The other kind of 'weak' grip

[Sandy]

So I've finally got down to the range this evening to hit a few balls again after a couple of weeks enforced lay-off, but in that time I've been thinking a lot about my swing and my game in general.

I was trying to pin down what my best and worst shots were, and what I did differently for them. I realized that I get pretty good contact when I hit shots out of the rough, and play much better shots from there than I really ought to compared to my shots from decent lies. Conversely I realized that a lot of my worst misses come when I hit weak slices or pushes to the right, but that when I do that it always feels like the club face is turning on impact and the club is spinning in my hand everso slightly. The only thing I could put this down to was the other kind of 'weak' grip - I was gripping the club too lightly on my normal shots, only gripping it with the correct pressure when I was hitting out of rough, hence the better shots.

I've heard all the tips about grip strength, like the holding a child's hand or holding a bird metaphors, but I thought tonight I would try and hit some shots with a grip that felt more secure and where I felt I had the club more in control. The difference was amazing! My fade that can sometimes turn into a slice disappeared altogether and everything was either straight where I was aiming or had a tiny little draw on it, and from nowhere every iron had about 10 yards more distance on them. Contact seemed much crisper too, especially on my wedges. My follow through felt much more powerful as well, and I could feel I was releasing through the ball much more strongly.

I also tried it from the practice bunker, trying my old 56/10 Vokey rather than my 588RS that has been so good recently. It was incredible that suddenly I could get the ball out high and soft with the traditional Vokey in a way I could never manage before, and my control with the 588RS was much better when I tried that (it'll stay my sand club for certain, but the Vokey may now get in the back with it's 52* brother).

Does this sound right to people? Could I have solved one of the problems I've been having by gripping the club more strongly? Opinions very welcome!

[Eracer]

I also find a firmer grip helpful. But the danger is in squeezing hard enough to cause tension in the arms. I do two things:

1. Hold the club out in front of me at a 45-deg. angle while taking my grip. This seems to correctly "pre-set" my grip pressure.

2. I try to feel the last three fingers of my left hand holding the club, and my right hand pinning my left thumb to the shaft. A slight pinching of the right thumb and forefinger so that the club is pressed slightly forward by the pad at the base of my right forefinger completes the grip. It's the last thing I feel before pulling the trigger.

[warbirdlover]

One more thing I have to try....

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by Eracer

I also find a firmer grip helpful. But the danger is in squeezing hard enough to cause tension in the arms.

I actually found it was helpful in cutting down the wristiness in my stroke, but my arms were still pretty flexible.

I've really found it hard going from cricket to playing golf - in cricket I held my bat fairly loosely and relied on being wristy to make my shots, often letting the face of my bat open at impact to deflect the ball over to the right side, while falling away to the left to exaggerate that motion. Can you imagine how devastatingly BAD it is to naturally want to do that when you take up golf?

I'll be back down at the range again this week to see if it continues, but it was quite a considerable difference yesterday just by gripping slightly more firmly.

[SilverUberXeno]

Those bird metaphors are pants. I would like to put some kind of spongey grip on a club and let a "bird grip" person swing with it (then weigh and measure water loss from grip pressure) against Tiger's grip pressure, or some other tour pro who can bang 'em out. I grip my club pretty firmly as well. It's a control thing; strong hands, fluid arms. You shouldn't tense up your whole arm, but I really think it's BS to not hold the club firmly. I'll kill the bird, I don't care. Kill a bird, get a birdie.

[warbirdlover]

I actually found it was helpful in cutting down the wristiness in my stroke, but my arms were still pretty flexible.

I've really found it hard going from cricket to playing golf - in cricket I held my bat fairly loosely and relied on being wristy to make my shots, often letting the face of my bat open at impact to deflect the ball over to the right side, while falling away to the left to exaggerate that motion. Can you imagine how devastatingly BAD it is to naturally want to do that when you take up golf?

I'll be back down at the range again this week to see if it continues, but it was quite a considerable difference yesterday just by gripping slightly more firmly.

Sandy

What's Cricket? (JK!!! )

You might really be on to something here. I've got to play with this.

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

You might really be on to something here. I've got to play with this.

Well, I went back down to the range tonight and hit 150 balls off the grass tees they have down there that are rarely used. So that meant that most shots were off lies you'd expect in the light rough or a badly cared for fairway!

I can report that it made more of a difference off grass more than on the mats, and I could feel my hands powering the ball through as I hit rather than buckling or the clubface twisting on less than perfect contact. It really made my swing feel faster too, and this was borne out by those extra yards on my irons still being there.

