Your grip is the only thing that connects you to the club. But what is a good grip or are there multiple ways to make it work? If I have the perfect grip will my ball go straight every time?
Weak vs Strong
Firstly, I think it’s important to clear up which is which. For a right handed golf a stronger grip the hands are turned anticlockwise and more knuckles are visible on the left hand. A weak grip is where both hands are turned more clockwise and seeing a knuckle on the left hand may be difficult. A neutral grip would sit in between these two.
How will this affect my ball flight?
The text books would say a weak grip would be renowned for creating a slice, a strong grip would be responsible for a hook, and a neutral grip would be required to hit the ball straight. If you have ever made a grip change you will remember how horrible they can be, and the pain that you can go through. Sometimes it's justified but is it always necessary? When we start looking at wrist angles and body rotation then we can start to create something called a match up.
Match ups
It’s a well-used phrase in the golf coaching world right now but it might be all you need to control your clubface better and maybe you don`t need the ‘perfect’ grip after all….
A match up with a grip would look like the image below, Matt Fitzpatrick has a really strong left hand but returns back to impact with a square clubface. John Rahm has a weak lead hand but returns the clubface back to square. Fitzpatrick maintains his wrist in a cupped or extended position and return the club back with the lead forearm pointing well right of the target and rotation of the body. Jon Rahm has a weak lead hand but creates lead wrist flexion or a bowing movement, which delofts the club and points the face further right with his grip type, but then squares the face through excessive lead forearm rotation and with the body. If we gave Fitzpatrick Rahm's wrist position at the top or vice versa then these players would probably not be on tour or close to being the best players in the world. They create the perfect balancing act to control the clubface in the most efficient way and anatomically match them up.
If you need help checking your grip, or struggle with direction get in touch, or book an assessment HERE
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