How Changing My Grip Has Helped My Swing

It feels like the puzzle pieces of my swing are coming together..this time it’s about fixing my grip and working on my wrist angles to help with my early release.

I’m making quite a few swing changes this winter, so I’ll be recording a video on how I’m approaching them (the drills I’m using, feels I’m working on etc). Do you have any questions you would like me to cover in the video? Let me know in a comment and I’ll do my best to answer them!

Thank you @jasonbantinggolfcoach for the gold in this video!

CHAPTERS
0:00 How I’m Changing My Grip
3:00 The Impact Of My Grip Getting Too Strong
4:45 What Do The Wrists Do In The Swing?
8:20 Swings With New Grip & Feels
10:00 Check Points To Look For With Grip
13:24 Homework: Moves To Dry Drill
16:00 Final Swing With New Grip & Wrist Angle Feels

WHO AM I?
Hello, I’m Jess Ratcliffe 👋 After getting to single figures in a year (34 – 9), I’m on a quest to become the best golfer I can be and document the journey along the way. Subscribe to join me. New video every Saturday.

GET TO KNOW ME:
🎥 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessratcliffegolf
📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jessratcliffegolf
📝 Newsletter: https://breakingpar.substack.com

Ripped it straight out of the block see out the gate I’m with that we’ve just adjusted my grip there yes we noticed that I was getting a little bit too strong with it is that right well in effect here J so when when when we look

At your grip here and again I think this is something that probably might show itself a little more on the course when we get on the golf course and we get into that Arena yeah sometimes little things um sort of accentuate more maybe people’s grips move because idea you

Know some times you want to get the feeling that oh I just want to get a good solid hold of the club now that might be detrimental it could be something else where someone likes the ball position a bit further back to feel safe so I think in this case what we’re

Seeing here is that with your left hand on the club is that when you’re gripping it here this the badge your tailor made badge has come over here way too much now when you take the club away although that feels stronger to you you got a nice stable hold here the detriment is

When that club comes away it’s caused the left wrist to cut up very quickly like so here a bit yeah basically got the wrist rolling so although it feels stronger at a dress it’s now actually making it weaker in the swing so again going back to a feeling of what feels

Strong at a dress sometimes can feel weaker out there in the ball flight by letting my grip slip to this would this be impacting the fact that I know a bit of my swing that we’ve been trying to work on and sort of working our way to

Is the early release ABS this impact releasing the early definitely yeah for sure no to no way a doubt about that whatsoever because as you say where that’s cuted up here as it works on back yeah it also comes back on itself so we get that cut like a little baby L shape

That we can see there funny enough I know I’m not standing in a proper posture but I can even feel that with this I can feel a bit of a tilt in my back which maybe then knocks on again to why I had the reverse pivot going on

There can be a chain reaction to other things in the swing so when if we bring that back down to the start so so this is the like exaggerated strong grip so with with that yeah that’s in like so so we open that left hand up so if we place

That a little more in the base of the little finger diagonally to the center of the four finger that comes on top there now so this now that left thumb is just there there’s like a V between your four finger and thumb goes to your right

Shoulder but the bridge or the top of the left hand hasn’t come over to your right hand side as much which is what I was doing I straight away yeah so from that position there is when the club does move away you can maintain a better stronger left wrist angle like so and

This can also help in the return of coming back to the golf ball here like so yeah cuz I think like we said we know that early release has been there and I think we’ve sort of ticked off other parts of my swing you know going from

Getting a good turn to provide that platform for the down swing and then last time covering that forward left shoulder low but I know from having filmed myself like on the Range and when playing and things that I still had you know you can see that where the club

Should be more like this with that sort of I guess angle here I’ve almost gone a bit early and that makes sense that if my grip has sort of crept over especially like you say on the golf course where I think I don’t know what it is but you know psychologically you

You just go out there and maybe whether it’s the fact that I’ve sort of like you know looked down a target for example and accidentally my grips got over and then I just carry on as I was and I’ve not really readjusted by letting that creep over I think the moves that we’ve

Been working on here it’s almost felt I can’t fully execute them on the course because without me knowing having crept over to that slightly strong grip I’ve obviously set myself up from the GetGo to have the wrists go a little bit wonky yeah that’s correct yeah as you said

There because we that you know you popped it on there and You’ you’ve brought the top of the hand over now it feels very strong and solid think I’ve got a hold of the club here but what we’ve seen is that when you take it away

That left wrist now you can see the back of the left hand face the sky so it cups and when it works towards the top the danger is it comes back on itself here so it’s in a much weaker position yeah so when that club drops down here back

