Why You Need to Improve Your Golf Grip

Photo by @jbherie on Instagram

If you grip the club incorrectly it is almost impossible to change your swing.

If you are just taking golf up, I can’t over emphasize the importance of having a decent grip. It doesn’t have to be perfect and I don’t care if it is the classic overlap, the interlock or the ten fingers because they all work.

Starting with a faulty grip will cause you to build compensations into your swing to accommodate it that will be very difficult to correct later. There are dozens of training aids to help you with gripping the club properly.

Here is an excellent short video on gripping the club properly.

Are You Gripping the Club Wrong? | Golf Tips

Do you feel like your grip may be causing problems in your swing? PGA Professional Eric Hogge demonstrates how to hold the club properly to maximize your chances for success!

The longer you have been playing the more difficult it is to change your grip. You have built your swing around it and changing it will cause your swing to change. This will feel very uncomfortable and awkward at first. When you first make the change you will probably hit the ball worse until your swing adjusts also. It will take dedication to stick with it, but if you do make the change, the rewards will include more consistent, longer, and straighter shots than you have ever hit before.

One of the most difficult concepts to get across to many golfers is that the hands are not used to “hit” the ball any more than the hands apply the force to a hammer. They simply hold onto the club while the arms and body create the force.

It is extremely rare to find a bad ball striker with a good grip, and I personally have never seen a good player with a bad grip. There is also another relationship I’ve noticed over the years – the worse your grip is the higher your handicap is.

If you are like me you get bombarded constantly by people trying to sell you training aids, books, DVD, etc. that will dramatically improve your game. What they don’t tell you is that with a bad grip none of them will work.

Your grip is your only connection to the golf club and it determines clubface alignment and direction at impact which determines whether or not you will hit the ball in the direction of the target or not and how straight it will fly.

I’m going to give you one major check point – the right thumb (for righties). If it sits on top of the club you have almost no chance at all of hitting a solid shot toward the target. It is also the major cause of slicing the ball.

If you grip the club properly you could hit the ball very well with the right thumb and index finger off the club completely. Study the above video closely to see where it should be and please leave comments and don’t hesitate to contact me for help.

(Cover Photo Credit)