THE GRIP
For most golfer’s, the grip is a very boring fundamental of the golf swing. They give very little thought, if any, on holding the club correctly. If you have ever observed a tour pro, you would see someone who takes their time getting each hand just right on the club. That’s because they know just how important the grip is. If you don’t get your grip correct, your hands won’t hinge correctly, and it will make squaring the clubface at impact very difficult. So, take your time and make sure to place your hands on the grip correctly. It’s that important!!
The most important thing to remember is that your trying to create a neutral grip and to blend both hands together so they work as one unit. A neutral grip is one where the palms of each hand faces one another and that are square to the angle of the clubface.
Let’s start with the top hand. I like to see the club running at an angle across the hand, from just underneath the heel pad of the hand through the first knuckle of the forefinger. When you close your hand, I want to see the thumb and forefinger pressed together to form a “V”. They should be pinched together, not apart. Also, after closing your hand around the grip, you should see no more and no fewer than two knuckles. You should feel the pressure in the last three fingers of the top hand.
With the bottom hand grip you have two choices. You can either make what is known as an interlocking grip or the overlapping grip. The interlocking grip is where you interlock the pinky finger with the index finger of the top hand. The overlapping grip is where you overlap the pinky finger with the index finger of the top hand. When you close your bottom hand on top of the top hand, make sure to cover the thumb of the top hand in the life line of the bottom hand. The hands should fit together snugly. Pressure with the bottom hand will be in the middle two fingers of the hand.
Okay, now you have a neutral grip, one that will keep the clubface square to the plane of your swing and square to your left wrist from the start of your swing to the finish. If the face and your left wrist do not match up, your is either too strong or too weak.