Without a proper grip, you can't swing golf properly. You can't deny this simple fact. A steady golf grip can improve your ball striking, make you more consistent, fix your slice, and provide you better all-around golf game. You have to know how to handle the ball properly, no matter if you are ready for a pure 300-yard tee shot or balancing yourself for a two-foot putt. It might seem strange to some people to put so much effort on golf grip, and I also thought like this until I got to know the great golf strikers consistently working on a better grip, which is the number one way to improve the ball striking. Ben Hogan said, "Good golf begins with a good grip."
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Just think that for how many times you need to grip a club in your life. Maybe a thousand times or more. It would help if you had the proper golf grip, every time you deliver the clubface square onto the ball. The consistent golf grip is essential for lower scores and great golf. And that is why great golf coaches begin with golf stance and grip and stick to these until their students fully understand and learn how to hold their irons, drivers, and putter. And the same reasons why I won't let you leave until you know the whole thing.
1. Evaluate Your Current Grip
Before moving to the technical part and showing you how to hold the club in the course, you need to do something for me. That is a small but essential thing. If you are not a professional or armature player, then there is a good chance that you need help to improve your game. And that is the reason you are here. The first step you need to do is think about your grip, and you have to accept that it might not be perfect. Visualize yourself about to tee off or try to stick it close on a short par 3. How can you pick up the clubs? How can you hold it? & Where are the positions of your fingers? Do you feel comfortable? How much confident you are when you hit a great golf shot? Is there any area of improvement? There is? Sounds great! Now you are good to go.
2. Grip size
Your clubs might have a rubberized grip on them. They are standard size. But it doesn't necessarily mean that the size is perfect for you. Several size grips exist, and there is a reason behind this. It might be that you need to invest in new ones. For now, stick with the one you have now. Go through the remaining parts of this article and test your grip. If you see that you are consistently slicing or pulling despite adapting your hold, then you might buy new grips. The golf shop might advise you for a suitable size for you, but it depends mostly on your hands' shape and size. You will need a small grip if you have short fingers and petite hands. And you will need something more extensive if you have hands like a shovel.
3. Position of your hand
Now it's time to take your club and start working on your grip. Remember to always pick it up with your weak hand first (for a right-handed golf player, will leave it side). Turn over your hand so that you can see two knobs of your left hand. Then point "V" shape that your thumb and index finger have created to your right shoulder. Point down your left thumb to the right-hand side of the shaft, and then take your right-hand grip the club, while your right hand will sit on top of your left thumb. It would help if you made sure that your right thumb sits on the left side of the club, facing down. Don't get panicked if these all seem daunting for you, and you are not confident with hand positioning. There are some special moulded grips available commercially that can assist you. They will instruct you where your fingers, thumbs, and hands need to position.
4. Get a Sharpie Out
Into your golf bag, carry a marker pen like a Sharpie. If you don't feel confident enough about how your club is sitting in your left hand, then you can draw two lines on the glove with the correct angles. That will remind you where the club has to be in your grip and provide you with a little boost of confidence not to misjudge it. Don't worry; this is legal to mark your golf glove like this to assist with your grip. That is similar to keeping your golf ball can help you start your strokes on line, drawing your glove to ensure that you are consistently gripping it every time you swing the club.
5. Interlocking vs Overlapping Golf Grip
Position wise the final piece of the puzzle is whether you link your hands together with your fingers or not. Some golfers do that, and some don't. Nonetheless, linking hands together has become the most prevalent decision among the golf players in recent times, because connecting fingers encourage a solid overall grip.
"The Vardon Grip" or "The Overlapping Grip" is the most common finger linking method. Your hands will be joined together in this grip by placing the right pinky finger being placed in-between the middle of the left hand and index finger. Now you need to align the thumb of your left hand with the centre of your right-hand palm.
6. Pressure
How hard you hold the club is all about compromise. You should not grip so firmly that your knuckles will turn white. Remember that you are not riding a roller coaster; you are playing golf. But at the same time, don't grip too lightly that you might lose control over your golf club. When playing a shot, if you grip your club too tight, you might find yourself delivering the club's heel on the ball, rather than of the face. It will cause inconsistent strike and loss of control. If you hold too tightly, you will understand it. You can feel that your forearms tense up. That is not the way to play shots satisfactorily. Relax your arms, and keep your hands gripping softly and firmly at the same time. If you like, you can waggle the club a little. It will help to shake off a little tension in the arms and wrists.
7. At first, keep things neutral
The grip technique that I have discussed here is called "neutral grip." It is a natural and most common way of holding a golf club. It does make sense to learn like this way, and later on, when you become more proficient and confident, you can learn two other styles. Then you can adapt your game and improve gradually. How much you rotate your left hands depends upon the strength of your grip. If you see two knuckles on your left, then it will be a firm grip, and on impact, it will close the clubface. Counter-clock wise you can rotate your left hand, and fingers will be invisible, and that is called "soft grip." That will open up the clubface. You can also experiment with the effects of grip strength when you are confident of the basics. But for now, keep it neutral and friendly.
8. Alternative grips
So I have described to you the most popular way of gripping your club. But just like other things, there is no rule of thumb for doing this. Every human being is different, and many golfers might not be comfortable with a regular grip. Eventually, you have to do whatever you feel comfortable and natural, and still, that gives you the outcome.
Not every golf player's grip the way I have explained in this article. Some of the top golf players have alternative ways of gripping. Like – Jordan Spieth, who holds his clubs like no other professional players, indicates that there is no right or wrong way to grip a golf club. So as long as you know the clubface's position and if you can bring down the thing to hit the ball flash and send it towards the hole, you are good to go.
Jordan certainly has an unusual grip, but no doubt about the quality. He doesn't interlink or overlap his fingers in a way that other golfers would recognize. And Jordan has a pretty weak grip. He uses his left pinkie finger to sit lightly on top of the right hand. If Jordan is a kid learning lessons from a golf coach, the coach will correct his grip. But there is no need for that in his case. He knows where the face is, he can control the club, and he can flawlessly deliver the head on the ball.
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