Improve Your Golf swing and Score Today!

Begin by checking that your hands are in practically direct opposition as they grasp the club-that is, with the palms facing each other squarely. The (left) hand is placed against the shaft in such a manner that the shaft makes a diagonal contact from the crook of the index finger across the palm.

It is, with this left hand, a combination palm and finger grip. When this hand is closed the club should be held in the first two fingers and the palm. Check that there is a fold of flesh between the club and the little finger. This, as a matter of fact, is a check point for getting the correct golf grip by which you can tell whether you have the palm-and-finger grip.

As you address the ball and look down at your hands, you must see no more than two knuckles, those at the base of index finger and the big finger. Two knuckles! This is your second and last check point for the position of this hand.

The next step to getting the correct golf grip is assessing the right hand. The right hand is very important, both in the way it grasps the club and in the way it fits against the left. Let’s take the club first.

It has been said that the grip with the right hand is a finger grip. This is true but where in the fingers? This is at the very base or root of the second and third fingers, where they meet the palm. This is the best place because there the club can be held most securely.

There is not only less chance but less inclination, with such a grip, to loosen the hand at the top of the swing or anywhere else. Such a grip, because it is at the very edge of the palm, makes for a tighter connecting joint between arm and club, with less give than any other. It transmits more power when the ball is struck.

Any grip higher in the fingers of the right hand, say along the inside of the middle knuckles of the second and third fingers, is untrustworthy. It is a loose grip to begin with, and the tendency is to loosen it further at the top of the swing. Finally, there is more give in it when the ball is hit.

We have identified the right-hand grip as being taken with the second and third fingers because, of course, the index finger is separated slightly from the middle finger and is hooked low around the club. The little finger, in the overlapping or interlocking grips, does not touch the club at all. In the so-called ten-finger grip, though, the little finger would grasp the club exactly as the second and third do.

In taking our putting grip we recommend placing the left hand on the club first in its proper position, then sliding the right under the shaft, fingers extended and palm up. Slide no further when the club slips into the little groove where the fingers meet the palm. Then just close the hand, moving it up the shaft slightly so that the third finger fits against the index finger of the left hand and the little finger overlaps or lies on top of the left index finger.

You will find that the palm of the right comes up and faces directly to the left, and that the center of the base of the right hand fits snugly over the big knuckle at the base of the left thumb. Both thumbs will be on the shaft, the, left lying a little to the right of the top (at about 2 o’clock in aviation parlance) and the right lying to the left of the top, at about 10 or 10:30 o’clock.

The well-known V’s, formed by the folds of flesh between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, should both point a shade to the right of the chin, to about the inside joint of the collar bone.

That’s all there is to it! Congratulations, now you know how to get the correct golf grip and with a bit of practice you’ll get it right every time.

By: Ruth Cracknell

About the Author: