We hardly ever observe someone who is overly stiff or taut when they swing a golf club, unless they are anxious novices, however we observe plenty that are overly loose. Consequently, our goal is to avoid having an overly loose grip. In fact, we aren’t striving for a firm grip; we prefer a grip that’s tight.
Grasp the golf club just loosely enough to prevent your upper arm and shoulder muscles from tensing up and tiring out. Make sure your hands maintain a tight grip on the handle. Monitor your wrist tension when you swing. If your wrists are kept tight, your swing may be too stiff and mechanical while not allowing your wrists to break naturally.
Don’t worry about the wrists. The usual problem is that the students don’t put a strong enough grip on the club. When their grip is too loose, then a fault opening is created at the top which can cause the left wrist to collapse, the golfer to over-swing, and a number of other limiting problems. Even though a tight grip may be uncomfortable at first, it will greatly improve your swing and correct faults that will help your overall game.
By a tight golf club grip we also mean with practically all the fingers that are on the club. These would be the last three, principally, of the left hand and the first three of the right. Many players have a tendency to place the forefinger of the right hand, the one that hooks around the shaft just below the right thumb, very lightly on the club. Don’t do it.
Hook this finger around the shaft firmly, so that the tip of it makes a definite contact with the tip of the thumb. If you don’t, the club will be liable to drop, at the top of the swing, into the big V between the forefinger and thumb. This means a loss of control at the top, which must be regained as the club comes down.
At this point, what do we do to position the ball? It’s not that mysterious, but certain observations are required.
In the first place, we should take a position that enables us to swing the club back freely and to bring it down to the ball on an inside-out arc easily. For this the weight should be about equally divided between the feet. The knees must be slightly flexed, better too much than too little. The body should be bent slightly from the waist but the shoulders should be rounded or hunched over.
Remember: keep the head down somewhat, just slightly. Note that your left sholder will be higher than the right owing to the fact that the right hand is down farther than the left hand.
You now possess the knowledge of how to apply the correct amount of tension to your golf club grip. You also have learned how tight to hold the club and the proper stance. All you need now is practice!
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