Grip strength - so important

[ManinBlack]

Went to the range this morning after a very disappointing round on Friday. Discovered that, as I have done for most of my life, I was holding the club too tightly. What a dlfference light grip pressure makes, the club just seems to glide through impact. A tight grip strangles the club & causes all sorts of problems.


Got home & read a Colin Montgomerie quote "I've never had to tell anyone to grip tighter of swing faster" A light grip is one of his major recommendations & it's reflected in his smooth, effortless swing.

 

[jim8flog]

When I first started one of the books I read said imagine holding a bird in your hand without trying to kill it and another said hold the club and get a mate to pull it out of your hand if they cannot you are holding the club too tightly.

 

[Golf is fun]

The challenge with this is that you need to balance effort and force applied. That is the average pro generally has a much stronger grip than the average amateur, from memory when tested pros average around 60kg of force on a dynamometer and amateurs are more around the 35kg mark. The pro whilst not maxing out their effort and feeling like their grip is relatively relaxed is likely to be still be exerting more force than the average amateur can when applying 100% of force.
This is a classic golf "feel vs real" situation, the pros honestly describe what they feel, but what is happening when measured is something different.

The long term answer is to improve grip strength so you can exert more force with less effort.

 

[SocketRocket]

I've found that I play better golf with a firm grip pressure and relaxed wrists and arms. A loose grip loses control of the clubface for me which leads to unreliable shot shapes.

 

[ManinBlack]

I've found that I play better golf with a firm grip pressure and relaxed wrists and arms. A loose grip loses control of the clubface for me which leads to unreliable shot shapes.

I find it hard to grip firmly & keep the wrists & arms relaxed

 

[VVega]

That is the average pro generally has a much stronger grip than the average amateur, from memory when tested pros average around 60kg of force on a dynamometer and amateurs are more around the 35kg mark. The pro whilst not maxing out their effort and feeling like their grip is relatively relaxed is likely to be still be exerting more force than the average amateur can when applying 100% of force.

Another variable however is the club speed or more precisely is the tangential force created in the downswing. The pros will create significantly more force, hence need to have more grip strength to keep the club in their hands.

So at least in theory the feel of say 80% of the max of grip may be a relative sweet spot for both amateurs and pros who would translate it into different absolute performance numbers.

 

[Golf is fun]

Another variable however is the club speed or more precisely is the tangential force created in the downswing. The pros will create significantly more force, hence need to have more grip strength to keep the club in their hands.

So at least in theory the feel of say 80% of the max of grip may be a relative sweet spot for both amateurs and pros who would translate it into different absolute performance numbers.

I imagine it would depend if the speed was slow because the grip was weak and so was the limiter, or if the speed was slow irrespective of grip strength. That said, it's better to be in the position where you have more grip strength than you need than the opposite.

 

[BobbyA]

The challenge with this is that you need to balance effort and force applied. That is the average pro generally has a much stronger grip than the average amateur, from memory when tested pros average around 60kg of force on a dynamometer and amateurs are more around the 35kg mark. The pro whilst not maxing out their effort and feeling like their grip is relatively relaxed is likely to be still be exerting more force than the average amateur can when applying 100% of force.
This is a classic golf "feel vs real" situation, the pros honestly describe what they feel, but what is happening when measured is something different.

The long term answer is to improve grip strength so you can exert more force with less effort.

I read / heard that pro golfers have a much stronger grip at address then amateurs but actually reduce their grip strength at impact,
Amateurs have a much weaker grip strength at address but tighten their grip strength at impact. I know I do this as I can feel it on my downswing.

 

[Golf is fun]

I read / heard that pro golfers have a much stronger grip at address then amateurs but actually reduce their grip strength at impact,
Amateurs have a much weaker grip strength at address but tighten their grip strength at impact. I know I do this as I can feel it on my downswing.

If you're interested I'll see if I can dig out work that was done on this. It's actually a bit more complicated than just increasing/decreasing as a whole, typically with pros the lead hand increases grip pressure at impact, but the trail hand decreases. Worse players tended to have the opposite, which kind of makes sense, as an overactive trail hand is effectively causing a flip.

Interestingly worse players tended to have more consistent grip pressure throughout the swing than better players, but better players more consistently had the lead hand pressure be stronger than the trail hand even though the amount of pressure of both was varying.
Also interestingly, when it came to wedge shots this reversed, better players had less overall grip pressure, but more trail hand grip pressure whereas worse players had more lead hand pressure. Again this kind of makes sense if you think for a wedge you may intentionally be trying to present more loft at impact.

With regards to actual grip strength I believe there was correlation in that those with the higher grip strength tended to be hookers and those with low grip strenght tended to be slicers, and people with really low grip strength tended to struggle with contact.

I'm sure there was a lot more in there too, but that's the bits that stick in my mind.