THE GRIP
By: Steve Riggs on 01/03/10 03:45 PMIf you’v been following the mynegm LESSON TEE Podcasts or the mynegm LESSON TEE radio show you know my goal is to build the golf swing, from the grip to the follow through, in an effort to help beginners through advanced players. Before I get started I need to share something with you.
Last week, after the radio show, I started thinking about my long standing belief that it is difficult, if not impossible to learn the golf swing, or grip for that matter, by simply listening to someone talk about it or by reading a book.
Statistics show that the older we become, the less effective we are at using our imagination as a learning tool. We become more visual. In other words if we, as adults, can actually see something instead of imagining it we think we can do it. Or, we think that if we read about something we automatically can do it.
While it may be true that seeing something like the golf swing may make executing it easier but trying to duplicate from the printed page can be a daunting task to say the least. Even if mildly successful, you are never really encouraged to learn to visualize.
We often hear low handicap players talk about ‘seeing the shot’ or ‘playing the hole in their minds’. This is visualization. They are able to use their skills to visualize a situation.
I am going to ask you to try to get back in touch with your ability to visualize. Not only will it help you understand the parts of the swing I cover here, but can help you with the ability to use visualization and imagery on the golf course. In fact, the inability to visualize just might be the one and only thing lacking about your golf game and standing between you and better scores. Think about it.
So let’s move on and talk about the grip.
I’m sure you know that movement of your hands, say, 1/16th of an inch on the golf club feels like an adjustment of 2 or 3 inches. It is that uncomfortable. I would like you to try something here. Put your wrist watch on your ‘other’ wrist. Pretty uncomfortable isn’t it? But if you wear the watch on that wrist for a couple of days it starts to feel normal. Bingo. That’s how it goes with the grip.
The first thing that changes when a golfer is trying to gain more distance, control or work the ball generally turns out to be their grip positioning.
The hands can move on the club sometimes without the player knowing it. The swing tends to adjust to accommodate the grip. Note I am talking here about the average golfer.
You might check your grip in front of a mirror before reading any further. Why? Because what comes next involves something that will help you determine if, in fact, you just might have changed your grip last season when you were trying to get out of that annual slump.
What I’d like you to do is find a picture of a golfer gripping the club. I am serious. Look in any golf magazine.
WITHOUT a club and instead of trying to figure out HOW their hands are on the grip, connected or in position, close your eyes and ask yourself this: “I WONDER what it feels like to have my hands on the grip that way.” I’m serious! Come on, you can do it. I’ll wait. Try to imagine what the grip position in the photo might feel like.
Repeat the process two more times. Look at the picture, close your eyes and imagine the grip. Then open your eyes and repeat. I would like to think that by the second or third time, you begin to get an image of what you are looking at and how it might apply to you. Not to mention how the grip in the photo might feel.
Now, get a club. I’d suggest a 7, 8 or 9 iron.
Take the club in your left or LEAD hand. Leave your right or TRAIL hand off the club! Do not let your right or trail hand near the grip.
Remember, the right or trail hand is, in reality, your strong coordinated hand that's attached to the strong side of your body. If you, as a beginner, let your strong hand anywhere near the grip until you’re left or lead hand is in place, you make the process of gripping the club more difficult. (Had trouble with the grip in the past? Now you know why.)
Further, if you tend to be task oriented, work on developing the ability to visualize. Anybody can. Trust me I have worked with engineers, accountants, doctors and lawyers over the years and it CAN be done with just a little practice.
Here comes my challenge to you particularly if you’re new to golf.
Rather than getting into the minutia of explaining every nuance of the grip as is generally attempted, I am asking you to see, just see if you can ‘get on the grip’ without any exacting breakdown of information. Information that I am almost certain some of you crave but in the case of the grip as well as the swing can actually impede your progress.
Now, for those of you that have been playing for quite awhile, and I’m sure I’m speaking to 80% of you, I'm reasonably sure the suggestions made here may seem absolutely absurd. I simply ask you to recall when you started and how hard you tried to grip the club correctly. Maybe some of you never really figured it out so you’ve adapted, say your hockey grip, tennis or baseball grips to fit how you hold the golf club. And, to that end, you may also be one of those who play for a slice aiming 30 to 50 yards to the left of your target and always complaining you don’t hit it as far as your buddies. Or, your friends are always telling you that you are swinging the club so far from outside in, they can’t believe you don’t hit the ball off your left ankle!
It’s almost guaranteed that your swing habits/issues started with your grip. The grip is what precedes everything in the golf swing. If bad, what follows is simply an adjustment to the position you have decided on. In short, all your swing faults can begin with a poor grip.
Is it hard to change? Not really. It’s uncomfortable as heck in the beginning. But with minimal work, you can improve your grip and hence your golf swing which leads to better performance on the golf course.
(Steve Riggs has been at teaching professional for over 25 of his 30 years in the golf profession. In addition to his writing for MYNEGM.COM, Steve also hosts THE MYNGEM LESSON TEE on WNRI 1380 AM radio and can be heard Wednesdays from noon-1pm at either 1380 on your AM dial or live via streaming audtio at mynegm.com. You can also hear Steve via the MYNEGM LESSON TEE Podcasts or visit his real time golf instruction website, www.tltgolf.com. Steve teaches by appointment only at Eagle Quest Golf Dome in West Warwick. You can email Steve at: sriggs13@cox.net)
