“It’s not about right and wrong, it’s about right and left (and high and low)”
Part Two - Sean RichardsonDirector of Instruction
In Part One of our instruction series, I discussed how the club face, more than any other factor, affects where the ball will go. Subsequent to the last tip, I have had several Harvest members ask me how they can keep their club square when they swing. The simple answer – grip the club in a manner that ensures a square club face.
In order to keep the face square – ensure that you place your hands on the grip in a manner that ensures the back of your left hand and palm of your right hand line up with the club face.
In this picture, we can see that the player has a good grip of the club with his left hand. The logo on his glove lines up toward the target. His thumb is slightly right of centre on the top of the club shaft. The back of the wrist is relatively flat and in line with the left forearm.
The issue facing this golfer, is the palm of his right hand is facing toward the sky and the grip is held too much in his palm. As a result, he is very likely to close his club face through impact and will battle a pull or a hook unless he compensates by gripping tighter, pulling his hands through in front of the club head or bending his left elbow in a “chicken wing”.
In order to improve his right hand grip, I asked this player to hit a few chip shots with only his right hand on the club. Immediately, and without being told how to hold the club, the player gripped the club more in his fingers and turned his palm more into alignment with the club face. I snapped this photo and then showed him the difference between how he was holding the club and how he held it when doing the one hand drill.
I then asked him to try hitting one hand shots with his old grip. Immediately, he told me that it felt less secure on the club and resulted in shots hit to the left.
This is a simple drill that any golfer can work on to improve their grip. Often, golfers mention how uncomfortable a grip change can be. Once people understand the relationship of the hands to the club face, the change is actually fairly easy to make and feels more natural.
Gripping the club in a manner that maintains a square club face is the most important fundamental a golfer can work on. A club that is out of alignment requires compensation to hit the ball straight.
In part three we will discuss some common compensations players make and help make sense out of ball flight tendencies.
