Friday, November 30, 2007

Your Golf Grip - Are You Ruining It?

Here is probably something you see every day on the golf course or in the training range. People trying to change their golf grip. People asking each other how they grip the club and then trying to imitate it. And they still hit the ball lousy. But that constant changing of your golf grip may actually be the root of your problems on the golf course.

Why would we say that? Because there are only 3 basic golf grips and that is it! You have the Overlap grip, the 10 finger grip and the Vardon grip. Three grips, no more and no less. But you have problems driving the ball straight don't you?. It hooks, it slices, you top it, you shank it. Something is wrong and your grip just doesn't seem right. So you go looking for a better grip. The problem is you're just making things worse. Just because you grip doesn't feel right doesn't mean it is wrong.

The basic golf grip has just one basic function-that is to ensure that you grip the club in such a way that the clubface always strikes the ball square to the target. That allows the ball to be driven straight to where you want it to go. No more and no less. And yet, if your golf grip is perfect or proper then why do you still have problems?

A bad setup will make your grip seem like it just isn't right. If your swing is not correct, if it is not in the right swing plane, then you will drive the ball off course, not where you want it to go. And when that happens far too when many people start to blame their grip, trying to figure out why they are not hitting the ball squarely. Even if your grip IS set up to drive the ball squarely, the other problems will still create a bad shot. Trying to constantly re-do your grip can only lead to more and more problems.

Here is a good tip for you. Get yourself a good golf swing training aid that has a molded the golf grip on it. There are a number of them on the market that you can find very usually. You can also find molded golf grips that will slip right over your own golf club and ensure that you're sending your hands properly. That way you can eliminate your grip as the problem. Better yet, get yourself one of the golf clubs that break at a hinge when you swing them properly. These can also come with a built-in training grip that ensures your hands are in the proper position but will also break anywhere you have a flaw in your swing. This allows you to concentrate on your real problems and to correct.

Don't be one of those golfers who is constantly looking for the perfect golf grip. You may already have one now. You may actually be losing it if you're not careful. Once you get yourself a few golf lessons and understand how to grip the golf club perfectly, use a good training aid with a built-in grip to help you reinforce the perfect golf grip for you and concentrate on the other areas of your setup and golf swing. And watch your golf scores begin to drop.