# Grip - Strong vs Weak



## FairwayDodger (May 14, 2012)

It's often remarked that I have a "weak" grip. Friends have come away from lessons having had their grip "strengthened" by their pro.

I've experimented with changing mine with mixed results. It feels awkward and I hit a lot of duffs and pulls.

I'm trying to work out if this is something I should persevere with but am not sure on the benefits of a stronger grip. Can anyone explain?

Cheers!


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## One Planer (May 14, 2012)

FairwayDodger said:



			It's often remarked that I have a "weak" grip. Friends have come away from lessons having had their grip "strengthened" by their pro.

I've experimented with changing mine with mixed results. It feels awkward and I hit a lot of duffs and pulls.

I'm trying to work out if this is something I should persevere with but am not sure on the benefits of a stronger grip. Can anyone explain?

Cheers!
		
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How would you describe your current shots with your current grip?

Good contact? desired flight?

As Bob said to me. If itain't broke don't fix it :thup:


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## FairwayDodger (May 14, 2012)

Gareth said:



			How would you describe your current shots with your current grip?

Good contact? desired flight?

As Bob said to me. If itain't broke don't fix it :thup:
		
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Variable! :whoo:

My bad shot is a high fade/slice esp with long irons and driver. I wonder if a stronger grip might help me eliminate these.


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## SGC001 (May 14, 2012)

John Jacobs argued you want a grip that returns the club face square to the ball, whether that be a little 'neutral', 'weak' or 'strong'. I'd be wary of extremes, but you can match things up in your swing to suit your grip.

Your grip is your only contact with the club, cahnging it ussually feels weird and is not easy. Harvey Penick wrote something along the lines of he wouldn't change someones grip in a first lesson as they wouldn't be likely to come back.


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## bobmac (May 14, 2012)

As Bob said to me. If it *isn't broken* don't fix it
		
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Fixed 


FairwayDodger said:



			Variable! :whoo:

My bad shot is a high fade/slice esp with long irons and driver. I wonder if a stronger grip might help me eliminate these.
		
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I'm guessing here but if you have tried changing your grip and have started hitting pulls and hooks, you may have gone too far. Is it your left hand thats weak or both hands?


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## AmandaJR (May 14, 2012)

FairwayDodger said:



			Variable! :whoo:

My bad shot is a high fade/slice esp with long irons and driver. I wonder if a stronger grip might help me eliminate these.
		
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My pro strengthened my grip from very neutral to a little strong to deal with that shot shape and it had worked a treat and extra distance and a nice draw in the main. I then gradually changed that to a strong draw and finally some horrid hooks! Having struggled for a while with my swing I worked on taking my grip back to neutral and have lost a bit of distance and am either straight or a slight fade with my driver but overall more consistent.

At the weekend I did try just a bit stronger with my driver only but it did feel weird and tends then to fix my left arm too rigid so for now am accepting the straight/fade and yesterday hit every fairway (foursomes match) and even the green on a longish Par 3 with a nice fade, landing softly.

Occasionally I still hit a corker with a nice bit of draw so know it's in there, with a neutral grip, so will keep working around that.

I'm not sure a weak grip is ever a good thing though?


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## FairwayDodger (May 14, 2012)

bobmac said:



			I'm guessing here but if you have tried changing your grip and have started hitting pulls and hooks, you may have gone too far. Is it your left hand thats weak or both hands?
		
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Now, that I don't know - I assumed it was left hand. Could be both, not sure.

Yes, I also suspected I'd gone too far. Really need a lesson to switch correctly. My pro mentioned it when I had lessons earlier in the year but there were more pressing problems to address! 

I've probably accrued enough sweep winnings to fund another lesson but at the moment am trying to decide for myself if a grip change will be worthwhile. Alternatively I was planning to have a short game lesson but truth is that, at the moment, my main issue is tee to green.


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## FairwayDodger (May 14, 2012)

AmandaJR said:



			My pro strengthened my grip from very neutral to a little strong to deal with that shot shape and it had worked a treat and extra distance and a nice draw in the main.
		
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I think this what I'm trying to find out. In theory, should a stronger grip promote a better strike and right to left shape?


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## bobmac (May 14, 2012)

FairwayDodger said:



			I think this what I'm trying to find out. In theory, should a stronger grip promote a better strike and right to left shape?
		
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It should do.
It should help you return the club pointing more to the left than a weak grip  which should help with your high fade.
But of course, if you go too far, you will pull it.
It also depends on your swing path (divot line)


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## FairwayDodger (May 14, 2012)

bobmac said:



			It should do.
It should help you return the club pointing more to the left than a weak grip  which should help with your high fade.
But of course, if you go too far, you will pull it.
It also depends on your swing path (divot line)
		
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Thanks Bob, sounds like it's worth pursuing. I've improved things with swing changes but not eliminated those shots completely.


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## Dave B (May 14, 2012)

I used to have a nice draw to all my shots, (strong grip), however after an episode with the shanks I had a lesson and the result was the pro telling me that if my grip was wrong everything else would follow as it is essential to make sure the fundamentals are correct to build a good swing. 

What followed was possibly the most frustrating 6 months of golf I've ever endured and the small change to my grip changed the mechanics of my swing. Now I am seeing the benefit of the changes however it has been a very hard adjustment to make and my grip still doesn't feel natural as it used to, (one more thing to think about during set up).

If you genuinely want to improve change your grip to neutral however if you want to enjoy the summer leave it until winter, (you will probably find like I did that you are now in no mans land, in that if you make a duffed shot you know at the back of your mind your grip is fundamentally wrong. I went back to my old grip and found there was a mental block either way so in the end I persevered and I'm now seeing the rewards).


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## Lump (May 14, 2012)

I went from a very very strong grip, with my right hand being under the grip and left hand being all visible. 
I had 5 lessons with a pro and thats all we basically worked on. He took me to a fully neutral grip which for the few weeks felt very wrong with everything going way right. A month in and it felt normal but I had zero confidence. It took a good 6 months before I was back to some sort of form. A year on and I'm in a happy place.


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## FairwayDodger (May 14, 2012)

Interesting stuff guys, thanks.

I've taken some time today to read up a bit on grip and based on that I've found a stronger grip that's not as full on as I had tried previously. Perhaps it might be described as more "neutral". Anyway it feels pretty good and at first look results are encouraging although I've only tried it with wedge and 7i so far.

Got a bounce game tomorrow so planning to play with this grip and see what happens!


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## sawtooth (May 14, 2012)

My experience is similar to above, I had a very strong grip but changed it to neutral and its helped me a lot.


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## FairwayDodger (May 15, 2012)

Update on this.... I'm a bit knackered after 36 holes and 70 balls at the range (which may have been overdoing things a bit) but it's very promising.

Positive:

* My driving has been transformed - much better strikes, more out of the sweet spot, more powerful and straighter. Delighted.
* Weak high fade with longer irons appears all but eliminated, managed to hit a few greens with my five iron so that's progress.
* Tending to hit a slight draw with irons and (at the range at least) I was able to hit fade/draw/straight as intended with everything except driver.

Negative:

* Still a few total duffs, to be expected I suppose.
* Bad shot now seems to be a low pull hook.... but not too many of those hopefully I can work that out.


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