Developing a good golf grip is fundamental to hitting quality golf shots!
Last week I met with a very strong golfer to let him hit the Test Club – 6 iron – I built based on a custom fitting we did. He is a very strong swinger – 90 mph swing speed with his 6 iron. His test club is an Alpha Response iron head, Aerotech Steelfiber i95 shaft X flex.
So – we went to the range and he hit some OK shots but not the quality I would expect him to be capable of. And a lot of shots to the right.
While we were on the range another friend of mine was there with his grandson. He asked me to help his grandson grip the club properly. He had a very weak left hand grip. I showed him how to grip the club properly based on the way his hands naturally hang down from his arms. I also mentioned to him that – if he wants to learn golf properly – he needs to spend time learning to put his hands on the club properly, it will make a huge difference in his ability to hit good golf shots.
So back to my 90 mph swinger. WHY lots of shots to the right and weak distance? And then I looked at his hands – is left hand grip of the club was VERY weak – the "V" pointed to his left shoulder. With his left hand in this position, it is no surprise he was hitting lots of weak shots to the right. His left hand wants to get back to a neutral position – which would open up the club face.
So I showed him how to place the club in his left hand properly. It took a few times, and he would keep working the left hand back to how it "used" to be. But then he got it. And BOOM- 20 plus more yards, No More shots to the right. It was amazing!
This got me thinking about another person who I recently did a fitting for. In her case, she has a roughly 55 mph swing speed. I also had built a test club for her – again Alpha Response iron head (a great club), but very soft flex in an ACCRA i40 series iron shaft. I looked at video I took of her swing during the fitting. And SAME THING – weak left hand grip.
So I met with her to have HER hit her test club. She hit some shots not too bad. Then I talked with her about her grip and what her weak left hand will do for her shots, and how a more natural grip can result in better results. And once she got the grip again GREAT results – more distance on the solid hits and no more shots to the right.
Here are pictures of her grip before and after we made changes….
Notice the difference between her left hand grip in the two pictures. She emailed me today and said she is amazed at the difference in her ball striking as a result of making this change.
Last story – me. I played this past Sunday and decided to REALLY focus on making sure I put the club in my left hand properly. Yes I putted well, but I did have the best score I have had in about 5 months. Coincidence?
A good example of the attention Tour Pros play to their grip is Adam Scott. Watch EVERY shot he hits – he always focuses on properly gripping the club correctly. Maybe you should too!
The Fit Is IT!!
Tony