Are all unorthodox grips wrong?

[Swinglowandslow]

Just been watching some YouTube videos about the grip, having read that Ben Hogan had a weak grip.
I found out that my grip isn't orthodox, in that I have a "long thumb",( Didn't know about long thumbs and short thumbs until I started this video search).
However my long thumb does not rest on the shaft , or close to my index finger, but lays along the side of the shaft. As a right handed player (using the overlap style, ), my left thumb lays on the right of the shaft, and my right thumb lays on the left of the shaft.

I didn't find anyone in the videos using or recommending such a grip as mine, which I find a lot more comfortable than putting the thumbs very close to the index fingers. I would be interested in what grips you chaps use, and also whether my grip is detrimental to my game. One of the videos suggested that not having thumbs and fingers closely together could adversely affect swing speed- and I could certainly do with some more of that!
I intend to do a little experimenting on the range.

 

[chrisd]

I'm fairly sure that Hogan's grip was like that in order to prevent his pull hook from manifesting itself. I also have a long thumb and not in any lesson have I been advised to change it.

There is certainly room for different (unorthodox) grips etc but I guess that, the more unorthodox, the more you have to do something else in the swing to compensate for it, which could possibly prevent a player from being as good as they could be if everything was perfect.

 

[Hobbit]

I'm right handed;

My grip, which I had into low single figure handicap, was a baseball grip - 1968 to 1988. However, I had the thumb of my left hand on top of my finger tips of my right hand. A club pro picked it up during a lesson - I wasn't even aware it was unorthodox. I went straight from the lesson to a scratch league match, with the new grip. No problems and an easy win. Used the overlap ever since.

 

[bobmac]

If you hit the ball straight, don't fix your grip would be my advice

 

[Wolf]

I read that hogan intentionally weakened his grip to keep the pull hook at bay and beat balls for hours to in grain the new grip.

I have a long left thumb have tried to have oft shorter but my hands just don't sit right for me when I do that and I don't have Hogan's hours to repeat it and have never been told I should.. I like Bob Macs advice if you hit it straight don't change it

 

[Deleted member 25172]

Check the pro at Dunbar in this video (8 min 40 sec in) from Erik Anders Lang.

Now that is one weird grip.

 

[Wolf]

Check the pro at Dunbar in this video (8 min 40 sec in) from Erik Anders Lang.

Now that is one weird grip.


Grew up playing junior golf regularly with the Pro son at my old course gripped it exactly the same left below right and used to hit it high and long, when he eventually changed to conventional he struggled so much.

 

[Jacko_G]

Young Paul gets it round. Talented player who happens to feel more comfortable playing cack handed.

 

[drdel]

If you can repeatedly hit it where you want, your grip is right for you.

 

[Parsaregood]

As Harvey penwick said, don't fear the player with the bad grip and the good swing, fear the player with the bad grip and the bad swing. He was talking about pros and elite amateurs. Sometimes you need a 'bad grip' to negate a bad swing, if you have an orthodox swing you'd want an orthodox grip otherwise you would slice or hook it. So no, a bad grip isn't always bad

 

[Parsaregood]

I read that hogan intentionally weakened his grip to keep the pull hook at bay and beat balls for hours to in grain the new grip.

I have a long left thumb have tried to have oft shorter but my hands just don't sit right for me when I do that and I don't have Hogan's hours to repeat it and have never been told I should.. I like Bob Macs advice if you hit it straight don't change it

Hogan did have a slightly weaker grip than would be considered conventional, it was only slightly weaker. Primarily this was done to let his ball fall right after the apex of the flight, in his first 10 years on tour he had a strong grip and delofted the club meaning he struggled with a low hook. He also changed from a long left thumb to a short left thumb which does two things it shortens the backswing and also provides more support for the grip of the club at the top of the backswing. He also set his left foot fairly open and his right foot square which also aids in restricting the turn thus shortening the backswing.If you ever read his book he spent a whole chapter talking about the nuances of the grip, and preached good golf starts with a good grip. Certainly i believe the game is much easier to learn and play if you follow a somewhat conventional blueprint to which you will add your own little nuances to.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Just been watching some YouTube videos about the grip, having read that Ben Hogan had a weak grip.
I found out that my grip isn't orthodox, in that I have a "long thumb",( Didn't know about long thumbs and short thumbs until I started this video search).
However my long thumb does not rest on the shaft , or close to my index finger, but lays along the side of the shaft. As a right handed player (using the overlap style, ), my left thumb lays on the right of the shaft, and my right thumb lays on the left of the shaft.

