How Your Grip can screw up your whole game

3 part video series of how a bad grip can contaminate your whole game from the swing to pitching and bunker shots.
This key fundamental of golf is one that is often over looked by golfers and even coaches. Why??? it feels uncomfortable to change, you will usually hit a few bad shots before good ones.
Trust me that if you get the grip wrong, the clubface will not be square and then a whole lot of compensations need to be made to be able to hit it straight and solid

Have you or your coach checked your grip lately?? If it doesn't look like this one below, then you should consider changing it. Your clubface is an extension of your hands and your clubface effects the direction of the ball



I hope my videos can highlight the evil effects this can have on your game

Part 1 is the effect on your swing and weight shift



Part 2 is the effect on the pitching



Part 3 shows the effects on bunker shots

Great stuff! Coincidentally, just had a discussion with a friend on my problem of always opening club face upon impact. His suggestion was to review grip and I absolute agreed after making an adjustment. Had difficulty contacting the ball well due to uneasy new grip chnge but from practice swings, I noticed that the club face now squares automatically rather than having the need for my wrist/hands to work on closing the club face.

Think your post just reaffirmed this belief (of cos grip may not be my only problem but well, let's cure one problem at a time). THanks RSS!

Will try to practice this new change and hope it helps improve my game big time.

yeah, great stuff.... very helpful..


Thanks...

R S Coach, I must compliment you for coming out with this thread, you are the one of the most selfless, honest and no BS golfing coach i have come across !

For those who need a coach... This is the MAN! who is willing to share and part his knowledge !

Cheers

p.s. I have no connection or any interest what so ever, or ever taken or intend to have a lesson with him. (as i have my own coach, incidentally, also a GR resident coach) Just a old timer observation who have been around in golfing arena for a long time.(if it worth any salt)

hey Coach,


Just one question, fm the pics, does the left hand grip at the fingers or across the palm?

I used to do it at the fingers....but flip too much upon connect......and tat gave me problem.

I just changed to the palm, and felt that its more stable upon connect.

Am I right or just perception only ?

great stuff... thanks for the tips..

Good stuff!!! .... I used to be a victim of the "GRIP".... the "GRIP" gave me blisters and hours of suffering and pain..

After reviewing my grip 2 mths ago.. my swing became more consistent and no more blisters even after hitting up to 400 balls in the range..

Thanks Paul for the great video....I'm sure many newbies like myself will benefit from this..

You da man RSC!

And so very right!

A very important fundamental I have overlooked many times too. Fiddled with everything else but the grip, only to discover by accident that all I had to do was get both hands on the club right.

Could this be one of the main reasons (among other contributing factors) that one strikes the ball well one day, only to find the very next day one can hardly launch it?

yupyup...absolutely right.

been having alot of probs with the grip lately and good days and bad days are at its extreme ends. gonna cont experimenting!

thx for the tips!

tell me abt it. it was an absolute pain to change my grip after soooo long. =D. but glad i did it.

The follow up video showing how the new grip has improved the swing and particularly the bunker shots.

I have a question for RSC. For the RSS, do you start with your hips or with your hands?

From the videos of the RSS, it seems like the arms leading to the turning of the hips rather than the hips leading the swing of the arms......or am I wrong?

What is the swing plane for RSS? is it inside out or outside in?

can see from the follow up video that the arms can rotate better thru impact

and68low wrote:

R S Coach, I must compliment you for coming out with this thread, you are the one of the most selfless, honest and no BS golfing coach i have come across !

For those who need a coach... This is the MAN! who is willing to share and part his knowledge !

Cheers

p.s. I have no connection or any interest what so ever, or ever taken or intend to have a lesson with him. (as i have my own coach, incidentally, also a GR resident coach) Just a old timer observation who have been around in golfing arena for a long time.(if it worth any salt)

As a student of RSC I can confirm this to be my experience as well. The knowledge I have gained about the game from him in 1 year has been more valuable and helpful that what I had in my previous 15 years of golfing journey. This videos about grip was the same problem I had for years but no other coach I tried could fix my swing. The success his students are having in tournaments and the rapid improvements I see with even beginners he teaches confirms to me I chose the right coach. Look forward to more videos and my next lesson.

hi rsc, thanks for the post. very interested in all things grip...have few qs if I may

Is the grip shown in pic considered a neutral or weak grip? Left hand cleft looks like pointing to left shoulder, right hand cleft pointing to chin/head, is this a correct observation?

Should the V (thumb-index) of both hands point to same directions?

What are your views on the effects of using a strong left/right hand grip? Is it just a compromise to deal with (or put band aid on) an outside path?

Does the grip work hand in hand with swing path? e.g. does neutral grip + inside path result in straight or draw? strong grip + outside path produce fade (ala Trevino), strong grip + inside path gives hook (like the old Hogan) etc etc

thank you!

pushslice wrote:

hi rsc, thanks for the post. very interested in all things grip...have few qs if I may

Is the grip shown in pic considered a neutral or weak grip? Left hand cleft looks like pointing to left shoulder, right hand cleft pointing to chin/head, is this a correct observation?

Should the V (thumb-index) of both hands point to same directions?

What are your views on the effects of using a strong left/right hand grip? Is it just a compromise to deal with (or put band aid on) an outside path?

Does the grip work hand in hand with swing path? e.g. does neutral grip + inside path result in straight or draw? strong grip + outside path produce fade (ala Trevino), strong grip + inside path gives hook (like the old Hogan) etc etc

thank you!

