Tip From the Archives

The Grip Pressure Test

Problem

A grip that is too strong or weak will influence the consistency and direction of your shots.

Cure

If your hands are tension free, then your grip will allow the club to make proper contact for longer and straighter shots. Test your grip pressure by having a friend tug on the club to see how easily it is removed from your hands.

Therapy

When you have a proper grip on the club, you should feel only a little resistance when the club is pulled away. If your friend goes flying backwards, then you need a stronger grip. If the person has to pull the club really hard just to make it move or if you are still left holding on to the club, then it is likely that you are holding the club too tightly. To help understand what a good grip should feel like, you need to test your grip using different levels of pressure. Start by holding onto the club so tightly that your friend cannot remove it at all; rank this grip as a 10 as strength. Take the club again in your hands and hold it so lightly that the club starts to slide out of your hands; rank this grip as a 1 as strength. Alternate using different gripping pressures until you find a grip that you think would be ranked at about a 6.5 using this scale. Once you find this grip pressure, have your friend pull on the club to see if your grip has improved. Now try swinging the club in your hand while utilizing this new grip pressure.

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6 votes

 
Jason | 5 years ago, mid-February

a tight grip lowers wrist flexibility; instead of letting a friend pull the club away from you, have him or her move the club head from side to side. If you're gripping to tightly, your wrists won't flex. Be aware that "strong" or "weak" grips in golf, despite this article, refer to how you rotate the club in your hands to have the club face hit the ball sqare (or not!). Strong or weak grips have nothing to do with how tightly you're gripping the club's grip.



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