Do you know that the grip is a very powerful a part of the golf swing?
Give it some thought. The one factor that connects your arms to the golf membership is your grip!
How do completely different grip stress factors have an effect on your golf swing? Discover out the primary stress factors on the grip and the way these stress factors may also help your swing.
How Grip Stress Impacts Your Golf Swing
The way you maintain the golf membership impacts your swing in quite a lot of methods. With regards to grip stress, gripping the membership too tight or too free can negatively have an effect on your swing. We’ll study the implications of every under.
Outcomes of a Grip That’s Too Tight
A complete host of issues are brought on by gripping the golf membership too tight. Listed below are just a few of the commonest ones.
Your Swing Tempo Turns into Jerky
The primary telltale signal that you simply’re holding the golf membership too tight is a swing tempo that’s too quick and jerky. As an alternative of a easy, managed swing, a grip stress that’s too tight will result in a rushed, restrictive swing.
Decreased Clubhead Pace
This one is counterintuitive. So many golfers assume that gripping the golf membership tougher will result in extra clubhead pace and extra distance. This couldn’t be farther from the reality.
Utilizing an excessive amount of grip stress causes pointless pressure within the arms, wrists, and forearms. All that pressure makes you swing slower as a result of the whole lot is so twisted up.
Once more, it appears counterintuitive however a number of research that contain grip stress, clubhead pace, and ball pace show that an excessive amount of grip stress decreases distance.
Fixed Slices or Pushes
Gripping the golf membership too tight may trigger you to slice and push the ball fairly a bit. It’s because while you grip the membership too tight, the arms can not shut the clubface in time. Because of this your clubface will normally be open at affect, which is the primary reason for a slice.
In the event you’re always lacking your targets and shedding your ball out to the proper (for a right-handed golfer), you could have to lighten your grip stress.
Outcomes of a Grip That’s Too Unfastened
Whereas a lot of golfers battle with a grip that’s too tight, there aren’t many on the market that maintain the membership too free.
For these uncommon people that do maintain the membership too loosely, the primary detrimental consequence isn’t having sufficient management of the clubface. These people will even battle with the path of their photographs and find yourself hitting a lot of hooks and slices.
On uncommon events, the membership might even fly out of their arms.
The place Stress Ought to Be Utilized in Your Golf Grip
Okay, now that we all know there are risks of holding the golf membership too tight and too free, as soon as we discover that “candy spot” of grip stress, the place will we apply it?
High Hand (Left Hand for Proper-Handed Golfer)
Discovering the right grip stress level on the highest hand could be troublesome for golfers as a result of it’s normally their non-dominant hand.
Ideally, you need the grip stress on this hand to be within the heel pad of your palm close to the pinkie and ring fingers.
Once more, getting used to the texture of this may occasionally take fairly some time.
Backside Hand (Proper Hand for Proper-Handed Golfer)
Now let’s speak concerning the right stress factors within the backside hand. On this case, we are sometimes coping with the golfer’s dominant hand. You need the vast majority of the grip stress on this hand to be in your index finger (ie pointer finger).
Surprisingly, you shouldn’t really feel a lot grip stress in your proper thumb in any respect. When gripped appropriately, the index finger will be capable to simply information the golf membership. Now you’re able to hit an ideal shot!
How Tight Your Golf Grip Ought to Be
On a scale of 1 to 10, you must purpose to have a grip stress of round 4 or 5. The best golf grip isn’t too tight however not too mild. Listed below are just a few analogies to remind you of this.
When considering of grip stress, remind your self of Goldilocks and the porridge. She didn’t need the porridge to be too scorching or too chilly. You don’t need grip stress that’s too tight or too free.
The good Sam Snead (winner of 82 PGA Tour tournaments) had a well-known principle on grip stress. Snead mentioned to think about that you simply’re holding a child hen. You need to maintain the hen tight sufficient in order that it could actually’t fly away however not so tight that you simply hurt it.
One other standard grip stress analogy is the tube of toothpaste. You need to maintain the tube of toothpaste with each arms however think about that the cap is off. You don’t need to grip the tube too onerous and splatter toothpaste throughout your lavatory mirror.
What Occurs When Your Golf Grip is Too Robust
There’s a saying in golf that goes one thing like this: To hit it lengthy, grip it sturdy!
That saying isn’t referring to grip stress, it’s referring to the place of your arms on the golf membership. Right here’s a fast train to find out what sort of golf grip you’ve gotten:
- Maintain the golf membership such as you’re about to hit a full shot
- Depend what number of knuckles you’ll be able to see in your left hand
- In the event you see 1 knuckle, you’ve gotten a weak grip
- In the event you see 2 knuckles, you’ve gotten a impartial grip
- In the event you see 3 knuckles, you’ve gotten a robust grip
What are some undesirable unintended effects of a grip that’s too sturdy?
More often than not, a grip that’s too sturdy could cause the golfer to hit a lot of hooks and pulls as a result of the clubface is shut at affect. This will result in a lot of frustration, to not point out a lot of misplaced golf balls.
Different nasty penalties of getting a grip that’s too sturdy embody decrease ball flight and inaccurate chipping across the greens. Each are hazardous to capturing low scores on the course.
If any of those issues are plaguing you, think about weakening your grip a bit.