Into impact it can cause the left wrist to work up towards the sky and that right hand goes underneath yeah releases the club head towards the ball earlier and it re so the club head reaches the ball ahead of the grip right okay so obviously if when you’ve got that grip

In the fingers that the back of the left hand’s Balan better it might not feel as stably strong but when it moves away you can get the left wrist down more and get that much more in a stronger position with the club face so in terms of wrists

Then and thinking about you know we’ve touched on the body moves and the turn and transition but thinking about building on from having a better grip to set me up you know feeling it like just in the fingers I’m almost then feeling a bit of pressure PR like with the thumb

Straight down but to make sure I don’t slip over yes yeah bit of pressure take my grip what should the wrists be doing through the swing so it’s almost and I it’s funny again because having enjoyed a lot of content in terms of golf a lot

Of it shows up on my Instagram and it’s always the brilliant you know players like the Nelly corders or Lyn Grant and I can see in their swing what they seem to have wrist angles wise more in the downswing actually is like a real feel of holding that angle whereas if I’m

Doing the opposite almost and releasing it should there be a feeling with the wrists of that holding or I guess yeah to more ask the question what what should I be doing with my wrist yeah so if you go back to your dress position there if you get that left hand on the

Position there so if we get that first move of the club here taking away to 9:00 so you can see that as that club Works back up to 9:00 there now here this lead in edge here is much more sort of 45° okay back of the left hand if you

Want to say you can see that’s more stable it’s not facing the sky so much no it’s actually probably the back of the badge is facing more towards the ball now from there when you just turn and R you can see there that the club is

Now set to the top You’ got a much more stable left wrist position here to balance the golf club now as you start the transition back you make that move back you now see as that comes down you can see as that returns down the right

Hand here is much more on top of the shaft and when that club returns down the back of the left hand now squares up towards the Target and that’s creating that little bit of sharlean into the golf ball okay for you to get that stable cont may be a feeling then once

Getting the good grip there a bit of like taking the club away feeling a bit of pressure that’s it you feel yeah so if we take that there there you go you can feel some stability here yeah if we go back to the start if you put when

Your left hand is over more when you take that club away you get a lot more of this so you can see here you’ve actually opened the club face up the badge now is fa at 9:00 it’s facing towards the sky instead of towards the

Ball and then you can see like if that’s already happened how then your subconscious or your body is probably then thinking we have to do something to rroo all course correct so if that goes on up as we said the wrist comes back on itself so now Jess when that’s coming

Down because of that cup as it drops here when you get to this point your badge now is starting to face towards the sky yeah so of course then as you get towards your right hand feels it needs to work out the way and it just

Releases that CL a little bit too early again adding those building blocks of getting the good turn that feeling of the transition weight shift left shoulder low is it a case that in that moment from if I get the good good grip I’m conscious of it now right here we go

So then in the takeaway is it almost like with that shift just a feeling of holding that maintaining yeah that’s it correct yeah of maintaining those angles and letting the body pull unwind you through impact and then any feel here or just the momentum sort of drives you correct the

Momentum is driving you through yeah I’m going to get foot I’ve gone already I’ve gone early after one swing let’s give that a go then so my thoughts now I’m just going to have that make sure I’ve got my grip and it does feel new which obviously

Tells me that I’ve been slipping a little bit to that and it is a quite use there is some you know when you’ve got the grip in a in a more ideal position somebody that’s let if sometimes unknown on the course we get into the evir at

The golf course we like to feel safe and that can move a little bit a bit stronger feels like right I’ve got a hold of the club but so when you get it balanced correctly it might feel a little weaker to you at a dress but

Trust me that’s going to allow the wrist angles to be better in the swing and allow your impact of the ball and what it does to the ball make it stronger out there there you go you can you you can hear the energy on the strike and again

I know it’s something we looked at before but again look at that so you know there that this Leading Edge is vertical when the shaft is recoiled back down to parallel to the ground so that shows you a lot about we heard the strike we see the ball flight but that

Just confirms how stable your Club face was it impact when you struck that ball it’s funny because I think definitely like you say it feels weaker when I’m like at a dress but is then stronger yes that’s it yeah but it just feels like a touch of a new feeling because

I’ve obviously been letting my GP slip to be too strong as I said sometimes these things show don’t always show up on the Range but you know sometimes on a course a golfer unknowingly it’s not a deliberate thing there’s little things when they get in that environment you

Get a card in your hand in a competition or you’re playing with other people that you you want to play well with little things creep in unknowingly just to things that sometimes make you feel safe but are detrimental Al to your golf swing definitely so is that okay that

