The Head, the Hinge and the Hold
The grip in golf has long been consider one of the most important elements. As a matter of fact, most teachers address the grip ?rst with a student as it sets up the proper foundation in learning the rest of the swing. With a good grip, you are well on your way to becoming a better player, without one, you are most assuredly destined to gol?ng mediocrity. Unfortunately acquiring a good sound grip requires some discipline and proper practice and can be somewhat tricky as it is often misunderstood or misrepresented in traditional teaching. All great players have sound grips. Hogan practiced his hold on the club fro 30 to 40 minutes everyday. I wouldn’t expect most of us to dedicate this much time to the grip, but I can tell you 5 minutes a day learning it right will greatly enhance your swing.
I’ve broken learning the grip down into three major components:
- THE HEAD,
- THE HINGE &
- THE HOLD.
Primarily these three components are all the grip can do. Provide control of the HEAD, create a HINGE in your swing and exude the proper HOLD or grip pressure on the club. Below, I explain these components in detail along with some accompanying drills and exercises. Also, you will see some common myths and why they are meaningless and detrimental to your game.
THE HEAD
The club face = the hands
Learn to control your hands and you can control the head of the club. This may sound obvious, but most certainly overlooked by most players. Firstly, because the golf clubhead is small and far away from our hands we often miss the connection. That is, we lose a sense of control of the head by disassociating it from our hands. We have great control in our hands but because the clubhead is not easily linked with our hands, we often lose control of it. Think of a tennis racket. The head is so big and close to your hands it is clear as to where the face is aiming. As a matter of fact, it is apparent as to wherever you hand, so moves the racket face. Turn your palm over, racket face turns with it. In teaching the grip I often tell my students, golf is a racket sport like tennis or ping-pong. Unfortunately they just made the head too small and the shaft very long.
Grip Tension too loose. If your trail-hand is so loose there can be no connection with the head. Furthermore if you hold the club too loose it can twist and turn in your hands leading to erratic golf shots. Your grip is a re?ection of the club-face. Your dominant hand (usually the trail hand) provides the most control, therefore it is important in establishing a direct connection with the face. The trail palm is parallel with the face. Control your palm and thus your control the face of the club.
Grip Tension too tight. Conversely if you hold the handle too tight you will easily overpower the club. You need the exactly amount of pressure to be able to feel the club head without losing it or overpowering it.
Try this Drill – Slide your trail hand down on the shaft until it is about a foot away from the head. Open up the palm so it is a direct re?ection of the face of the club. Close your hand and notice the direct relationship of head and palm. Next slide your hand back onto the grip. Do this same procedure for the lead hand and the back of the club head. Go back and forth visually from your hands to the head of the club developing the relationship. Once you establish this, you are well on your way to gaining control of your golf shots.
Note: After assuming the grip, there should be between two and three knuckles visbile in your your lead hand when the clubface is square to the target.
THE HINGE
The biggest power source in the golf swing comes through the wrists. The club head is released through a whipping like action only duplicated by the wrists. You can only obtain proper hinging through proper grip placement in the hands.
This is absolutely he worse thing you could do in your grip. Keeping the back of the lead hand ?ush with the face is ?ne, but keeping the back of the hand straight with your forearm is power crippling. You simple cannot create a hinging action if your wrist is ?at with your forearm. When you hinge your wrists naturally, there is a cupping or a bend between the forearm and hand. In order to duplicate this cupping in your grip you must learn to hold the handle at a diagonal across the ?ngers as opposed to the lifeline or palm of the hand. (Look at the ?rst photo above for an example of holding the handle across the ?ngers). The same holds true for your trailing hand. There needs to be some set in the back wrist to allow for a hinge.
Place the lead hand on the club in a manner so your heel-pad is on top and the grip is diagonal across the ?ngers, two knuckles will be visible. place the lifeline of the trail hand along the thumb of the lead hand,keeping the handle in the ?ngers.
THE HOLD
The hold is the amount of pressure or tension you have on the club with your grip. On a scale of zero to ten,zero being no tension and ten being as tight as you can hold, you should hold it about a three. Two is not nearly enough and four being way too much. Yes, there is a ?ne line between holding it too loose and too tight. Too loose and the handle will come out of your hands during the motion. Too tight in your wrists will not hinge and function properly.
Although this is not the worse myth of the three it certainly be damaging if you hold the so loose your hands come off during the motion. I like the idea, hold the club as if your hands are glued to it but not clamped. Glue is an adhesive. our hands should be af?xed to the grip before, during, an after the swinging motion.
(keep the lead hand’s palm on the handle during the whole swing).
(keep the trail hand’s palm on thelead hand’s thumb during the whole swing).
Try this Drill – Rotate the club around your wrists in a 360 degree circle. Do not move your arms. Stop anywhere on the circle to check and see if your hands are molded to the handle. Do this in both directions. This exercise will also help to limber up wrists.
This article written by John Bertges. John is a PGA Professional teaching the game for 20 plus years. www.bertgesgolf.com
Themocracy
This is a great way to explain the grip! It is nice to see why our hands go on the club in a certain way. Very helpful!