Grip Variations Playing Golf
Posted May 30th, 2009 by adminWhen attempting to stictly adhere to book instructions or personal golf lessons,a lot of golfers may feel that there is only one correct position for their hands as they grip the club. This is fine for your basic pretty lie in the middle of the well maintained fairway. But obviously that’s not where you’ll always be.
Contrary to that strict hand positioning practice, one need not be afraid to adjust to conditions and grip the club a bit up or down on the handle. Using your good judgement as opposed to blindly sticking to what you’ve been told, is likely the better way to go. This way, you can get a grip that feels right to you, with the resulting shot having an increased likelihood of succeeding rather then if you are tensed-up due to being in an awkward position.
As an example, by lowering your grip on the 3-iron, the shot’s loft would be decreased giving you less distance, and a below-the-trees trajectory. Choking up on your club makes your grip more firm, so that you’ll have more confidence and accuracy on approach shots to the green.
A month or so ago I was golfing with a buddy who paid attention and made a better shot than he might have as a result of first seeing what I did. We were at about the same distance from the pin and we were hitting into the wind. I misjudged that wind and my shot with my 3-iron only made it to the outer edge of the green. So he adjusted by using his two iron with a lower grip than usual and ended up with the ball right by the flag.
A good principle to guide you if you are hitting against the wind is: Take one or two clubs more than the shot would require under normal conditions, choke up and hit away. The amount you should choke up would range from three-quarters of an inch to one and three quarter inches, depending on length of the shot and wind conditions. Another thing you might find helpful along these lines is: If you are undecided as to what club to use, in general it helps to choke up and hit the longer club. You’ll find this better than taking the shorter club and straining for distance.