Written by: Shauheen Nakhjavani
Music: David Cutter
WHY THE PROPER GOLF GRIP DOESN’T EXIST
For as long as golf has been a sport, the grip has always been considered a fundamental of the swing. Whether it’s an instructional video on Youtube or an article written in a magazine on how to grip a golf club, instructors continue to talk about what they believe is the proper golf grip. All of them revolve around the idea that a neutral grip is correct.
I’m going to start this off by stating that (barring extreme cases), there is no such thing as a wrong way to hold a golf club. What I DO believe is that there is a right or wrong way to hold a golf club FOR YOU.
What do I mean by this? Every single golf swing has an ideal grip matchup. This allows the mechanics of that specific movement to work successfully (in unison) and give that golfer the best results possible.
In some cases, that might be a neutral grip. However, there are many others out there who would benefit from something weaker or stronger than what’s been taught as the “ideal.”
Why There is No Such Thing as a Proper Golf Grip
Let’s consider the following scenario using 2 different (right-handed) golfers…
Golfer A has a neutral grip and always misses his/her target to the right.
Golfer B has a weak grip and lands right on target each time.
If you strengthen the grip of Golfer A and change their neutral position into something stronger, they will hit the target more often and have a higher chance to succeed.
If you strengthen the grip of Golfer B and change their weak position into something neutral, they will start missing the target and subsequently play worse.
Results from the scenario:
Golfer A’s swing was most functional with a strong grip.
Golfer B’s swing was most functional with a weak grip.
In both cases, neutral was NOT the ideal grip matchup for their specific golf swing.
If two golfers can have entirely opposing grips and hit the ball equally well, how can we sit here and say that all golfers “need” to grip the club a certain way? It simply wouldn’t be logical.
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