Making a perfect grip on the golf club is every golfer’s goal. This is because a good grip on the club helps you to have a good club face control position at impact. When you are swinging to hit the ball, the body rotates to create power thereby implying that the club and the body must work together to have a good hit at the golf. If you have watched pro golfers like Tiger Woods play, it is easy to notice that a good grip at the club helps in creating power and feel. This in turn makes golfing enjoyable to the golfer as well as the spectators. Here are a few tips on how to make the perfect golf grip:
- Hold the club in the fingers not in the palm
Most golfers especially amateurs hold the golf club in their palms and not in the fingers. Fingers are by far more sensitive than the palm and hence give a stronger grip. Placing the club in the fingers and not in the palm creates a better wrist hinge thereby resulting in more feel and longer tee shots. In addition to this, fingers are more flexible thereby making it easy to maneuver a good swing while still gripping the club strongly and perfectly. This enables you to make pro-tee shots like Hank Haney.
- Hold the club lightly
If you have watched a golf grip tutorial video you will notice there is emphasis on applying light grip pressure on the club. Holding the club too tightly strains the hand and the wrist thereby making it hard to make a smooth swing and perfect tee shot. At times, if you apply to much grip pressure on the wrist, you can hurt your wrist and shoulders particularly when making a full swing. People have different hand sizes and as such, it is only right to use a grip size that is suitable for your hands. The easiest way to know if the grips are correct is checking if when you grip the golf club in the lead hand, the fingers touch the pad of the hand under the thumb. If the grip size is right, the fingers should barely come into contact with the hand’s pad under the thumb.
Types of grips
There are three golf grips:
- Baseball grip
In this grip, the golfer uses all the 10 fingers in the grip and the club is held in the fingers. This grip is a favorite option for young juniors and women golfers.
- Interlocking grip
This is a one of kind grip whereby golfers interlock the pinkie of their trail hand using the index finger in the lead hand. This type of grip is common among players with small hands as it enables them to have a stable grip during full swings.
- Overlapping grip
This is a grip for pro-golfers. The pinkie/little finger on the trail hand is used to overlap the pointer/index finger in the lead hand. The best thing about this grip is that it is ideal when making long tee shots.