grip change: persevere?

[CMAC]

Again some people might take a year to make things natural

The body learns in different ways

It would take me about. 3-4 months to hit that many balls - maybe half to swing the club that much.

Pros prob do that in about 2 months

So making something feel natural could take that long so yes I don't think it is ridiculous

But he is only a pro giving his opinion - what does he know

not all pro's are the same.........and I'm only a golfer giving my opinion based on grip changes taking max 2 weeks to 'bed' in, not 10,000 balls...........but as you elude to we all take different times and learn differently.

Apologies OP for going off at tangents

 

[G_Mulligan]

Why is it ridiculous ? He said that's how long it could possibly take to make it feel natural not change the grip

You can change the grip over a couple days but it could take 6 months plus to make it feel natural

I think this magical number of 10,000 has stemmed from psychological papers in the early nineties by Ericsson and Gladwell who claimed it took 10,000 hours of practice to become expert at something. So from violinists, tennis players, golfers, or chess grand masters, it took around 10 years to reach the pinnacle of their field.

I am not saying the 10,000 shots in golf rule is wrong just that I can't find any papers in my journal archive to support it. Lets say it is true though. It is not just 10,000 golf balls hit at the range. An important aspect of the 10,000 hour theory is that it must be quality practice with a focus on feedback. So the golfer must be disciplined and play each shot with focus and concentration, line up each shot, go through the pre-shot routine, watch the ball from start to finish and analyse the result and why the swing created the outcome. This is not an easy task for an amateur.

It would be reasonably easy to hit 10,000 in one year (200 balls per week = 50 weeks) but to hit them with the necessary quality of practice would take maybe twice as long. That is if an amateur golfer can spend 2-3 hour per week every week practicing for around 18 months just on their long game and specifically the grip. What about time for putting, pitching, and chipping practice and actually playing golf?

I have to agree it is unrealistic to expect someone to put in this many hours of dedicated practice just to make a new grip feel natural. It is also a scary number 10,000 sounds like a lot of time and effort which does not help with continued motivation to keep practicing. As the 10,000 hour rule is to attain an expert level the studies also showed that 4000 hours of practice would reach a level of competence required to teach the skill to others. Simply making one aspect of an overall skill (the grip) feel natural could logically take far less time. If he said it would take 150 balls per week for 10 weeks (1500 balls) I think this would be a far more realistic target to achieve.

 

[Foxholer]

The pro who said 10,000 balls to make a grip change is just a ridiculous thing to say to an AM, that would be years to most 2-3 games a week players

I don't believe any Pro actually stated that's how long it took. Urban Myth imo. A corruption of 'time to become as good as you are going to be' is probably how it came about.

If it takes 'too long' for a different grip to bed in, then it's almost certainly a bad change imo. The key, of course, is defining what 'too long' means - and I believe it's something that differs for each individual/circumstances.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Or the pro understands that the human body is different in everyone and gave his opinion regardless of what is in your "journals"

But thanks for the "psych" angle - not something I really take an interest in because I mainly think its mumbo jumbo

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I don't believe any Pro actually stated that's how long it took. Urban Myth imo. A corruption of 'time to become as good as you are going to be' is probably how it came about.

If it takes 'too long' for a different grip to bed in, then it's almost certainly a bad change imo. The key, of course, is defining what 'too long' means - and I believe it's something that differs for each individual/circumstances.

Well the pro actually stated it "could" take up to 10,000 hits or swings to make it feel "natural"

There is no definite there - for some it could be natural after 1 hit or 20 swings or 2000 etc etc - I expect there is no set rule

It will be done to each individual

 

[G_Mulligan]

Or the pro understands that the human body is different in everyone and gave his opinion regardless of what is in your "journals"

But thanks for the "psych" angle - not something I really take an interest in because I mainly think its mumbo jumbo

No but maybe the OP does and perhaps you telling him it could take up 10,000 shots until it feels natural is going to make him reverse his decision to change his grip. I am giving my opinion based on the scientific research I have available from peer reviewed "Journal" articles. I felt a more realistic target may help not hinder the OP to dedicate to the changes his pro has advised.

Maybe the pro you spoke to has studied a number of golfers who have attempted a grip change, controlled for age, sex, handicap etc. analysed the data and checked for outliers, statistical anaomolies, distribution of the curve, and then found that it can take up to 10,000 shots for certain players until in felt natural.

Then again maybe he plucked the number out of the air because it is a big round number that sounds good.

 

[sawtooth]

In my opinion it could easily take someone 2 years (or more) to get used to a new grip.

Obviously there is no time that you can stamp on it because factors will vary tremendously. But if you take someone who has played with a bad grip for years and suddenly they are shown how to grip the club properly it will take a while to get used to it. Its not just a grip change but it will affect the arm setup, club position at the top and probably a lot more. Inevitably their game will get worse for before it gets better and for that reason some will abandon the grip change and go back to what they know especially when playing competitively.

When I moved from a baseball grip to a neutral vardon overlap grip it felt so weird. I resisted change, for years I compromised by having a strong right hand grip because it felt like I was holding the club more securely that way. That was backward thinking on my part and it halted my progress, I should have bit the bullet and persevered with the correct neutral grip.

I feel now that I am reaping the rewards of that grip change, my handicap has dropped 4 shots in as many years. In all honesty it has taken me a lot longer than 2 years to transition because I didn't go straight from one to the other.

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

Having just worked out that I've been holding the club wrong in my left hand (across the palm, not at the bottom of the fingers) this thread scares me! I haven't even hit a ball with the new grip yet, this could be interesting.

 

[CMAC]

Having just worked out that I've been holding the club wrong in my left hand (across the palm, not at the bottom of the fingers) this thread scares me! I haven't even hit a ball with the new grip yet, this could be interesting.

dont let it, 10,000 balls or 2 years to get used to a new grip is total b*llox no offense meant to anyone, just my opinion

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

dont let it, 10,000 balls or 2 years to get used to a new grip is total b*llox no offense meant to anyone, just my opinion

Off to the range tonight, so only one way to find out!

 

[Odvan]

I'm not an expert. Probably (definitely!) the exact opposite. However...

I changed grip purely by reading up on the usual 'cure a slice' articles a few months ago. I went to the range twice a week and did 100 balls each time. At the same time, any rounds i played i used the new grip and didn't worry about my scores. Another thing i did purely for habitual reasons was get the PW out in the front room (after she'd gone to bed!) and do a few half swings with the new grip, sit back down for 10 mins and then repeat for an hour. Gave me the natural instinct to pick the club up and hold it automatically with the new grip as opposed to the old one and also educated my fingers to 'not ache'.

For my irons, I noticed no difference at all - for the driver I did, particularly once I'd got out of the habit of allowing the grip to pivot between the pads of my right hand at the top of my swing (ie, hold the bloomin' thing stronger).

Aside from having a sore little finger for a day after each session and it being weird and uncomfortable at first, it 'worked' for me in two-three weeks. Do I still slice? Occasionally yes of course but I have far less propensity to do so now. If i'd have been told by a pro it'd take 10000 balls who I was potentially giving money too to teach me, I'd have smelt a rat straight away regardless as to whether this was actually true or not.