Instruction
Get a grip on your club face at impact
“The golf ball doesn’t lie.” As an instructor, that’s something I commonly say to my students — or at least what I’m thinking.
The way the ball flies tells us nearly everything we need to know about impact. The problem is, players often look to tear apart their swing entirely to fix a ball flight issue, when in reality it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Fixing your ball flight can be as simple as straightening out your grip to achieve the flight you desire.
Recently, one of my players who’s preparing to turn professional came to me with a problem — all of his driver shots were flaring to the right. At 6 foot 4 inches tall with a solid frame, this player generates a ton of power. His driver speed has been clocked at upwards of 130 mph.
Now, when you’re working with an elite talent with a great swing, the first thing you do is look for the obvious. It’s the Occam’s Razor effect of golf instruction. Occam’s Razor is basically a principle that states “the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.”
How does that apply to instruction? Let’s put it this way: If you’re driving down the highway and your car suddenly sputters and stops, do you immediately decide that you need to rip out the engine and put in a new one? Do you call roadside assistance and tell them “bring me a new engine!” Or do you first look for the obvious and check your gas gauge? Of course, you look for the simplest explanation; I’m out of gas. It’s the same concept when working with an elite golfer.
So when he came for a session hitting this odd shot I looked for simple first. Here were his numbers from our radar testing:
![RobStranoArticle-4[Leland]](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/RobStranoArticle-4Leland.jpg)
The FlightScope data above shows the before (swings 1-5) and after (6-10).
You can see how wide open the club face was at impact, with a face-to-target pointing between 3.6 and 6.5 degrees right. Also, he was hitting it a mile in the air with too much spin, and lots of horizontal launch to the right. His path numbers were solid, so I began to mentally peel away at the logical variables that might be affecting his driver outcome.
We began to analyze his swing on video, focusing on how his hands moved from setup and through impact, changing the angle of the face.
It was apparent that his hands had slipped into a weak position at setup, putting the face in an open position at the top of his backswing. So we looked at the data and video, and using Occam’s Razor concept, deduced that his hands needed to slide toward the stronger side of the grip. That small grip change produced drastically different numbers, as seen by swings 6-10. His speed jumped, his face squared and ball flight and spin dropped to much more playable numbers. The dramatic change in carry and distance was astounding. Also, his horizontal launch straightened out significantly — it looks like we may have solved the riddle.
Growing up, I played at a country club full of tour players, including a past Masters champion, and if I heard this once, I heard it a million times: “The back of the left hand controls the club face.” What I did with my player above was put his hand in a position that required zero change in how he released the club. The back of the left hand just oriented the face in a different direction at impact and straightened out the ball flight.
So if you feel like you are swinging well, but the ball is flying offline in a certain direction, look to make the following adjustments before revamping your swing:
- If you are missing right, turn your left hand to the right more (Clockwise for a RH player) and the face will point more to the left at impact.
- If you are missing it left, give your left hand a little turn to the left (Counterclockwise for RH player) and the face will point a little more rightward at impact.
Start with small changes in hand position because a little goes a long way here — a tenth of a degree can make a drastic difference at impact. So don’t overdo it, more is not better in this instance.
With a simple grip change and a good swing path, you will see the ball on line more often, and have the confidence to swing faster through impact.
Moral of the story? Don’t immediately try to overhaul your entire swing, when something as simple as moving your grip a touch can make all the difference!
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Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!
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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?
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other paul
Aug 20, 2015 at 2:13 pm
I have a pull hook that is so bad right now. Face is totally shut to path. I hit a 9i with a 50 yard hook. Totally driving me crazy. I was just glad the hole played the same way and I was still in the fairway. If I hit the fw on my first shot I made par or birdie. If I missed it was a double bogey because the ball is gone forever.
Rob Strano
Aug 21, 2015 at 9:12 am
Paul-
Thanks for your note and I have seen this issue many times.
I want you to try this simple thing.
Almost everyone that does what you describe end up aiming huge to the right to cover the total curve of the shot and keep it in play. I want you to do the OPPOSITE…Aim up the left edge of the fairway and do this determined to keep the ball to the right. Over time your internal sense of target and aim will recalibrate and you will start to push the ball back to the right. One more thing, do this with less power in the swing. Shut it down to 75% to start with so you can feel the club face and control it to make the path go more to the right.
I have seen this simple thought work on the practice area all the time where I have someone aim at a flag straight ahead but try to hit the ball to an alternate target 50 yards to the right. I tell them do not let the ball go left at any price.
Hope this helps!
agolfman
Aug 19, 2015 at 11:42 am
Rob, agree wholeheartedly with identifying the simplest answer to what can seem like a complex problem…many things in life would benefit from that approach.
