Golf basics-the all important golf grip. Taking the proper grip on a golf club is one of the most vital golf basics you will ever work on. It is a necessary part of the setup to your golf swing, and greatly impacts the outcome of your shot. After all, your grip is the only link between you and the club! There are many different methods to take a grip, and all have their benefits and disadvantages. However, today I will be showing you the three most popular ways of taking a grip on a golf club, and sharing with you a few essential techniques and strategies for getting your grip ideal, including maintaining a slight grip pressure, thumb position on the grip and the three main types of grips golfers utilize, the ‘Vardon Overlap’ (a.k.a. the overlapping grip), the ‘Interlocking Grip’ and the ‘Ten Finger Grip’ (a.k.a. the baseball grip).
First off, let’s examine some simple tips and methods for your golf grip. These golf basics will allow you to build and preserve a sturdy golf grip to use, perhaps, for the rest of your life as a golfer. Maintaining a light grip pressure is perhaps the most important tip I can offer you on the topic of golf grips. This should be a primary concern, as excessive pressure or being exceedingly firm on your grip can cause an excess of difficulties, including a top, a slice or even a shank! Sam Snead once said: “Grip the club as if a baby bird were in your hand”. This light pressure, accompanied with the right placement of your palms on the handle, will give you the very best chance to produce longer, straighter shots.
Maintaining a light grip pressure is perhaps the most important tip I can offer you on the matter of golf grips. This should be a chief concern, as too much pressure or being too tight on your grip can cause an excess of difficulties, including a top, a slice or even a shank! Sam Snead once said: “Hold the club as if a baby bird were in your hand”. This light pressure, accompanied with the proper placement of your palms on the handle, will give you the best chance to produce longer, straighter shots.
Also, having your thumb in the right place once you have taken your grip is an additional key of golf basics, as doing this will prevent you from twisting your hand over or under the club, which is a primary reason of hook and slice for the majority of golfers. A great guideline to abide by is to imagine the club is a clock face, and keep your thumbs at 11 and 1 o’clock. Your thumb should also form a ‘y’ shape with the rest of the hand and the club.
The Vardon Grip, in some cases called the overlapping grip, is the most popular grip used on tour and, is the grip most likely to be shown to you by a golf instructor. To put your hands on the club employing the Vardon Overlap, take the little finger on the trailing hand and position it between the index and middle finger on the lead hand (for right-handed golfers, the lead hand is the left). The lead hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand.
The Interlocking Grip is the next most popular grip. It is common amongst players in the LPGA and has been used by such players as Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. People with small hands and weak wrists and forearms regularly use this grip. To use the Interlocking grip, take the little finger on the trailing hand (the trailing hand for right-handed golfers is the right hand) and interlace it with the index finger on the lead hand. The lead hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand, as before.
The Ten Finger Grip, or Baseball Grip, is the least used grip among tour players. However, Beth Daniel, Bob Estes and Dave Parr have all utilized this grip. Golf teachers can often use this grip as a start, as it is easy to illustrate. To take the Baseball Grip, simply grip the club as you would a baseball! See the resource box below for more golfing tips.
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