The grip, or way the hands are placed on the club is the most important part of the golf swing. The golf swing is a chain reaction of movements which starts off with the grip. If the grip is wrong it means the start of the swing, ‘the takeaway’, will not be executed correctly. This in turn causes complications with the wrist cock half way back, and consequently, swing plane itself.
The left hand must be turned round the grip clockwise enough so that the ‘v’ formed by the thumb and index finger points to the right shoulder.
The ‘v’ formed by the thumb and index finger of the right hand must also point to the right shoulder.
The thumb of the left hand must be on the right side of the club. It is only in this position that it can contain the weight of the club at the transition from backswing to downswing.
The right hand thumb must sit on the left hand side of the club to be able to help release the club in a downward direction to avoid miss hits and topping.
These are key points in the grip that are ignored by many golfers in preference to the more exotic and exciting swing components like hip turn and leg drive, late hitting and plane re-routing. However, if these simple basics are not in place the swing becomes increasingly complex.
Comments