I had a similar observation via my Flightscope earlier in the summer, with almost exactly the same path and face issues, granted at 100mph club head speed. My fix was along these same lines of simplicity (I’m old school weaker grip though). I was able to switch my club head to a draw setting while at the same time closing my stance slightly. Straightened my driver out instantly. Keep up the good work!
Rob Strano
Aug 19, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Thanks for the note and I loved one specific line you typed…
“I was able to switch my club head to a draw setting”…Think about that comment for a second! As of about 5 years ago you would have never been able to say that. Aren’t adjustable clubheads just awesome…!!!
Steve
Aug 18, 2015 at 2:24 pm
Do you think that teaching pros are cutting their own throats, Using trackman, flightscope etc. One would think it is only a matter of time that one could go to a golf lab, for lack of better words. Where they could put you on a swing analyzer and the computer could generate what problems there are and ways to fix it. Wouldnt need a teacher, just some kid to put the data in. It happened years ago in the music industry with Pro Sounds, which made working musicians obsolete.
Rob Strano
Aug 19, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Steve
Thanks for the note and thoughts.
I disagree with your future prognostication.
Golf instruction is an art form and it takes a good keen eye, lot of experience and a person who knows what the influences of the changes are on the person. Also, a great instructor works to build a swing that the player can perform and recognizes all the limiting factors on a non-tour player who loves to play the game. The tech is there to verify only. I do not think the tech is cutting our throats as you say. I have one tour player I coach and we never use the tech…NEVER…I can see what he is doing and dial him in from what I know and see of his tendencies. That is why a cookie cutter coach struggles with some players not being able to make the swing they are coaching. They simply cannot perform the motion! So using a computer and golf tech to cookie cutter a solution simply will never work in golf.
Also… Not all past players make great coaches but I can tell you that my experience as a player is a huge asset in coaching others to improve. Cannot get that from input plugged into a computer. The best of us will always us the tech but we understand how to use it and when to use it! Thanks again and play great the rest of the year!
Steve
Aug 19, 2015 at 1:31 pm
Your in the buisness and no more then me. But for the average joe looking to find out swing flaws. I think it would appeal to them. For aspiring elite and elite golfers another set of eyes will help. Maybe i am a tainted golfer, i took lessons and hear lessons being given and it is all cookie cutter. I have watch teachers, teaching a group on a chipping tell ” ok i will be back in awhile”. Really thanks for taking my money and driving away
Rob Strano
Aug 19, 2015 at 3:48 pm
That’s just brutal Steve…
Not what happens at my academy with me and my students.
When I am awake staring at the ceiling thinking about my players games my wife will tell me the next day….”You care more about their games than they do!”
Alex
Aug 18, 2015 at 9:46 am
Is it possible for the instructor to just diagnose and make the change without going through the flightscope and video sessions first? I mean, old school.
Rob Strano
Aug 18, 2015 at 10:03 am
Alex
Thanks for the comment.
And the answer is yes and that is what we did in this case. I only ran the Flightscope to show him the evidence that what we were doing was correcting his issue. Kind of like if a tire on your car won’t hold air and you take it in to have then replace it and when they take it off the car they show you the nail in the tread. You know it’s leaking you just cannot see why. This helps the player see the leak and know there are not multiple problems.
Alex
Aug 18, 2015 at 11:14 am
Thanks for your answer.
vince guest
Aug 18, 2015 at 5:08 am
Lee Trevino built his own unique swing around his grip and controlling the relationship between the club face and the back of his left hand.Turned out he knew what he was doing.
Rob Strano
Aug 18, 2015 at 10:05 am
One time I heard Lee say – “When I want to hit the ball to the right I push it over there and when I want to hit it to the left I pull it over there”
Same thing we are saying Vince….Clubface and back of LH control
Thanks for the note and play well
Mat
Aug 17, 2015 at 10:44 pm
It’s difficult to make small adjustments to single concepts because it takes a longer time. After you’ve beat a couple hundred balls, you wonder if it’s the adjustment or if you’re tired. Discipline like this is what separates players, and I try to have it… it is a very tough challenge.
OKMrazor
Aug 17, 2015 at 9:42 pm
I can’t fault this logic.
TR1PTIK
Aug 17, 2015 at 3:10 pm
I was having issues similar to that of your student – though exponentially worse – and while I was on the range yesterday I discovered that a small change in my setup and gripping the club a little stronger with my right hand (only) resulted in significantly better driving. I still don’t have the swing that I would like to have, but at least I can go out and shoot a reasonable score. Sometimes, that’s enough.