Sandy
Well-Known Member
- Aug 29, 2006
- 907
- 0
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!
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!