# Neutral Grip



## WeekendWarrior (Dec 7, 2011)

Had a lesson with my local pro looking at consistency and grip was the first thing we look at.

He told me that my grip is extremely strong (4 knuckles showing ) which will cause me to hit a hook every now and then.

We concentrated on making my grip a lot more neutral . And now I'm hitting te ball straight but a lot of them are now slicing my grip isn't too weak. 

Wondered wether I should stick at the grip and then look at swing plane or resort back to my strong grip and concentrate on not hooking ?

WW


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## Oddsocks (Dec 7, 2011)

I'd be inclined to trust the pro, I've worked on similar problems (strong grip and flat swing plane) and now starting to reep the rewards


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## MadAdey (Dec 7, 2011)

Definitely stick with the pro mate. What you find sometimes is they over exaggerate a problem to try and get you out of the habit. I had hardly touched a club for nearly 3 years after having a knee injury through football. Started up again 15 months ago. Things were not too bad but not as good as they were. I had gone from a 5 handicap to struggling to get out of the mid 80's. Saw the pro to find out what the problem was. I had a strong grip and that was what caused me to have a hook as a bad shot. Sounds familiar doesn't it? I had 3 lessons with him earlier in the year. He altered my grip and moved my hands further forward at address. He worked on getting me to fade the ball in the first couple of lessons. Did not know why he was doing this, but he told me to trust him when I questioned it, so I did. I had now gone from having a nice powerful draw with the odd hook now and again to having a weak fade, but did not have a bad shot that got me in trouble anymore. Then came the third lesson. moving my hands forward was not a problem but I was still uncomfortable with the grip he had me doing. He told me to grip it how I wanted to. So I did, he then pointed out that now I am gripping it correctly, he had got rid of my strong grip. So I teed one up and absolutely spanked it. Not looked back since and hitting every club in my bag with ease. 

Trust your pro, that is why you have gone to him in the first place.


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## Mattyboy (Dec 7, 2011)

Stick with the pros advice for sure - you had two wrongs previously - one a strong grip and two a correction to stop the snap hook as a result (probably a subconcious thing that you are not aware of). Get rid of the strong grip and for the time being you will still occasionally use the anti hook 'correction' resulting in the ball now going right. I have been working on something similar recently where the idea is to take one side (the left side in our cases) of the course out of play.
Stick with it - it will come.


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## thecraw (Dec 7, 2011)

Stick with your own grip. Who says that a neutral grip is correct? Your natural grip is what's natural too you! If that's a strong grip which feels natural too you then its what you should use. 

I use a baseball grip which is slightly strong as well but its natural and comfortable for me. It feels right. I went for lessons when I was younger and I get changed to Vardon grip. I persevered for about a year because it was the "right" grip to use apparently. After a while I went back to my natural,comfortable baseball grip for driving as I couldn't stop slicing. The baseball grip slowly and surely crept back into my whole game and I've stuck with it ever since.

If your pro is worth his salt he'll be able to work with your grip.

Christ there are so many variations out on tour now that to say one grip is wrong is tosh. Tiger used to use a reverse overlap, Furyk and others use a double overlap. Jimenez has a strong grip, Quiros right thumb is wrapped round the shaft as well in his grip.

I'd chat to your pro or seriously consider going elsewhere.


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## timchump (Dec 7, 2011)

STICK WITH WHAT THE PRO SAYS 100%


your struggle to make a good swing plane with a strong grip it will be much to shallow, around you body etc.

The grip and swing plane go hand in hand, go with the neutral grip the pro suggests and learn to hit draws shots with it, hitting ball on an in to out swing path so the ball starts going down the right hand side and then feeling the right hand is releasing turning over through impact to bring the ball back to target


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## DaveM (Dec 7, 2011)

Sorry agree with craw on this one. everyone is differant. As long as you get the club square at impact. Use whatever grip you like that does it. Simples.


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## timchump (Dec 7, 2011)

A few different opinions, i'd like to here what Bob has to say


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## bobmac (Dec 7, 2011)

Your grip was too strong, so too far to the right.
You now have moved it more to the left to be neutral which is fine.

Sadly sometimes during your swing, your new grip thinks 
"I dont like it here, I'm off back to the right where I used to be " and bang... open face at impact and off it goes to the right.
Patience and persevere. It will feel more natural the more you trust it.
And if there is trouble on the right, don't let it slip back during the swing to where it was or you'll be reaching for another ball


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## MadAdey (Dec 7, 2011)

thecraw said:



			Stick with your own grip. Who says that a neutral grip is correct? Your natural grip is what's natural too you! If that's a strong grip which feels natural too you then its what you should use. 

I'd chat to your pro or seriously consider going elsewhere.
		
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I see your point because I do not believe that everyone is capable of playing with the text book swing and grip. I know I am not text book I have a slightly strong grip and a backswing like Jim Furyk but it works for me consistently. But if you are having problems, then saying stick with what feels natural is not the answer. I have seen plenty of 18 handicappers that have been stuck around there for the last 10 years. Amazing how many either say they have never had a lesson, or tried having lessons "but I did not like what he showed me stuck with what I had"


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## DaveM (Dec 7, 2011)

Everyone has a natural position that their hands will return to at impact. No matter what you do with the rest of the swing. The trick is finding a grip that allows you to hit the ball with a square face at your natural hand impact position. This is what I really ment when I said everyone is differant.


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## Bucket92 (Dec 7, 2011)

Whatever worked best for you originally i think


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## MadAdey (Dec 7, 2011)

I think some people have missed the point of this thread. WeekendWarrior has said he saw his pro to try and find consistency. He was done really well and gone from 20 to 15. He has obviously identified that he needs to get rid of the card wrecking shot if he wants to move towards a single figure handicap. So what has been identified is his grip is obviously causing some problems with his consistency. There is a difference between a scratch golfer and a 15 handicapper being told his grip is wrong. The scratch golfer has got something that works very well even though it is not text book perfect, so maybe does not need a major change like his grip. The 15 handicapper has something that does not work so needs it looking into (no offence intended Warrior) that is why he is seeing a pro.


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## Oddsocks (Dec 7, 2011)

i had the same problem as the original post, i had to change my grip to find some sort of consistency, with a strong grip i would either block them right, or big hooks left.  you never had a safe miss. but going more neutral on the grip and more upright on the swing plane, if its not straight my miss now is a soft fade to the right, i wouldnt go back to my strong grip if you paid me.


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## MadAdey (Dec 7, 2011)

Oddsocks said:



			i had the same problem as the original post, i had to change my grip to find some sort of consistency, with a strong grip i would either block them right, or big hooks left.  you never had a safe miss. but going more neutral on the grip and more upright on the swing plane, if its not straight my miss now is a soft fade to the right, i wouldnt go back to my strong grip if you paid me.
		
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I think that your handicap movement shows it has worked. Bit of a coincidence that your handicap was the same as Warriors (15).


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## Oddsocks (Dec 7, 2011)

to be fair if i could stay focused it would have come down more, with the exception of last weekend, my last 3 front 9's have been +4, +2, +4, so there is still alot more to come off.


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## MadAdey (Dec 7, 2011)

Oddsocks said:



			to be fair if i could stay focused it would have come down more, with the exception of last weekend, my last 3 front 9's have been +4, +2, +4, so there is still alot more to come off.
		
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No you are going into the thread that Murph did regarding his lessons on sorting his head out. Maybe you should go with him.....


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## Oddsocks (Dec 7, 2011)

im already attacking that approach with my pro, hes exact words were " thats going to be the difference between 12hc and single figures "


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