Follow Up from Bad Driving Skills…Looking for the perfect golf grip?
I know I am asking a lot of questions about my lack of performance on driving a golf ball. I am serious about becoming the best I can be in the sport. I know I will never be a PGA product; however, learning is never a bad thing. When I received my Medicus double hinged driver I also received an instructional DVD. Of course in the DVD they showed the club breaking like the wind blew it over. I know my swing is terrible; the club was not breaking on me so I loosened the hinges, did I do the right thing with this aid or should I stay within manufactures specification? I did not get hurt on the price of buying both aids. I first went to the Medicus website after I had read something about them then went to eBay and bought both for the price of one. I have also bought a grip trainer from wal- mart expected to arrive this week (considering they said it was in stock at my local store and when I went there no one knew what it was) The DVD said there are 3 different grips on a club. The grip I use know is my right hand pinky finger interlocked with my left hand forefinger. This grip feels comfortable and I like it, however, am I using the right grip? If I am not then could someone tell me (please explain like I am a 2yr. old) all 3 different grips? As far as golf clubs go, could you also explain loft and lie, (again like I am a 2yr old) I am just not grasping the concept of the 2 and I know they are important or else people would not talk about them. If it would be easier to trade this info in email, (considering the sheer volume of questions I am asking on this subject) just send me one by clicking on my Icon.
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You must start with a proper grip, or all the rest you do correctly will be wasted. In other words, the proper grip is what makes the golfswing possible.
If you wish to learn the proper grip, get one little book. And in one little chapter in that book is the correct grip that YOU MUST USE IF YOU WISH TO BE SUCCESSFUL,
The book is 5 Playing Lessons by Ben Hogan. Also, the Vardon Grip is overlapping, not interlocking. You must learn the proper grip before going forward. If someone tells you there is another way, they are selling something.
The simplest way of explaining a proper grip is to say..put your hands together as if praying to the golf gods for the magic answer, and slip a golf club in between. Obviously, there is a bit more to it than that, but that is the basic idea.
Interlocking, or no,t is simply a matter of preference for the individual golfer.
Interlocking, overlapping…that part doesnt really matter. But you must have a proper grip. Once you learn that, you must learn what proper grip pressure must be. This is the part even many teachers do not investigate with a student.
Grip pressure must be as follows….for a RH golfer……Left hand: middle finger-most pressure, ring finger-a bit less, pinky-minimal pressure…………………..Right hand: middle finger and ring finger must be the only two fingers on the right hand applying pressure. lay your right thumb over the shaft, do not squeeze AT ALL WITH THE THUMB AND FOREFINGER. Remember…no thumbs, no forefingers. The grip pressure is reversed for a LH golfer.
If this is not your grip pressure, you are going to struggle all of your golfing life.
Also, all these gimmicks(and I have seen many come and go in my years in the biz)are not helping. What you need is knowledge and validation and practice with correct knowledge.
Good Luck
your interlocked grip is the most widely accepted grip oft called the Vardon grip by the player who popularized it years ago. It is going to work fine for you as you said it is comfortable. The other two grips : one doesn’t interlock b ut allows the pinky to rest atop the nook created between the first and middle finger of left hand, the third would be a baseball grip . Both the vardon and second grip <name eludes me here> are used by touring professionals. The baseball grip <grab a bat , there’s your grip> is the least effective at maintaining accuracy . Why? as you release your wrists through the ball each one is independant of the other. The key in a golf swing is both hands/wrists working together. As for loft and lie : LOFT- if you look at the clubface with 0 degrees being straight up and down , the degree of loft is how far angled back from that axis . I.e. If you have a loft of 10degrees it will be slighlty less than vetical . The higher degree of loft say 60 degree means you clubface is more horzontal than vertical . The higher the degree of loft the higher the trajectory of the ball will be and the shorter overall distance. A 10.5 degree driver will travel much further than say a 52 degree gap wedge. But the gap wedge will travel higher into the air. Make sense? Lie is the angle at which the clubhead is attached to the shaft via the hosel. when adressing the ball getting ready to swing the ideal lie will have the clubhead setting level to the ground. If the toe <furthest part of clubhead away from you > is touching the ground but the heel <part closest to the shaft> is not , Your lie angle needs adjusted. Same is tru if the heel touches the ground while the toe is slightly off the ground. Your height is the biggest factor effecting lie . Most clubs are standard for players 5-8 to 6 feet <of course that will vary per manufacturer>. So if you buy off the rack and are below that standard height or taller than that height you may want the lie angle adjusted. As for all the devices on training : this tells me u desire a better game, and have a budget that allows for spending money on such . The best money spent is on a lesson from a professional. P.G.A. of america has many professionals across the world . To be a professional you must be able to shoot in the 70′s and pass an extensive course <on par with most colligiate level classes> . Everything from teaching to accounting to management ect.ect. Golf professionals are a vital resource for us . The cost will vary from pro to pro , but they will get you swinging the club the best way possible for your abilities. They understand not everyone swings like a pro and can get you the best results for your swing style. That is the best way to invest your training aid budget. Best of all you can schedule a 15 minute free lesson coming soon ! now hows that for an investment ? Go to pga.com and search for local pros in your area and you are on your way . Alot of people mention books as well. I’ve been told by many of folks the ben hogan’s book is a very good one . You can prolly go to amazon . com and find it . Or just keep asking and some of us will keep answering <wink> . Golf is a great game and should be enjoyed by everyone , regardless of ability .
Wow, that was a great answer! Not much more that I would add other than I am curious about this Medicus. You say that it was ‘not’ breaking down so you loosened the hinges on it? If that thing does not work right the way the manufacturer intended, I would read the instructions and shoot the company an e-mail asking about the problem. Maybe someone from the Medicus company can answer questions about any difficulty you are having with the driver.
As far as the grip trainer goes it doesn’t surprise me that the Wal-mart clerk didn’t know what that was .lol. It sounds like you are gripping it right. I fought and struggled with golf for years with a lousy grip and finally I had the joy of playing with a nice old man that showed me that my grip was horrible.
When I let him adjust my hands to the proper grip, it felt so uncomfortable,,,until I hit the ball with that proper grip. I STARTED HITTING FROZEN ROPES (straight shots) a mile!
Use the internet highway. Go to u-tube and type in "golf grip instruction’. You will get tons of hits with video instruction about all the grips. Forget about the baseball grip, that’s not an option. I also watch many swings on u-tube clips. All of the great swingers. Ben Hogan,Sam Snead, Tiger Woods,Phil Michelson is good for the short game, they have FREE instruction clips on u-tube. All in slow motion so you can see what they are doing to generate so much power and STRAIGHT shots.
Like I said, many of the local golf pros ‘make’ golf clubs. The pro that I found fit me with clubs that he made to fit my tall frame. Shafts, lie and loft, the whole works. If you have found some nice used clubs, a pro can tell you whether they fit your swing or whether he can make adjustments to the clubs i.e. lie and different shafts ect.