacher of the Year
TPI Level 1 Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
G.S.E.D., The Golfing Machine
tfrick@classicswing.com
For more of Ted's classic tips,
