Your Golf Grip

I have a golf tip for beginners and experienced golfers in the form of a question to be reflected on and physically explored . Is your hold of the golf club – your golf grip – of secondary importance to having correct golf swing mechanics, golf swing technique and a proper golf swing? Or is how you place your hands on the golf grip a prerequisite in order to produce effective golf swing mechanics, golf swing technique and a proper golf swing?

Let’s back into an answer to this question. For each of the mechanical and sporting tools that follow, take a moment to visualize and feel how you would place your hands on each one: a hammer….a screw driver…..an axe….a baseball bat….a tennis racket….a fishing pole….a spoon, fork or knife….a pen….a toothbrush….a pail….a whip….or even a bowling ball. How would you handle each tool to use it as it’s designed? It might be instinctive, you might learn by trial and error, or you might need initial instruction to discover how to use the tool most effectively. But, once you discover how to place your hands on each of these tools to use each one for its designed purpose, you’ll notice the similarity of using your fingers to leverage the   tool in your hand so that your wrist and arm (or wrists and arms) can hinge and rotate to use the tool effectively.

Now, bring this awareness to how you would place your hands on the golf club. The tool of a golf club is designed with a weight (clubhead) at the end of a stick (slightly flexible shaft) so that you can swing the weight around your body to make a proper golf swing and give the weight momentum to achieve ‘golf swing speed’ so the clubhead can apply a force to the golf ball to launch it off the ground or a tee.

Just like the use of any of the tools mentioned above, how to swing a golf club effectively requires the tool of the golf club to be ‘leveraged in the fingers.’ This allows your hands, wrists and arms to hinge and rotate as they are anatomically designed in order to leverage the weight of the clubhead and use the tool as it is designed – to swing the weight (clubhead) around your body with consistency and golf swing speed.

I suggest experimenting by making small golf swings without a golf ball with different grips to activate your feeling sense. Feel what kind of golf grip allows you to give the weight of the clubhead golf swing speed and momentum to feel like you are using gravity almost effortlessly. Then, see the guidelines, illustrations and foundational exercises in Chapter 5 in Awaken Your Inner Golfer to confirm the feel and function of an effective golf grip. Your body learns a physical skill through trial and error and exploration and discovery. The guidelines for an effective golf grip along with the instinct-awakening golf exercises in Chapter 7 will facilitate that learning.

Now, let’s revisit my original question of which comes first and which is more important, proper golf swing mechanics, golf swing technique and a proper golf swing…….or an effective golf grip?!?   I trust that I’ve helped you understand that an effective golf grip is of primary importance before you listen to golf swing tips, work on your golf swing mechanics, and take golf lessons or golf instruction.

The foundation of an effective golf grip establishes the connection of your body to the tool of the golf club and allows you to leverage the weight of the clubhead. Having the golf club leveraged in the fingers allows the energy generated by the rotation and movement of your torso to be carried out to the golf club through the instinctive hinge and rotation of your arms, wrists and hands. This is simple golf swing instruction. It is a very simple golf swing explanation of how to swing a golf club, but it is an effective explanation that speaks to how your body/mind instinctively learns and functions to perform a physical skill such as a proper golf swing. The foundation of an effective golf grip is necessary to awaken your innate instincts and your ‘inner golfer’ to play golf with effortless ease.

Once you establish an effective golf grip you give yourself the best chance to have a simple golf swing, your best golf swing and a golf swing with golf swing speed. The instinct-awakening golf exercises found in Awaken Your Inner Golfer will allow you to tap into your instinctive kinesthetic intelligence so you can own your instinctive golf swing for a lifetime! “Too simple”, you might say?

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Leonardo da Vinci

Simple……is effective!