How do you grip the club?

[daverollo]

For me the two best books about the golf swing are Ben Hogans '5 lessons' and Lesley Kings 'The Swing Factory'.

However, they each have a slightly different way of putting the top hand on the golf club. Hogan (and Tom Watson book) advocate just onto the forefinger with the club diagonally across to just below the pad of you top hand. Effectively meaning more of the club is laid across the palm.

Whereas Lesley King is more placing the club lower down in the hand and across the fingers.

I am sure depending on how you swing the club and hand size both would work, was curious to find out what works for you??

1) HOGAN

2) LESLEY KING

For me, at present I am more method 2, into the fingers but have played previously with the Hogan method. With the subtle changes to my swing I am tempted to give that another go!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I was given the Hogan book 40+yrs ago and learned the game using it and got down to 6 - so have to say that that works for me. And as I have looked at the top illustrations many, many times over the years, the 'King' Grip looks just wrong to my eyes.

 

[jdpjamesp]

Mine's along the lines of method 2 although that's probably more luck than judgement.

 

[daverollo]

I was given the Hogan book 40+yrs ago and learned the game using it and got down to 6 - so have to say that that works for me. And as I have looked at the top illustrations many, many times over the years, the 'King' Grip looks just wrong to my eyes.

Wouldn't have expected anything else from you Mr Hogan

 

[Crow]

They look as alike as to make no difference to my eye, at least after the King example has wrapped the fingers around the grip.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Wouldn't have expected anything else from you Mr Hogan

Well quite :thup:

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

They look as alike as to make no difference to my eye, at least after the King example has wrapped the fingers around the grip.

Oddly just looking at the lower picture ('King' grip) I can 'feel' it in my head as being wrong. The lower grip looks/feels to me to be more of a grab/clutch of the club. Hogan's grip sits on your forefinger and pad of your left hand - that's it. I find it odd that I can 'feel' this just by looking at pictures

 

[RGDave]

I had a nice chat the other day with a my pro about the grip.

He says Hogan was a little too far away from the base of the pinky for many people, so if the other one is towards the base, then he would choose that one.

Trouble is, the pictures (the open hand) looks promising and then the one with the completed grip looks no different.

I always followed the Hogan book... now he says I'm going the wrong way and it's weakening my limited (admittedly) ability to use my wrists.

 

[Joff]

I have no idea.

 

[Crow]

Oddly just looking at the lower picture ('King' grip) I can 'feel' it in my head as being wrong. The lower grip looks/feels to me to be more of a grab/clutch of the club. Hogan's grip sits on your forefinger and pad of your left hand - that's it. I find it odd that I can 'feel' this just by looking at pictures

I think it's also a pretty poor drawing (but unfair to compare against the work of Ravielli in Hogan's book, which is superb!). The text describes the shaft "secure against the fleshy pad at the heel of your hand".

 

[Deleted member 15344]

With my hands and baseball grip :thup:

 

[Fish]

Just grip and rip it 😎

 

[Khamelion]

With my feet, using the baboon technique, well I may as well as up until the very end of this season I played like a chimp.

In all seriousness, I use my hands and an interlocking grip, except instead of forefinger of my left hand interlocking with little finger of right, I move it up one finger so it interlocks with effectively the ring finger on the right hand.

 

[the_coach]

those 2 differing illustrative grip ideas are not that far apart

couple things you gotta consider over Hogan - he had a very strong swing motion sequence which is why he feared the left side of the course & dedicated virtually one big premise of his whole practice & how the game should be played to be 'anti' leftfield - so very likely the handle was just a tad further 'up' in the palm
so folks should take all this into account

few of those drawings in the Hogans book, drawn from posed positions of how he 'felt' in the swing - are just that what he 'felt' he did
for instance the drawing of how the forearms & elbows are real 'in-tight locked together' - so the 'bound together' illustration
anyone who has studied in-depth footage of Hogans swing would know that the arms 'feel' he spoke to never actually took place in his swing motion
so you gotta to be real careful in how this stuff - in relation to a regular index player - is interpreted

my take generally most folks would be a good ways better off being at or being much nearer to the second illustration of how the handle 'sits' in the lead hand

 

[Fish]

With my feet, using the baboon technique, well I may as well as up until the very end of this season I played like a chimp.

So you haven't developed yet and are stuck in mid transition :smirk:

 

[UlyssesSky]

They look as alike as to make no difference to my eye, at least after the King example has wrapped the fingers around the grip.

^^ This.

If you compare the two bottom right drawings on each page (the ones with the thump lifted off the grip), the bottom end of the grip seems to be resting at the same position of the hand, the only difference is that in King's book all fingers are wrapped around the grip and in Hogan's book it's just the index finger.

 

[daverollo]

^^ This.

If you compare the two bottom right drawings on each page (the ones with the thump lifted off the grip), the bottom end of the grip seems to be resting at the same position of the hand, the only difference is that in King's book all fingers are wrapped around the grip and in Hogan's book it's just the index finger.

It definitely feels different though (to me anyway) by changing the position of the club in the my hand, even if on the face of it, it seems small.

those 2 differing illustrative grip ideas are not that far apart

couple things you gotta consider over Hogan - he had a very strong swing motion sequence which is why he feared the left side of the course & dedicated virtually one big premise of his whole practice & how the game should be played to be 'anti' leftfield - so very likely the handle was just a tad further 'up' in the palm so folks should take all this into account

That's an interesting point. Without doubt when I place the club more in my fingers I can hit a draw (whether intended or not), slightly higher up in the hand reduces that, but also very slightly reduces my club head speed through release.

 

[Mozza73]

grip in the base of the fingers in the left hand. Left edge of thumb in line with the centre logo of the grip. Right hand mirrors the clubface, square to the target.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I just interlock and get on with it. I get the grip checked most lessons but it's usually pretty sound. Never overly worried about it