The easiest way to make sure that you don’t stand a chance of hitting a good shot is to make a complete mess of the grip. Gripping the club is often too underrated part of the swing.

Which is kind of a funny because the grip is the only thing that connects us to the club when we swing it.

Usually grips are categorized in three main categories: Strong, Weak and Neutral. For the sake of example, you will see the extremes in here to be able to see the differences.

Strong grip

An example of very strong grip, which usually leads to a (low) hook, has left hand too much on top of the shaft as you’ll see too many knucles from the left hand. This also causes the right hand to go too much below the shaft.

When swinging with a grip like this the clubhead closes violently at impact and it is hard to hit straight when that happens. Although this might,  and it actually is a hand position for power it is not a position for consistent and repeatable swing because the hands make it impossible to control the ball properly.

Weak grip

Here is another example of less-than-perfect grip. This kind of grip, where the upper hand is below the club and the lower one is turned over the club is a weak grip.

Weak grip usually leads to a shot that is short and well right of the target since you can’t square the clubface to the target at impact. In other words, your clubface is pointing to the right (for right handed golfers) all the way and that generates excessive amounts of unwanted left to right spin (for right handed golfers).

Another thing this weak grip could do is that it instinctively aligns your shoulders wrong. When the upper hand is below the club and the lower is turned on top of the shaft can cause your shoulders to turn to the left of the target at set up. This promotes out-to-in swingpath and only increases the spin caused by the open clubface.

Neutral grip

A proper grip is steady but it still allows you to manoeuvre your hands to a perfect position to deliver the club properly to the ball. A good grip is firm and and relaxed, not the one where you squeeze the life out of the shaft.

Good grip starts from the fingers and once they are wrapped around the shaft, then you can place the rest of the hand in place. After that you can do the same with the lower hand. Bear in mind that in a proper grip the club rests on your fingers not on the back of your hand (see pictures for reference). When the shaft is in the palm of your hand, the club tends to weight much and it feels hard to control – which is exactly what it is! On top of that the clubhead has a tendency to be open at impact if the grip is not taken correctly. When you take the grip properly you’ll find the club to be lighter and much more in control.

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