The Grip

Grip is how you hold the club. Your hands should be fixed on the club; they don’t move. Their only job is to hold on, like clamps. They don’t manipulate it by snapping the wrist or forcing the club. We’ll discuss the hand and arm relationship more later.

There are three conventional grips, in order of preference:

  • The overlap, called the single overlap:
    The pinkie of your right hand overlaps the index finger of your left hand.
  • Interlock:
    The pinkie of your right hand and the index finger of your left hand intertwine (interlock), or wrap around each other.
  • Ten finger, commonly known as the baseball grip:
    All eight, actually ten, fingers touch the grip of the club; they don’t overlap or interlock.

Any of these grips are fine as long as you also meet these basic guidelines:

  • The grip is neutral, so the backs of both hands oppose each other, and the palms are facing each other.
  • The club is held in your fingers, the middle digits of the fingers, and not the palms.
  • The butt end of the club is held down by the palm of the left hand.
  • The thumb of the left hand is extended right down the center of the shaft.
  • When you close down with your right hand, the “V” formed by your thumb and index finger points towards your right shoulder, or somewhere between your chin and your right shoulder.
  • Grip pressure needs to be medium. So on a scale of one to ten, ten being a death grip on the club, and one very loose, you want between a four and a seven. Your wrists, however, need to be relaxed.

A grip that’s too strong is when the hands are turned to the right too much. If the hands are turned to the left too much, the grip’s too weak. Crossing yourself up is when your right hand is turned to the left too much, and your left hand is turned to the right too much - - that’s death.

If you develop blisters, it’s probably not because you’re holding the club too tightly or too loosely, but because you have a problem with the quality of your grip.

The grip is something you should evaluate right off the bat. Make sure you have a proper grip, and then check it every time you set up to the ball.

Your grip isn’t something you should be playing with and changing all the time. If you mentally need a new start, go buy a new driver, or putter, or something fun.

Link to the next chapter, Posture.