I didn't find anyone in the videos using or recommending such a grip as mine, which I find a lot more comfortable than putting the thumbs very close to the index fingers. I would be interested in what grips you chaps use, and also whether my grip is detrimental to my game. One of the videos suggested that not having thumbs and fingers closely together could adversely affect swing speed- and I could certainly do with some more of that!
I intend to do a little experimenting on the range.

How long have you been playing and what sort of scores are you shooting? If you are getting it around reasonably well I'd leave it alone. My personal viewpoint is you can actually do more harm than good by tinkering with your swing via youtube (I know, I've tried)

 

[Wolf]

Hogan did have a slightly weaker grip than would be considered conventional, it was only slightly weaker. Primarily this was done to let his ball fall right after the apex of the flight, in his first 10 years on tour he had a strong grip and delofted the club meaning he struggled with a low hook. He also changed from a long left thumb to a short left thumb which does two things it shortens the backswing and also provides more support for the grip of the club at the top of the backswing. He also set his left foot fairly open and his right foot square which also aids in restricting the turn thus shortening the backswing.If you ever read his book he spent a whole chapter talking about the nuances of the grip, and preached good golf starts with a good grip. Certainly i believe the game is much easier to learn and play if you follow a somewhat conventional blueprint to which you will add your own little nuances to.

Found this a really interesting post to read and informative thnk you for sharing that, think I may have to buy Ben's book and do some more research into him

 

[Orikoru]

I don't think any grip is wrong to be honest. If you feel comfortable holding the club and can hit it straight then don't look for problems where there aren't any.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I don't think any grip is wrong to be honest. If you feel comfortable holding the club and can hit it straight then don't look for problems where there aren't any.

I would suggest that the grip is the foundation of the swing. Yes you can swing and hit the ball with an unconventional grip, but something will need to be altered in your swing to accomodate the grip so you hit the ball with constant effect.
In my own experience, I would suggest the correct grip is most uncomfortable and feels alien to me, it is something I have never fully managed to have my body accept.

 

[Jacko_G]

I would suggest that the grip is the foundation of the swing. Yes you can swing and hit the ball with an unconventional grip, but something will need to be altered in your swing to accomodate the grip so you hit the ball with constant effect.
In my own experience, I would suggest the correct grip is most uncomfortable and feels alien to me, it is something I have never fully managed to have my body accept.

I disagree with that. As long as the club head comes back square at impact is all you need to worry about. A strong or weak grip doesn't stop you swinging on plane.

 

[Grant85]

There are many ways to skin a cat.

I have always struggled with holding the club in the palm of my left hand, as opposed to more in the fingers. It's something that I think every person I have had a lesson from has picked up on over the years. I've made adjustments, but ultimately I keep moving back to my bad habit and using my hands to guide the club.

So the latest time I was told this I therefore made a conscious effort to check my grip and get the club more into the fingers.

That said, it can make a big difference to the result of your swing and I wouldn't imagine it is sensible to go about making too many changes unless you know what you are doing or are taking advice from a Pro.

Assuming that not everyone can go and drop a few hundred quid on lessons every year, I personally would guide you towards the book - Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons. I would read this and try to follow the guidance and then when you take an hour or twos lesson, you should be able to do so from a more educated place.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

My recent research leads me to think that the grip is "negotiable "- there are so many different ones used by successful tour pros, so one really finds it difficult to say that one only is right.
Therefore, the one input I saw , which suggested that one of the grips would lead to an increase in swing speed, I think is mistaken. This is reinforced by the fact that no one here has suggested that one type of grip over another does do that.
It all seems just a matter of personal preference. I am finding it interesting on the range to try the different ones. I am quite taken with Spieth's grip.
Wish I had the rest of his swing!😀

 

[Reemul]

I had a fitting on Monday for a Driver. Swing speed was about 95mph, ball speed 130 distance carry just over 200 yards. No difference between my XR16 and a Cobra F9. Biggest issue was a spin rate too high.

Main thing the pro said was my left hand was too weak, to offset this I was closing the driver face slightly and my right shoulder needed to be more squared off. Said don't bother getting a new driver. Work on sorting out the grip would fix a few issues and should add good distance with reducing the spin rate. Said I had a tendency to not hit on the up enough.

Booked a lesson with him on Monday but I kno what I need to do but joined a new club and the pro seems great.

Hit the Cobra F9 with a slew of shafts as well as a 3 wood shaft but just felt much of a muchness tbh. My grouping and accuracy was good just distance down on what it should be due to spin rate.

 

[Capella]

There is no "right" and "wrong" in golf, there's only "works" and "doesn't work". If your grip works for you, don't even start thinking about it. It will just mess up your swing.