Correct grip

Keith C

I recently bought clubs & hit the range to start practising. bought xl bucket as wanted to hit an averge of ten balls or so per club to start finding distance I could hit with each club.
Anyway, near the end I split the skin from the side of the nail on my my thumb (right handed).
Ive had to wait the last 2 weeks for it to heal.
Am i holding the club too tightly & if so are you meant to leave any any fingers "loose"?? (I normally grip with all fingers tight)

Any thoughts?

Niall09

Keith C wrote: »

I recently bought clubs & hit the range to start practising. bought xl bucket as wanted to hit an averge of ten balls or so per club to start finding distance I could hit with each club.
Anyway, near the end I split the skin from the side of the nail on my my thumb (right handed).
Ive had to wait the last 2 weeks for it to heal.
Am i holding the club too tightly & if so are you meant to leave any any fingers "loose"?? (I normally grip with all fingers tight)

Any thoughts?

By tightening your grip, your arm muscles tighten also, making your swing less powerful due to the now more restricted movement of your muscles. I wouldn't say that gripping it too tightly would cause that kind of injury, unless you are holding the club totally incorrect.

On a scale of 1-10, I grip the club at 6-7.

DIEGO WORST

skin split on which hand?
Did you wear a glove?

Sounds like its a combination of incorrect grip, and gripping it too tight.
plenty of free online tuition on the subject.

stockdam

What are the grips on your clubs like.....are they worn? Maybe your hands are sliding around or you are gripping tightly to hold on.

Are you loosening and regripping during the swing?

thewing

If you are right handed, I take it the skin split on your left hand, and this should be in the groove of your right thumb and forefinger when grip closed

Wear a glove, and don't grip as tight would be my advice, if the above is true.

ShriekingSheet

Grip Pressure: You shouldn't be gripping the club tightly at all. A good way of getting the idea is to hold the club at a 45 degree angle to the ground. As lightly as you can hold it here is your ideal pressure. Notice that if you lower the club to paralell with the ground you need to hold it tighter, and holding it completely upright you need to hold it much more lightly. The 45 degree angle is the medium and the best guide to grip pressure.

Correct Grip: You'll hear a lot of people talk about strong and weak grips. This is in reference to the loft of the club. Hold the club as you normally do, then turn your left hand slightly over to the right, so you can see all four of the knuckles. This is a strong left hand and notice how it de-lofts or "strengthens" the face of the club as you hit the ball. It will also encourage a hook. Moving your right hand more underneath the club so you can see less knuckles will have the same effect and vice-versa in both cases - moving your hand the opposite way weakens the club face and encourages a slice.

The optimum position can be most easily explain in terms of knuckle-count. As you address the ball, you should be able to see two knuckles on your left hand and one on your right.

Myksyk

Surely one of the great counter-intuitive truths in golfing technique is that you must soften grip to hit hard. Monty says that he holds his club as if he's holding an open tube of toothpaste trying not to squeeze any out. Look at Vijay on his follow through, his hand actually almost comes off the grip. It takes time to counter the urge to grip hard and hit at the ball instead of loosening up and hitting through it but it will be a revelation should you have the nerve to trust it.

stockdam

Was it Sam Snead who used to say that your grip pressure should be as if you were holding a small bird in your hand (he didn't say though if you were trying to burst it).

jimmystars

I watched an old leadbetter dvd called the swing and he suggests the vardon overlapping grip for players with big hands, the interlocking grip for other players and the the two hands touching at the end for players with small or weak hands.
The dvd was called "the swing". lot of info on it and i break it out if im struggling to go over the basics. usually find am after getting careless with some of the basics. Available on ebay for next to nothing id say

kagni

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYYYfFDTZrk

JohnHenry

http://perfectgolfswingreview.net/grip.htm
For those you cant look at you tube at work!! pretty comprehensive summary of the vardon overlapping grip