Just how much Force to Use in Your Golf Grip

There seems to be quite a lot of talk on how much force needs to be applied in a golf grip.  It certainly will get challenging to teach it, particularly as we are actually attempting to provide you with a "feel", and exactly what may feel appropriate for one golfer might not work for another.  Basically we are able to assume that nearly all mid to high handicap golfers use excessive force on the grip.  Because this is really a vital element of the golf swing action (it's in fact the only link a player has with the golf club), it is necessary to get this right.

Prior to getting into the subject at hand, it is important to get the exact size golf club grip on your clubs for your hands.  Your grip won't only act to keep the clubs firm with ball contact; however it has to be loose enough to hinge the club at the top of the back swing.  This hinge not just allows more torque within the golf swing, but helps bring us to lead with the hands through contact.  Having correctly fitted grips specifically for your hand size is vital for this to happen.  Your grip should be merely large enough to allow our fingers to wrap around your grip and almost, although not quite touch the base of the hand.

We won't explore the varied grips and the correct way the club should be positioned in our hands at this time.  We will just make the point that your golf club ought to be gripped primarily with the fingers, and the best grip for most people will be the overlap grip.  This varies from a putter, and that is located more over the palms of the hands.  This is since with a putter there is no back swing where we are going to hinge our club, so using this club we could use the palms to get a greater steadying effect.

As we said, the grip being used by the majority will be the overlap, or "Vardon Grip" named for the British champion of 100 years ago.  With this grip seven fingers are in contact with a golf club, plus the two thumbs.  This will consist of four fingers on the left hand plus three on the right (with right-handed players).  For the majority of golfers when they apply pressure on the grip with just the last three fingers of the left hand, not any forefinger or thumb, and just the middle two fingers of the right hand, yet again not the forefinger or the thumb, this should apply the proper amount of pressure.

The most powerful area of the hand is the thumb and forefinger, and by taking those from your true grip with the club you should be able to help prevent over-gripping the golf club.  It'll also enable the needed flexibility to provide the appropriate hinge action.  You simply require sufficient firmness in the grip to keep the club face from losing stability at ball contact.