How Golf Grip Affects the Swing

For anyone starting out in the game of golf, one thing you must focus on is your grip. Your grip on the club is going to completely change everything from your swing to your aim. Not everyone will pick it up exactly right away, but with time and practice, you will learn the best grip and how it’s going to impact your ball. Let’s explore the different grips such as weak, strong and neutral.

Neutral Grip
When it comes to the neutral the grip, both hands should be around the center of the grip and located towards the top. Your hands should not favor one side or the other, just the center of the grip. The clubface should be square to your target when you grip with your left hand and your right hand will be placed directly below it. Your hands will be almost opposite with both palms facing one another. This grip promotes a straight ball flight and as it states, will not favor a particular side.

Weak Grip
In a weak grip, both hands are left of the center of what you would consider a normal, neutral grip. Your hands are just lightly positioned left of the center of the grip. With this grip, at impact, you have a lazy release of your hands. This promotes an open clubface which at impact will put left to right sidespin on the ball. The outcome of this grip is a ball that will slice or fade.

Strong Grip
Within a Strong grip, when looking down, both hands would be leaning to the right of your grip. Specifically, your left hand should be placed you will see three of your knuckles and the clubface is square to your target. The fingers should include your ring, middle and index fingers. Once you’ve placed your left hand, you will then place your right hand below it. Both palms will be facing each other on opposite sides. A strong grip, unlike the weak grip, will give you an active release of the hands, promoting them to full roll into impact. The clubface for this release should be more closed and will move right to left sidespin, creating a ball that will hook or draw.

Your grip directly affects your backswing and swing plane. Learning how to grip the golf club properly is going to help you decipher where the ball is going after you’ve swung and the correct way to master the game of golf.

Originally published at StephenGeri.net on October 15, 2018.