| Welcome to the world's greatest game...
First, from a hand stress standpoint - neither grip is better than the other. As a generality, the interlocking grip is used for players with small/medium hands and overlapping for larger hands. Jack Nicklaus was a notable exception to this in that he had large hands but used the interlocking grip.
Using one or the other is like picking your favorite color or car. Really makes no meaningful difference.
To your pain issue:
1) Part of the issue is the fact that the muscles in your hands are unused to being used this way. Once you repeat your activity of playing golf - your hands will get used to it and the pain/swelling should go away.
2) Grip. Although I am not there to observe - I will bet you a beer that you are indeed holding the club too tightly. This is a very common fault in beginners and in experienced golfers as well. I know it is hard to believe, but you should be barely holding on to the club. Just hard enough to keep it from torqueing in your hands as you strike the ball.
If you are willing to invest $13 - I recommend that you go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and buy the Five Lessons book by Ben Hogan. This is the "golf bible" of how to hold a golf club and devotes 19 pages to the grip alone. If anything - if you can learn to Grip the club properly and Set up to the ball properly - it will go a long way in helping you play the game well.
good luck.  |