BEFORE YOU ‘RIP IT’ - MAKE SURE YOU GRIP IT RIGHT!
At the Brunston Castle clubgolf we start with a warm up session and then get to the first basic - the golf grip. Perhaps only one adult golfer in 50 holds the club right, and only one successful pro golfer I have ever known, Dale Reid, has a [scarily] unorthodox grip. So start right and if it wanders off a little, 5 minutes with a Pro can straighten it out.
The technical bit
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We talked about shaking hands with the club grip; try and feel you are holding on to the club with your left hand mostly where the dark shadows are - your 3 fingers. When you shake with your right, the fingers which hold on most are the 2 shadowed middle ones.
What about the rest of your hands? What are they up to? Quite simply they fit together like jigsaw pieces. You wrap your right hand on top fitting the little shadowed part of your palm over your left thumb [which is almost straight down the grip.] It should feel nice and snug.
The last part which was almost always taught only to juniors in the past - because they had small hands - is to interlock the index and pinkie fingers. Now Tiger Woods has made it the most common method of helping your hands ‘work together
By this time you might have gone for the ‘white-knuckled-hold on-for-dear-life’ grip. DON’T! RELAX! STAY LOOSE! It is always suggested you hold a club gently as if it were a bird. Wiggle your club a bit - a little, [but not a lot, like Sergio!]- and now, nicely chilled, practice your 20 baseball swings slowly till your grip feels comfortable.
The human bit.
Girl says to pro, ‘Bob, be honest with me. Have I ever held a club like this before? I can’t move; I can’t swing; this is the end - I can’t play like this; it’s impossible ........’
Bob gives drama queen a specially moulded club to train correct grip. Drama queen stops mumping and moaning and 10 minutes later has stopped duck-hooking, and a miracle has happened.
Next human bit. Miracles don’t last. On April 11, 1981, my lesson notebook shows a grip check up from Bob Jamieson. July 8th, 2009, a grip MOT from Stuart at Brunston was word for word where I had gone wrong. Just a little, but enough to upset my swing. It happens slowly but surely through every season. To everyone. Nobody is perfect! But get it right now and you are on the right track for life.
Note to Juniors. Keep a notebook of your lesson handouts when you really get going.
Tip to Juniors. It is a good idea when you first start playing a few holes on a course to use only a 7 iron and a 5 or 7 wood. And play it off a low tee. That will give you confidence to swing easily and hit the ball up and forward.
Note to parents. You are the only person who can see what your young one is doing. Try and see if he or she has got the hang of the ‘hands working together’ as in the sketches. Then you can sort them out. Be patient - it is strange at first.
Tip to parents. Go with them for a few holes but allow only so many shots a hole and throw it out of bunkers. Otherwise both of you may lose the will to live.
And be prepared for drama queening...........
