He's got a good grip but....

[Imurg]

Oh Boy is Fragger hitting it sideways. He's had a lesson or two and I want to gauge the Forums view on this.

He went to a Pro, hit some balls and the Pro said "Everything needs work, lets start with the grip".
So Fragger now has a fairly nice, neutral grip.

THe ball is still going sideways because he's lining up to the left, the shoulders are pointing somewhere else and the clubface is almost staring him in the left toe! With his out-to-in swing path he hasn;t got a chance of hitting it straight. It was impossible to not slice it!

Surely the Pro has to get him aligned properly first, feet, hips, shoulders all pointing the same way and then gripping the club properly. OK I'm no Golf Pro but I am an Instructor. There would be no point in getting one of my pupils to move the car unless I've told them how to steer, brake and stop first.
So why is a Pro telling Fragger to concentrate just on getting the grip right without correcting the other faults at the same time? Surely they go hand in hand? A good grip is pointless if you're not lined up properly.
OK it's a course of lessons and I assume the alignment will be covered next but after today's round, Fragger is a beaten-up, shell of a Golfer with confidence as low as a snake's ball bag.
Just seems an arse-about-face way of doing things.

 

[bigfoot1985]

how long was the lesson??!!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I tend to agree. A lot of top golfers have had weak or strong grips but they all had good posture and alignment. If you aren't aiming where you want it to go then what chance does the ball have of getting there. Like you I'm no pro but I'd have worked on the train track scenario for getting him aligned properly with some canes on the floor and then made sure he was in a decent set up and not too slouched over the ball restricting his turn.

The trouble is once the confidence goes and you feel everything is wrong it saps all your strength away certainly mentally and you feel like you'll never get a straight one away again. If I was Frag, I'd maybe give the course a miss and have the lessons and work on the drills shown until he at least feels it may stay in the same postcode

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I'm no expert but I agree, I would have thought alignment and postur would be a good starting point and could have been covered with grip in the same lesson.

 

[bigfoot1985]

yes i agree surely the grip alignment and posture can be covered within the lesson!!

 

[Losttheplot]

Bob should be along soon to clarify things but I tend to agree with what's been said already.

Alignment and posture (everything in the same direction) then grip but hey what do I know...???

 

[pokerjoke]

Surely its the other way around,grip the club then align yourself accordingly,thats what i do,maybe im wrong.But dont most golf books start with the grip?

 

[bobmac]

Hard to say without seeing the swing
One thing I would say...if the golfer's feet are pointing right and the shoulders left but the shot is straight would I fix it? Not always.
I think to change someone's aim, posture and grip may be a bit much all at once.
But, as I say, difficult to comment without seeing the swing

 

[kid2]

Ok Murg...
Sounds like a mirror image of me before i implemented a few things...
If he's grip is neutral is it running in the fingers or the palm....I run the club through the base of my fingers ans i also switched to the vardon grip...Its a little awkward at first but worth it...I get alot of club head speed with that grip....
If he can get his shoulders hips and knees square then its a start....
I also aim left of my target...My body lines are paralell left and my clubface is where i want my ball to start but what has been really helpful for me is to keep my head very still in the swing(dont move off the ball) and to make as wide a takeaway as comfortably possible...
I still have an out to in swing but the fade is alot more playable and consistent and at times i can knuckle some straightish...
I have good distance too im not short but its helped me be alot more aggressive knowing that i can take at least some half of the course out of play...
My typical bad shot is a straight pull which from what im told is when i manage to square the face to the path but its rare enough...
I dont slice(have a shot that starts way left and finishes way right)
These are things that have helped me...It may work for him and may not....

 

[kid2]

One other thing Murg.....
Alot of things that i have read about the grip say that if you can get this right then i can fix other parts of the swing naturally...The body will compensate....
So maybe the Pro wants to see that if fragger manages to grip the club correctly then he may not have as much work as first thought.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

One other thing Murg.....
Alot of things that i have read about the grip say that if you can get this right then i can fix other parts of the swing naturally...The body will compensate....
So maybe the Pro wants to see that if fragger manages to grip the club correctly then he may not have as much work as first thought.

It can certainly help with other parts of the swing but not your alignment surely. If your feet are aiming left they're aiming left regardless of how you grip it

 

[chrisd]

the Pro said "Everything needs work, lets start with the grip".

Sounds to me that it's a Pro who wants a decent summer cruise courtesy of Fragger - that'll be 20 lessons!!


I suggest the grip change should be a tighter one - on his wallet!!



Chris

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Gome on guys, give the pro a chance

We spent 3/4 hour looking at my swing on video and breaking down the component parts.

The 3 main issues were grip, posture and alignment .

I have an ingrained grip where my right hand is underneath the shaft rather than being on top, I was standing too close to the ball, weight distribution was all wrong and i was reverse pivoting.

Pro told me it was too early to go out on the course, but i had already arranged to play,

I need to practice to get used to this new grip which feels funny, and to the changes in posture and weight distribution

Next lesson is all about alignment

so hopefully in a couple of weeks, a new rejuvinated Fragger will emerge

Gotta have some pain to see some gain

Fragger

 

[Smiffy]

I've played golf with Geezers that have had cackhanded grips and baseball grips and they have been good golfers. Single figure in one instance.
A good grip is important, but it's got to feel comfortable and "right" for you.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I agree, grips are a little more subjective than other parts of the swing, but even stance and alignment are different in everyone.

A good pro will learn how you need to stand, I have had 8 lessons and 2 on course lessons with my pro since last May. I have gone from shooting 98-100+ to shooting low 80s within year. He knows my swing now and gives me very tailored advice.

 

[HRC99]

Splitting it over two sessions, I would have thought that posture and alignment would be first and grip second.

 

[Region3]

and the clubface is almost staring him in the left toe!

I thought the grip is taken so the clubface points at the target (straight shot). If the club points left then surely the grip is very strong ie. move the clubface to target and the hands go way right.

 

[roccokj]

I think the pro was right in working on the grip first rather than posture and alignment. First of all changing someone's grip would be more of a bigger issue than alignment and posture in my opinion because the usual tendency for most people is to start playing bad as they are trying to get used to the grip. The tendency for some people to do when their grip changes is to change their stance (often unconciously) as they try to fight the bad shot they are hitting. If Fragger changed his stance first and then his grip he could have messed up his stance again and then have to go thru it again.

In the end it is what the pro thinks is best for his student so I encourage Fragger to stick to what hes doing!

 

[Imurg]

I encourage Fragger to stick to what hes doing!

So do I - it makes him much easier to beat!!