Sort of sense of just come around and have a little look at that feeling is in the fingers keep that tailor badge a little more little more under your left eye you don’t want to be looking it you don’t want that to be facing up towards your nose cuz otherwise that’s come over

Too far so is that okay that’s better hold the angle see again now we can start to see the performance better strike not hitting the ground early not catching it in and getting that strike on was that a little bit clean yeah let’s say let’s yeah probably one Groove out

Jess but again it’s not a thuddy one which shows already that shift that’s a 10 foot for birdie instead of a five-footer right so in the fingers pad of the thumb down then add the that’s it I’m worried about letting it like creep over it’s trying to just keep just

You’ve got that tailor made badge on the back of your glove as a good reference point Looking Down Under that left eye and just check and that’ll help you that’ll just give you something to focus on on the golf course as well so then I’m just going to focus on

Maintaining the angle through the strike that’s lovely that does feel better cuz even though I felt a little potential tilty in that yeah already I don’t think it’s as bad no and you can when I had that strong grip because I’d take you know you take that any day of

The week but I think that’s correct you can see that you can hear the s on the strike a little bit more downward pressure and the ball flight there little soft draw down the target line it’s showing you a lot back in the ball flight obviously as you said there

You’re not getting the club bouncing the ground too early which can happen when that right hand comes underneath and releases it or catching it too too thin it’s just funny how sometimes the things that you feel you’ve got down like your grip can actually creep to be something

That grip I think grip an on the grip is what you hold the the club with and sometimes we can just subconsciously move it a little bit to as I said just a feeling of safety and it but it might be detrimental to to what you actually

Want I’m going to be gripping this club at home to get familiar with it it’s quite a funny um add it to my dry drills not the best but I would take that if that’s a slight Miss yeah I’m looking for if that is a slight I’m

Running down there to Mark the ball straight away before it goes anywhere right in the fingers thumb straight down add the hand tailor maid under the left eye little bit thuddy so would that have been not enough angles correct yeah just that something you notice that one just that

Just interacted very slightly with this ground just pre impact so again that that released it a little too soon yeah just a just a slight loss of Shar lean against the against the ball impact there just creating that club head to go down to the ground fraction early okay

Come on now here we go hold the angles there’s a strike sounds better doesn’t it lot more more pressure there more more well you could hear the noise that hit a lot more bit more downward Force bit more compression on the ball with the strike making it more Central

In the face and so that would really be that sort of homework to dry drill now is that feeling that Get Grip pressure yes yeah turn yeah hold the angle that’s it and then just release like feel more correct yeah pressure on the ball with the Shar

Lan Co that felt better there you go hit that one flush yeah I’m happy with that that’s was very good yeah so that yeah that really felt like I was trying to when I got here hold that angle and it almost I think think maybe

Will help me be a bit more patient at the top I think I can get a little bit like you say when you’ve been working on things and it’s then you know you’re out on the course and you’re thinking right here we go like it’s going to all come

Out today and you do get a bit rushed I think I don’t know why adrenaline maybe you’re just like well I think on the golf course that’s that’s always the million-dollar question for so many people you work hard and you can go to the range and you can be 80% positive

You go on the course and whether we’ve got 100 yards 150 you know if we put the ball into a good position from the we can sense maybe an opportunity to get a shot near the flag and we know we’ve got the club that will cover the ground

Comfortably but sometimes in that moment there’s still that rush to want to hit it there instead of actually really focusing on getting your sequence and movement strong and and in the correct motion so that then you know that that club will cover the ground but allow you

To get more consistent strike and just that as you say pressure good turn hold the angle which feel feels like as well I think the positive of holding that angle feels like it will help me to keep that left shoulder low yes so obviously before when I’d been throwing yeah go the angle

That would naturally do that I think and obviously then make it feel like that’s harder to yes stay low with yeah but that feeling of forward and just holding that angle it’s almost more like a little bit of that yeah feeling in the right hand I think of of that sort of maintaining

That’s it like say there when you’re coming yeah when you when You’ re as you hold that as you’re coming back down there Jess press so that’s it now if you work back into impact see when you’re creating that angle there right hand’s on top here

Isn’t it like that when you get when you get this facing the sky this is underneath now because it feels trapped it tries to work underneath quickly okay and that’s you get early re when you’re coming back down here that’s on top now look just that sh shling into the ball

There there you go there’s a strike I feel weirdly as well I’m thinking about less through the swing because I think I’m not having to save sa save the situation yeah yeah yeah thank you fantastic what a dream