The grip is generally one of the first things we learn when we start to play golf. A question that I am often asked, and a subject that causes much debate amongst teaching professionals is “is there a perfect grip?”
Most teachers will tell you that you must hold the club a certain way, with your hands angled a particular direction and so on. The reality is that there is a number of grips and variations used by the greatest players on the game’s biggest stage, the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods has a weak left hand position, Ben Hogan had a weak grip, Adam Scott has a neutral grip, and Zack Johnson, Paul Azinger and David Duval (even when he was number 1 in the world) have super strong grips. There is an inter-lock grip (used by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods), over-lap (Vardon), baseball grip, mesh grip (used by Greg Norman) and the double-over-lap (used by Camillo Villegas). So if there was one grip then it stands to reason that everyone of the best players would use the same so called "perfect grip". Then the question must be why are there some many different grips on the PGA Tour?
First, let's understand what the grip does. The grip is only connection between the club and body. The grip also effects the clubface. The number 1 job of the grip is to make sure that the face is "square" at impact. This, combined with a good path will help the golfer hit the ball straight.
With that said, is there a perfect grip? Yes, there is a perfect grip for YOU. Now that grip might be different from my grip, or Tiger Wood’s grip, or Sergio Garcia’s grip. The common factor of a good grip is that the clubface is square at the moment the player strikes the ball.
How do we determine if your grip is good? To answer this question you must ask yourself the following. Do you hit the ball straight? If not, is it because your clubface is not square at impact? Is your clubface open or closed? Does the ball go left or right? If your ball goes to the right as a result of an open face (for right hander) then a stronger grip (V’s formed by thumb and fore-finger point toward right shoulder) would be advisable. If your ball goes left from a closed clubface then a slightly weaker grip can help you get the clubface square.
There are some common elements that good grips have. One key element is that the handle of the club sits in the fingers of the left hand, and not the palm (for right hander (opposite for left hander)). This must not be over-looked.
There are 3 areas where you will feel pressure in your grip. For a right hander, the first is the last three fingers of the left hand. The second is the connection between the left thumb and the middle pocket area of the right hand. The third and final pressure point is the middle two fingers of the right hand. It is essential that there is no pressure in the right thumb and fore-finger.
Another key element to a good grip is grip pressure. I use a 1-10 grip pressure scale with my students that was designed by Jim McLean. With 10 being the tightest you can hold the club, and 1 being when the club almost falls out of your hands. I would recommend about a 3 or 4 for full shots. Different shots require different pressure. Putting would be 2 or 3 (light) on the scale, 6 for chip and pitch shots, 2 for bunker shots and 7 or 8 for shots out of long grass.
Finally, strive for YOUR personal "perfect" grip (a square clubface at impact). If you have a strange, uncommon looking grip, that makes the ball go straight, then why would you change it?
