Instruction
Many good golf swings are ruined by tension
There is an old saying in golf instruction that goes like this: “You have to give up control to gain control.”
From a golf mechanics standpoint, it means that if your grip pressure is light and your arms are relaxed, the club will move more naturally and the golf ball will respond more favorably than if you had more tension in your body.
I see a lot of golfers ignore this idea and squeeze the club very tightly, with lots of forearm tension, and impose their own will on the club in an attempt to make it move a certain way. And more often than not, it’s the wrong way. If you just setup and let everything hang relaxed, the club face will naturally swing open going back find its way back to square at impact.
Let’s look at an example.
Recently, I had my first lesson with a really good player who competed in high school and college on accomplished teams. After graduation he got a job, got married and became successful at something other than golf.
Now, having some time to work on his game, this player wants to improve and be as good as or better than the collegiate version of himself. As we hit some shots and I watched his swing, it became apparent that he tense over the ball. I noticed the veins in the forearms popping out and his hands were squeezing the club. It was like he was gripping a live snake. The result of this was that he “imposed his own will” on the club and it went back dramatically shut with the face of the club pointing too much into the ground.
The outcome was shots that started left and went left. Looking at the data, shots Nos. 5-9 clearly show the face pointing way left at impact. Both the ball angles and spin axis show a heavy left bias.
So what we attacked was his grip and arm pressure, and I explained how that was restricting the club as it went back. The results of the simple changes in these two areas was immediately visible in the ball flight and showed up in the data on shots Nos. 1-4 on the FlightScope screen. Everything we wanted to change improved.
This player’s club went from a left bias at impact to slightly right and his ball angles moved from too far left to slightly right on most shots. Since he was “letting go” with the hands and arms, the club face was able to open and close in a more natural pattern, and he was able to produce quality shots that didn’t start start left and go farther left.
Most golfers can learn from this, and you should learn to relax when you set up to the golf ball. Tension will restrict your club face from working how it should, and it will affect your ball flight, and your scores. So, lighten up!
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Instruction
Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?
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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Instruction
The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic
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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Instruction
Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!
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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Me too
Nov 13, 2015 at 6:13 pm
Sounds just like me! Minus the college golf;) Just like your student, when I ease up on my grip & arm pressure, it slows everything down and I’m able to get out of the way of my swing. Great tip.
Matto
Nov 13, 2015 at 4:26 am
Many good golf swings are ruined by me.
Chip
Nov 13, 2015 at 12:40 am
Great article Rob. I totally agree with tension killing the swing. I am curious- On a scale of 1 to 10, how light should someone hold the club?
Pingback: Is tension ruining your otherwise good golf swing? | GolfJay
Carlos Danger
Nov 12, 2015 at 4:11 pm
Sometimes a lil “samson” will cure your tense swing. Actually, it will cure alot of things…
Poppa
Nov 13, 2015 at 12:02 am
I want to talk to Samson
Al385
Nov 12, 2015 at 3:00 pm
That’s the story of my life. Great article.
NC
Nov 12, 2015 at 11:27 am
How did you attack his grip and arm pressure? Did you change his grip? Use a larger grip? Swing thoughts? Curious to know what worked for him. I realize everyone is different but would be interested in knowing what helped his situation. Cheers.
BigWednesday96
Nov 12, 2015 at 1:25 pm
This is such great advice. Not only can these suggestions help to improve your swing and ball flight immediately, it can also help in the prevention of injuries. I’ve struggled with too much tension in my swing for many years (mostly brought on by overdoing grip pressure). Elbow and shoulder injuries resulted. For me – the first step in alleviating the tension was to get properly fitted for grips. Most of us mid-high handicappers simply assume that standard grips are fine. My hand size is a bit larger than average and I discovered mid-size grips with a couple of extra tape wraps was what I needed. I no longer had to “strangle” the club in order to feel I had a secure grip.
MQ
Nov 12, 2015 at 6:35 pm
Getting fit for the right size grips seems to be hugely overlooked. I was recently fit for a new set of irons and it appears I’ve been using grips that are way too small for me. I definitely had a tendency to grip the club way too tight, which is alleviated now that I’ve moved to a midsize grip. I feel much more comfortable holding the club and I’m striking the ball solidly much more consistently.