The Grip

 

            The first point to be made about the way to take hold of a golf club correctly is that it is unnatural.  Approaching somebody who had never seen a golf club before, you could hand it to him a hundred times and he wouldn’t grip it correctly.  Yet the golf grip is not hard to learn.  And it must be learned, step by step, then as the entire single unit, and repeated over and over until it is automatic.  My father was a busy man with his duties as professional and course superintendent at Latrobe Country Club and was unable to devote a great amount of time to teaching me the game when I was a boy.  But when I was quite small and first taking an interest in golf, every time I picked up one of my sawed-off clubs when Pap was around, he made sure I was holding it with the proper grip.

            Your hands are your only physical link with the tools of the game.  If they don’t transmit your energy properly to the club and thence to the ball, you won’t hit much of a shot.

            It is popular to say that there are three golf grips—the Vardon or overlapping, the interlocking and the baseball or five-finger.  But, in truth, these are merely three variations of the single, correct grip.  The placement of the little finger of the right hand is the only difference among them, as shown in the accompanying drawings.

            Take hold of the club with your left hand first, laying the club diagonally across the palm with the butt end just below the base of the little finger and running across to a point below the middle knuckle of the index finger.  Close your hand over the club, applying firm pressure with the last three fingers.  The index finger merely crooks around the club.  The thumb rest on top of the shaft as a steadying influence.

            The right hand makes less direct contact with the club, but locks into place with the left to give you a firm grip.  As if you were reaching to shake hands, place the right hand on the club just below the left.  Close the three middle fingers and pull them tight against the fingers of the left.  Rest the little finger on top and in the slot between the first two fingers of the left hand.  (You hook it to the left forefinger in the interlocking grip; put it on the shaft against that finger in the five-finger grip.)  Apply pressure with the middle and ring fingers, the index finger cradling the shaft.  The thumb, like its counterpart on the other hand, rides on top of the shaft.  So, as the accompanying drawing indicates, the pressure and firmness of the grip are applied by five of the fingers.

            If you have done everything correctly so far, your left thumb will be nestled snugly in a pocket formed over it in the palm of your right hand.  This forms a firm, unified grip, which may feel a bit strange at first; but, if maintained throughout your swing, it will allow your strength to flow into the shot.

            Take this grip and look down at your hands.  Notice that the thumbs and index fingers of each form a sort of V pointed at you.  These pointers can be adjusted by slight twists of your entire grip to the left or right and are used to visually determine that you have taken either the so-called “weak” or “strong” grip, which, I emphasize, has nothing to do with how firmly you are holding the club.  When the Vs point at your chin or the inside of the right shoulder, you have a “weak grip,” which means the clubface will tend to be somewhat open at contact and the ball will probably slice.  When the Vs point outside the right shoulder, you have a “strong grip.”  The clubface will enter the hitting area in a closed position, which is conducive to a hook.

            Since each individual’s strength in his hands varies, this knowledge of what the Vs tell you can be quite valuable to you.  If you have been consistently hooking the ball and notice that those Vs are aiming outside your right shoulder, you might find that your shots will straighten out when you shift your grip a bit to your left, getting the Vs pointing inside the shoulder.  The reverse could well be the solution if you are a regular slicer.

            So much for the grip, except to emphasize that, in addition to placing your hands correctly on the club, your hold must be firm.  Not a death grip that will bind your muscles and prevent them from doing the job, yet secure enough so that the club won’t slip in your hands when you contact heavy grass or any impediment before the ball is on its way.