Grip the club the same — neutrally — every time, and you’ll set yourself up for success.
Great golf shots start with a consistent left-handed grip (for right-handed golfers). The back of the left hand basically represents the club face. Your ball will fly in the direction to which the back of your left hand is pointed at impact, so the left hand is the steering wheel.
If you have too strong a grip, where the back of the left hand looks to the sky at address, then you’ll hit big hooks by over-releasing the club head. Or it’s possible you may never release the club at all, blasting your ball high and to the right.
Too weak a left-handed grip, where the back of the left hand points a little bit toward the ground, and you’ll be slicing it your ball day long, big time.
Begin cementing a solid, neutral left-handed grip every time with these three safe tips.
First, while holding a golf club, position your left hand back at your hip, with the palm facing the seam on your pants.
Second, grab the grip where the heel pad of your left hand is mostly on top of the grip. The heel pad of your hand is the fat, chunky part opposite your thumb. Wrap your fingers around the grip first and then lay the heel pad on top.
Third, hold your arm out, and when looking down at the club face, make sure its leading edge makes a straight line up the length of the shaft of the golf club. This straight line ensures a square club face.
You’ll also know you’ve gripped the club in your left hand correctly when the “snuff box,” which is the pocket of flesh that is formed by the end of your thumb and beginning of your wrist, sits directly on top of the grip. By doing so, you will have nailed a neutral grip.
A neutral grip will help deliver a square club face more consistently and allow you to focus more on swinging the club from an inside path to create the beautiful draw we all dream about or the soft fade created from a slight outside-to-in path.
Get a grip and you’ll be ready to rip.
Peter Harris is the director of golf at the Fore-U Golf Center in West Lebanon. His column appears in the weekly Recreation page during the golf season.