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An article by: Bobby Eldridge
We're going to start with the grip! When you pick up a golf club your hands are the
only part of your body that touches the club. For many years the hands (grip) have often been
referred to as the steering wheel of the golf swing. I don't believe this could be more true. Gripping the golf club
correctly makes playing this game a much better experience.
Gripping the golf club at first glance does not
seem like a very difficult thing to do.
However, gripping the golf club can take a lot of trial and error to figure out the
correct grip for you. This is a very interesting aspect to the game of golf. Gripping the golf club
is a VERY INDIVIDUAL thing for everyone that plays golf. There are no two grips alike.
During the time you spend experimenting on finding the correct grip for yourself, you will have to
record in a journal what grip you were trying and the results of the shots you hit. You can only
find what works for you through hitting golf balls. I can and will guide you, but ultimately,
results on the golf course speak louder than me.
Here is a guide, on the way I have taught my students since I began teaching this game over 30
years ago. I haven't changed my theory of the gripping the golf club in that time span, so I hope
you can take this and learn from it.
Golf Grip
Mechanics
As you pick the golf club up in your left hand, the golf club goes across the left
palm - from the base of the forefinger to the pad above the pinky. The more you grip the golf club
in the fingers (#1), the faster you can swing the golf club and the
quicker the clubface will close (causing a hook or draw ball flight). If you grip the golf club
further up in the palm (#2), the slower the golf club will travel
and the longer it takes for the clubface to close (causing a slice or a fade). If you are slicing the golf ball,
you will want to move the grip more into the fingers (the base of the fingers), if you are hooking
the golf ball, you will want to move the grip more into the palm area (higher up in the left
hand).
Golf Grip - Effects on Ball
Flight
The grip does more to effect actual ball flight than anything else in the game.
That's why we've started with the grip. It's the foundation of the swing, and a quick fix for those
of you that have undesirable ball flight patterns.
Once you have placed the left hand on the golf club you can close your hand around the grip.
A side note:
** Most golf clubs either have a "ladies" grip
or a "men's" grip on the golf club. If you have small hands it is very important to make sure you
have your clubs gripped with a ladies grip, it doesn't matter if you own men's clubs. If you have
large hands you should have your clubs gripped with men's grips. There are a couple more options,
if your hands are really small you can have "junior" grips placed on your clubs or if you have
x-large hands or arthritis you can have "jumbo" grips placed on your clubs. The grip size also
effects ball flight. Large grips tend to make a person fade the ball and small grips tend to make a
person draw the ball.**
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