I also risked trying a few shots with the 56* Vokey off the grass again and it was a real improvement - I was still thinning a few (well, I *am* a 22 handicapper!) but I was hitting it out to about 95 yards (way longer than normal for me) and making much better contact.

What was most pleasing of all was the consistency in the divots I was leaving - 95% of them started after contact - and the amount of backspin I was getting on the balls, which is something I've never done.

WBL - try it and let us know how it goes! I'm out for another round with Greydawg next weekend so will report back on how that goes...

[$2 Nassau]

You never know, might just work if you were really gripping it too lightly and the club was able to slide or twist while you are swinging.

I don't think too much about grip, I just grip it comfortably. I definitely grip it firm enough so the club doesn't move in my hands while I'm swinging, I think you have to.

The whole holding the hand of a child, or holding a bird advice is just more "tips" from teachers and pros that fill us amateur's minds with too many thoughts.

KEEP IT SIMPLE.

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

I think grip strength is sometimes overlooked. What I mean by that is that depending on how much pressure one is able to exert, a light-feeling grip can have a large difference in quality between someone who has plenty of grip strength over someone lacking grip strength.

If you ever take some time to look at the guys on the PGA tour, you'll notice that many of them have fairly sizeable forearms which is at least somewhat indicative of how much grip strength a person has, although a person can have muscular forearms and lack the neuromuscular coordination with the tendons to have a strong grip.

Or let me put it this way. Last year, I often found that in order to keep the clubhead stable, to me it felt like I had to exert a fair bit more pressure than the lightly holding a baby bird idea. If I held the club with that kind of feel, the clubhead would twist and rotate because my grip wasn't exerting enough pressure to keep the clubhead stable. So I had to grip with what felt tighter to get it stable. That was an improvement, the drawback was that sometimes it would tighten up my arms too much leading to trouble.

But over the winter and spending the first 6 weeks of this year in a leg cast, I kept myself sane by doing upper body strengthening along with exercises to improve grip strength. I have gone from below average grip strength to now well above average, and it has made a marked difference in how I grip the club. I now want to hold the club with it feeling like I'm holding a baby bird and that results in enough pressure to keep the clubhead stable.

I know it's also helped me hitting out tough lies in thicker vegetation because now the clubhead won't twist nearly so much.

[warbirdlover]

I have a strong grip but arthritus starting in my right hand fingers (thread in Shottalk forum). I have a problem now fully closing my hand but can get some more grip by working at it. This appears to possibly be an answer.

[warbirdlover]

Tried a little more grip pressure and worked great on my irons. Had driver problems (got them straightened out last night I think) so I couldn't properly evaluate it but definitely worked better for my iron shots.

[twofast2s]

i'd squeeze $hit out the bird w/ my grip pressure. i swing relatively smooth, but my swing speed is up there ~105 and up, so i need to put little bit of pressure. it also allows me to release more consistantly.

i think the even pressure through out the swing more important than just gripping it lightly.

[sssmokin]

I don't know about this "death grip" thing. I go by the "toothpaste tube" grip, and everything just happens as far as releasing properly etc. I try to keep it as simple as possible, and gripping tight would make me have to think about wrists, and sh..t that I don't want to worry about. I'm a "picker" and not a "digger". Just my opinion.

[Sandy]

Well I finally got the first chance to try it out on the course at the weekend, and the first results look good! I ended up hitting my second lowest round ever, but being just one shot higher on a slope 124 course compared to my lowest round on a slope 107 course means it was by far my best round ever, and 7 or 8 shots lower than everything else I've had this year so far.

In terms of how it played I suddenly found it had massive benefits with my short irons and wedges. Suddenly I was able to play my wedges consistently from normal lies (and not hit them fat or thin with no consistency at all) and my 52* Vokey was my best friend again. The effects were less noticeable with my long irons and hybrid but again were pretty solid. If anything the fact I was hitting solid shots showed up issues with alignment more clearly, so that's something I need to work on and think about more when I play.

The biggest thrill for me though was seeing the difference the firmer grip made off my short irons. The extra yards were still there, and in some cases I was hitting shots with two clubs less than I would have needed a couple of months back. The first big sign of what this meant came on the 4th hole though - I hammered an 8i onto the green, and when I got up there realised it had left a massive pitching mark, and the ball had barely rolled 6" from the mark. Two holes later and I hit my 52* wedge onto the green with a 3/4 shot (but still with a firm grip), go up to the green and see the ball had spun back a good 12" from its pitching mark - the first time I have EVER spun a ball back!

I know this is a game of false dawns for all of us - this website is a testament to that - but this one, for me at least, fells like a big one that'll have a big effect on my scores.