Grip Type and Release

[spmurph]

During my last lesson with Mike we changed my grip. I now hold the club more in my fingers, giving a more palm down appearance at address. At impact are my hands supposed to return to this position? Some serious pull hooks have been creeping in and I feel that I may be swiveling like I used to with the weaker grip.

Just wondering what release changes need to occur (if any) when there is a change to a stronger grip.


Shawn

[Michael Jacobs]

During my last lesson with Mike we changed my grip. I now hold the club more in my fingers, giving a more palm down appearance at address. At impact are my hands supposed to return to this position? Some serious pull hooks have been creeping in and I feel that I may be swiveling like I used to with the weaker grip.

Just wondering what release changes need to occur (if any) when there is a change to a stronger grip.


Shawn

Shawn,

Great question! Ultimately the job of the grip is to orientate the club face for consistent impact. We want a grip that best allows this to happen and enables maximum speed to be achieved by the club head's mass.

Any grip adjustments that affect the club face will most likely change your sensation of how the club face aligns.

I recommend using a Table Top or Golf Mat edge to precisely see the club alignments

[spmurph]

Thanks for the response Mike. I have been doing the "table top" practice like you showed me. I noticed how little I need to swivel to square the face. Just need to practice it more. I guess swiveling more was needed before because of how open the club face was.

[RASWING]

MJ,
Whats the "table top" work and how do you do it ? So that you can see your CF alignments?

[Michael Jacobs]

MJ,
Whats the "table top" work and how do you do it ? So that you can see your CF alignments?

RA,

You will see as time goes on and I release more and more information the concept of a Table Top. The Table Top reference will be a way too see the golf clubs movement on a horizontal scale. When we lean over to hit a golf ball we are dealing with a golf club moving on more of an inclined angle which makes referencing the movements of the club very difficult. So if we project the swing on a table top, we will have a much easier time seeing it's movements.

[Phana24JG]

Shawn,

Great question! Ultimately the job of the grip is to orientate the club face for consistent impact. We want a grip that best allows this to happen and enables maximum speed to be achieved by the club head's mass.

Any grip adjustments that affect the club face will most likely change your sensation of how the club face aligns.

I recommend using a Table Top or Golf Mat edge to precisely see the club alignments

Mike, any thoughts on using a different grip for the irons versus that of the woods (especially the driver)? I find when I use my standard grip I am hitting my irons straight or with a slight draw, but often pull/snap hook the driver or 3-wood. When I employ the weaker grip, the driver improves, but I want to push or even flip the irons.

[Michael Jacobs]

Thanks for the response Mike. I have been doing the "table top" practice like you showed me. I noticed how little I need to swivel to square the face. Just need to practice it more. I guess swiveling more was needed before because of how open the club face was.

Shawn,

When someone begins their golf career, the necessity of learning to orientate the club face seems like it is a huge task. Golfers have a very difficult time sensing how to align the face when they are new to the game. As time wears on, the club face squaring becomes more and more inherent and the feel of it becomes much less exaggerated.

The beginners who do not spend their time learning to how to align the face, will spend the rest of their careers constantly struggling with their swing direction, and the resultant path of their impacts.

I am convinced that greats players have a superior ability to 'square the face'

Until you master the club face alignment, your success and consistency is just a lottery

[Michael Jacobs]

Mike, any thoughts on using a different grip for the irons versus that of the woods (especially the driver)? I find when I use my standard grip I am hitting my irons straight or with a slight draw, but often pull/snap hook the driver or 3-wood. When I employ the weaker grip, the driver improves, but I want to push or even flip the irons.

Phana,

I really don't think a different grip is a necessity.
Here are some areas to contemplate:

1. There is obviously a greater divergence between the club face and your swing path with the woods. Sounds like the divergence is so extreme that you have created off center hits.

2. I would check the club face alignment at address, and during the whole stroke.

I would like to see us get to the bottom of this - we have our One Day Golf School scheduled for Tuesday so we will take an in depth look at this and post up some swing sequences and Flightscope numbers for everyone to learn from.
I am sure you are golfing this weekend, so I would assess the 'path to clubface' relationship and I would asses the club face even when gripping and addressing