I’ll discuss this grip pressure for right handed golfers. Just reverse it if you’re left-handed player.
One of the most common swing issues I see while teaching my new students is excessive right hand grip pressure.
Here are a couple of swing problems that can occur by gripping the club too tightly with your right hand.
1. You start your first move in your golf swing with your hands which is basically starting the golf swing backwards. Over the years everyone’s heard about the first move being called a Takeaway. I don’t like the word and I don’t use the word because it is starting the golf swing with one part instead of one unit. What I mean by a unit is we want everything to start in unison. To have proper flow in your golf swing it’s very important that everything moves together — hips, shoulders, arms, hands along with the shaft and the clubhead together. Here are some issues you will run into by starting a club back with excessive right hand grip pressure:
The club will have a tendency to close right from the start of your backswing. This will inhibit your right arm from working properly and your right shoulder turning freely.
The club will go inside very quickly under the plane and cause a lift to the top of the backswing. Promoting an over-the-top downswing. This is just one of the causes of the over-the-top position. The over-the-top position and its causes are numerous. This is one of the problems you can avoid by relaxing the pressure in your right hand — which relaxes your right arm and your right shoulder so you can turn freely. By relaxing the pressure in your right hand the club can set or hinge or cock naturally. If you feel you’re having this issue in your golf swing here’s a very simple drill.
At address: take your index finger and your thumb off the shaft. This will illuminate the pressure and give control to your left side.
Note:
At the top of your backswing the closest part of your body to the target is your whole left side. You need to initiate the downswing with your left side so you can create a pull lever into the ball instead of a throw-with-the-right hand — causing the club to go off plane.
Try this simple drill and don’t think about any other parts of your swing. Just swing!!!
Stay tuned!
CDG
