Lesson 1 - The Grip Procedure

When you're starting to practice your grip, I highly recommend you do so with your feet together (see the picture below) as this is a stance you can repeat consistently and this will allow you to form a repeating grip day after day. Also, when doing this make sure your clubface is square to your target.

Once you’re in a position similar to the one above, the next step is to place your left hand on the grip. So bring your left hand up to the grip and make sure the back of your hand is pointing at the target. Now position the grip of the club as is pictured below, running across the top joint of your forefinger and under the heel of your palm.

Once your left-hand grip is in a position similar to what I’ve demonstrated in the previous couple of pictures, you can now crook your forefinger around the shaft. And from doing this you'll find that you can raise the club up off the ground and maintain a firm grip just by supporting the club with the muscles of your forefinger and the pad of your palm. Here are some pictures to demonstrate what I mean…

Once you’ve achieved this position, lower the club back down and simply close the last three fingers of the left hand around the club. And before you place your thumb on the grip you need to know where to position it.

Your left-hand thumb should be put in a position just to the right side of the front of the grip. Doing this will cause your thumb to fit closely alongside the rest of your hand. And to test this, you should be able to place a tee between your left thumb and hand and hold the tee in place.

Now when your left hand grip is complete it should be compact and secure and it should feel solid enough that you could easily swing the club with just your left hand.

Once it is, then place the club on the ground so the clubface is square to your target and take very careful notice of how many knuckles you can see when you look down on your left-hand grip.

You should only be able to see 2-3 knuckles.

And I suggest you should have a 2 knuckle left hand grip if your problem shot is a hook, and a 3 knuckle left hand grip if your problem shot is a slice.

So when your left hand is in a position similar to the picture above and you can see two to three knuckles when you look down, then proceed to placing your right hand on the grip. But before you do this I want to discuss something about your actual physical grip (i.e. the thing you hold onto on your club!) that can make golf a lot harder than it needs to be.

Grips come in different sizes, shapes and styles and the size of your grips can have a big affect on the types of shots you can hit. For example, a thicker grip will reduce your hand action and will make a fade or slice more likely. Whereas a thinner grip encourages hand action and will help to produce a draw/hook.

Now a good way to tell if a grip is either too thick or too thin for you is by gripping a club with just your left hand as I’ve just shown you, and then noticing the positioning of your middle fingers. And here is a rough guide that will indicate whether your grip sizes are right for you or not.

Below are some pictures, which will clearly explain what you should be looking for when testing your grip sizes…

Go through all of your clubs and test this now. And if you find that your grips are too small or too fat get them changed immediately.

Also, it's important that your grips are not worn because having grips that are hard and slippery will cause you to grip harder. So make sure your grips are in good condition. If they're not, get new grips fitted and make sure the size is correct!

Now let’s move onto joining your right hand to your left hand. There are basically three different ways in which you can grip with the right hand, and I'm talking about the underneath part of the grip at the moment. The three differences are called the Interlocking grip, the Ten Finger grip and the Vardon/Overlapping grip. Each of these variances is pictured below for you to have a look at.

The Interlocking grip is used by Jack Nicklaus and John Daly (just to name a two). But for most golfers and especially for golfers that slice the ball, this should not be used, because the Interlocking grip tends to restrict the hands from releasing in the swing, which can cause slices.

The Ten Finger grip is great for young children and some ladies, and it’s especially good for golfers who slice the ball to practice with as it encourages a more free and relaxed use of the hands, which can only encourage a draw.

Finally, the Vardon/Overlapping grip is used by the majority of the top golfers in the world today and this is the one that I recommend most golfers should use. And I am only going to cover the Vardon grip from now on as that is the most popular and probably the best grip to use for most golfers.

So to grip the club with the right hand you must understand that the grip should be completely in the fingers. Here is a picture that shows you where the club should lie in the right hand.

Here are some more pictures that show you how you should attach your right hand to the already completed left hand. It is very important that you note that the grip of the right hand is all in the fingers, not in the palms.

After getting to this position you simply have to overlap your right hand so the lifeline of your right hand fits snugly over your left thumb. There should be no gaps between your right hand and left thumb, as they should fit snugly together.

Below is a golfer demonstrating the completed grip, and the important thing to notice is that the V's of both hands are pointing in the same direction (along the same parallel lines). This is very important.

Don’t make the mistake that many do, of thinking that the V of the right hand should be pointing to the same place as the V of the left hand. If you do this your right hand will be weaker than your left hand and this will cause the hands to fight each other during the swing and lead to inconsistencies.

Also make sure that the thumb of your right hand rides down the left-hand side of the grip and not on top of the club, as many people do.

Completed Right Hander Grip

So once your grip is formed like above, go in front of a mirror and complete your grip again and compare it to the picture of this golfers completed grip.

I know there is a lot of information here so following is a summary you can print out to help you practice your new grip....