Full Swing Fundamentals - The Grip

The Grip

Left Hand

When you pick up a golf club your hands are the only part of your body that touch 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, it 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. 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.

1. Place 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.


2. Now, hold the handle steady with your left fingers and wrap your palm around the top of the grip.

1. Club Goes Across the Left Palm

2. Wrap Palm Around Top of the Grip

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.

The more you grip the golf club in the fingers, the faster you can swing the golf club and the quicker the clubface will close. If you grip the golf club further up in the palm, the slower the golf club will travel and the longer it takes for the clubface to close. 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).

Right Hand

Now that the left hand is in place you are going to place the right hand on the golf club.

3. With your right hand on the side of your right leg, slowly bring it towards the bottom of the golf club.


4. The right hand will be placed on the golf club more in the fingers than the palm. You will simply fold the right hand around the fingers of the left.


5. BOTH PALMS MUST ALWAYS FACE EACH OTHER. It is not a difficult thing to do but it is mandatory, no gray area.

3. Bring your Right Hand Towards the Bottom of your Left Hand

4. Fold your Right Hand Around the Fingers of the Left Hand

5. Both Palms MUST Face Each Other

Congratulations, you have now GRIPPED the golf club. But hold on a second, there is a good chance this is not the correct grip for you, so you will have to experiment. However, I have given you a great starting point. The placement of the hands on the golf club controls what the clubface will do during the golf swing and ultimately what the clubface will look like at impact.

In the next section I will show you some variations of the grip that will help you find the one that works best for you.

**SPECIAL 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.**

Grip Variations

There are multiple ways to grip a golf club. Although it sounds overwhelming, it truly is not. Once you begin to experiment you will eliminate four or five of them instantly. I will give you a guide to get you started on the right track.

Interlocking Grip

Overlapping Grip

For starters, if you have small hands and fingers, the interlocking grip will probably work best for you. It helps you wrap your fingers and palm around the grip handle.

On the other hand, if you have large hands, the overlapping grip will probably work best for you.

The above-mentioned grips are the proper way to hold a club- however there are three different ways you can apply them to the golf club.

Weak

Neutral

Strong

You can grip the golf club in a weak position (no knuckles of the left hand showing), neutral (one knuckle of the left hand showing) or the strong position (2 or 3 knuckles of the left hand showing).

During your experimenting, if the golf ball has a tendency to curve to the right, you will want to move BOTH hands to the right (strong). When you move the hands make sure you do it slowly. If the golf ball has a tendency to curve to the left, you will want to move BOTH hands slowly to the left (weak). Now, if the golf ball is flying without a curve, you have the correct grip for you. DO NOT EXPERIMENT WITH ANY OTHER GRIP.

Grip Pressure

OK, you have found the correct grip for you. There is one last item we need to deal with. The amount of pressure you apply to the club plays a major role in how you swing the golf club. The tighter you grip the golf club the slower your arms will swing and the longer the clubface will take to release in the downswing (causing a slice). This is a good thing if you HOOK the golf ball. This will definitely stop the ball from curving from right to left. On the other hand if you have problems SLICING the golf ball this amount of grip pressure will make the ball slice more.

If you are struggling with slicing the golf ball, you will have to hold the golf club like you were holding a baby’s hand. Gently, the lighter you grip the golf club the faster the club will swing and the quicker the club will release in the downswing. If you do not have any problems with the ball curving, you have found the correct amount of grip pressure.

Hit Them Straight & Long,

JJ

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Trouble Shot Tip #1 Downhill Lie

I'd like to share a great tip with you today. This will show you
how to make solid contact with the ball on an uneven lie going
downhill, which is probably the most difficult shot in golf.

One of the reasons this shot is so hard is because when you address
a golf ball that is on a downhill lie there isn't any room for
error. Most people end up hitting the ground behind the ball, or
hitting the golf ball thin since the ground is going away from the
ball. A downhill lie makes it very difficult to swing under the
ball and get it up in the air.

In this golf lesson, I will show what you need to do to get the
ball up in the air and on its way to the pin.

Tip #1 Uneven Lie-Ball going downhill

When you stop to think about what area of your golf game you should work on you don’t often think about the different trouble shots. You spend time at the practice facility working on your full swing and you might spend some time on your putting. However you rarely think about uneven lies, flop shots, deep rough or punch shots.

I have put together some valuable information on two Trouble Shots that I know will play a big role in you lowering your handicap.

Hands down this has to be the most difficult shot in golf. The game was just not designed to be played going downhill and there are two problems you are faced with. Just when you think you have a tough downhill lie you look up to see that you now have to hit the ball over a pond onto the green. Not going to happen.

The Arc

You see the reason the ball going downhill lie is so difficult is because we swing the golf club on a arc. The arc has to have a bottom to it so you can find the bottom of the golf ball. When you address the golf ball on level ground the bottom of the golf club can swing up and down on the arc and return to the bottom of the golf ball, there is turf under the golf ball.

When you address a golf ball going downhill there isn’t any turf under the golf ball. The ground goes away from the ball. When you swing the golf club on arc and return to the golf ball the turf goes away from you. There isn’t any turf for the golf club to swing into.

You have to compensate so you can find the bottom of the ball.

Finding the Bottom of the Ball

The next problem is as big as the first one. You not only have to find the bottom of the golf ball, you have to make sure it goes up in the air.

There are four degrees of loft between all of my irons. If I am 150 yards from the green on a downhill slope of 8 degrees I am going to have a difficult time hitting the green with this shot. When I am standing 150 yards from the green I have to hit a shot that has enough loft so the ball will stop when it hits the green. I usually hit a 7 iron from 150 yards; in this case my 7 iron has the loft of my 5 iron. I have to drop down and take my 8 or 9 iron. Because the 8 and 9 irons are shorter than the 7 they will not perform like a 7.

When you have long downhill lies that won’t reach the green that usually isn’t a problem. Anytime you have a chip, pitch or full swing shot that can reach the green that is when the trouble begins.

So let’s spend some time with the technique of hitting a downhill shot.

As soon as the golf club reaches the bottom of the arc it has to swing level along the ground before it can come back up. In other words the arc has to be longer than normal.

Stand to the Slope

The first thing you have to do is stand to the slope. Your right shoulder has to be higher at address which places more weight on your left side.

The reason you have to stand to the slope is to make sure the golf club swings UP in the backswing and DOWN in the downswing. If the slope is severe enough you have to make sure you do not transfer any weight going back in the backswing.

Now comes the secret. You have to make sure at the bottom of the hit that you follow through LOW, follow through along the slope. You do not have to worry about finishing high. You have to keep the club head low to the ground so you can make solid impact and not top of scull the golf ball.

You might have the feeling of chasing the golf ball down the fairway. Two other items to remember when you are going downhill, the golf ball will not stop and you will have tendency to slice or push the golf ball to the right.

That's all for Tip #1, I hope it will help you the next time you find yourself with a downhill lie. In a few days I'll show you some great ways to get out of the deep rough.

Sincerely,
Jay

Hello Friend:

Every golfer worth his or her salt wants “touch”—the ability to routinely land the ball on the green and run it softly to the pin.

Maybe you even know somebody who has good “touch” and you’ve envied that person’s skillful shots.

Well, I’m going to teach you how to make those same shots part of your game.

That’s right. I’m going to help you acquire a feel for the greens...to master all the variables that are involved in the pitch shot...to truly have “touch.”

And having touch is going to cut your handicap by a third.

I think you should try it out. What have you got to lose?

If you haven't seen this, please check out:

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You won't be disappointed.

Thanks, and be sure to let me know how much your friends envy your skillful pitch shots after seeing this video.

Jay