The grip pictured is considered a neutral grip. Here are some pics of what we consider weak and strong grips





I believe the grip will effect what the wrists do in the swing which will dictate what the club face is going to do. From a bad club face, your path will then be effected to try to square up the club face at impact. An example is a player with an open club face. These players will generally come down from the outside to pull the ball left and stop it going right. They generally have a weak grip. Vice versa for a strong grip.

There are many variations to these examples as golfers learn to do strange things with their wrists arms and bodies to compensate. The players you mention all have different grips, paths and ball flights which is fine and they were all great players with a lot of talent and hours and years of practice to make their swings work efficiently. I believe as a coach it is best to get the club face and the body angles correct so that you can minimise the need for these compensations.

Recent example of a poor grip and club face was Dustin Johnson at the US Open. His left wrist is so bowed and clubface so closed that it was guaranteed to fail under the pressure of a major championship. Funny to hear his coach (Butch Harmon) say that he would never fix that part of his swing. The guy is so talented and a great player but what if.......

These things are what are termed fundamentals but unfortunately I see too many golfers that have taken lessons and their coach has never fixed the primary cause of their swing problem which is the grip/clubface. They will then go on to work on things not relevant such as timing, rythym, mental, need to practice more, not flexible enough, not strong enough, turn more, transfer weight more, keep your head down...etc.

I like to fix the basics which will then fix all the other problems without even trying to fix them. Its all cause and effect.

The next video I will post is a player with a very weak grip and extremely open clubface. She was previously instructed to just flip her wrists over more. She took 10 lessons elsewhere and couldn't hit it. Her swing was fixed in 3 lessons just by changing her grip. Stay tuned

Here's the example of the Weak Grip and Open clubface combination. A common fault with slicers and those that hit the ball too high with no distance

Hi RS_Coach,

What is the most ideal movement of the body when initiating an upswing? The left shoulder initate the start of the upswing or your left arm? Or both shoulders and arms in synchronization (without breaking the wrist)?

Thanks.

Cheers,
Turbo

Turbo wrote:

Hi RS_Coach,

What is the most ideal movement of the body when initiating an upswing? The left shoulder initate the start of the upswing or your left arm? Or both shoulders and arms in synchronization (without breaking the wrist)?

Thanks.

Cheers,
Turbo

Hi Turbo
I believe you are referring to the sequence. Sequence is a term we use to describe the order of movement in the golf swing. More specifically it relates to the sequential order of 1. club head, 2. shaft, 3. hands, 4. arms, 5. torso, and 6. lower half in the backswing and the reversed order of these parts in the downswing.

The club head moves first. It has to move first, it is on the end of the circle. What moves the club head then? Movements of the arms and wrists start the club head moving. Moving the arms in the right direction pulls the body into a turn.

Teaching students to move their arms in the right direction is the best way to give students the feeling of correct motion.

Teaching “Impact first” and pushing drills enables students to get the feeling of impact, correct setup angles, and how the motion begins (sequence).

If the student pushes or leans the shaft with the correct body angle the takeaway or initial movement of the clubhead can almost be described as a recoil.

Of course this is made possible only from the correct set up angles and relates to the RSS.

Other types of swings will advocate different sequences and motions so be careful not to mix up

Hi RS_Coach,

Many thanks for your prompt reply.

I find it hard to initiate the upswing with the arms & wrist, I initiate the upswing by moving the shoulders & arms synchronically by a one-piece movement without breaking my wrist. I find it hard to get consistency by using arms/wrist/hands to pull the club away from the ball. Even Tiger Woods and famous swing coach like David Leadbetter advocate the one-piece movement.

Turbo wrote:

Hi RS_Coach,

Many thanks for your prompt reply.

I find it hard to initiate the upswing with the arms & wrist, I initiate the upswing by moving the shoulders & arms synchronically by a one-piece movement without breaking my wrist. I find it hard to get consistency by using arms/wrist/hands to pull the club away from the ball. Even Tiger Woods and famous like David Leadbetter advocate the one-piece movement.

Isn't "One piece" what they use to call those horrible swimsuits that ladies use to wear back in the day. Give me the 2 piece bikini anyday

The one piece thing is something that I hear talked about but not actually done in reality by the best players. You mention Leadbetter whos most famous student is Nick Faldo. Watch this video below and it is clear that he is getting the club moving by hinging the wrists, not lifting the shoulders and arms in one piece.



Tiger use to advocate this one piece takeaway as well but his new swing has changed a lot away from this. Here is his new vs old swing.

New swing - More hinge and not so wide


Old Swing - Much wider with less hinge and different turn of the shoulders



This is just my observations but at the end of the day if you are happy with your ball striking and your swing works for you then keep doing it!!

For the benefit of those who do not know what is meant by one-piece upswing movement. Here is a video of a almost flawless swing:

Turbo wrote:

Hi RS_Coach,

Many thanks for your prompt reply.

I find it hard to initiate the upswing with the arms & wrist, I initiate the upswing by moving the shoulders & arms synchronically by a one-piece movement without breaking my wrist. I find it hard to get consistency by using arms/wrist/hands to pull the club away from the ball. Even Tiger Woods and famous swing coach like David Leadbetter advocate the one-piece movement.

Sorry Turbo, I may have misinterpreted your original description of your takeaway. Moving the shoulders and arms in one piece without breaking the wrists to me would look like the example below. Very difficult to create leverage and power with this type of takeaway. Hence the Faldo drill example. This students swing thought was also a one piece takeaway.



You can see this move give no hinge in the wrists and a very wide takeaway which means you will need to create power by other means, namely more turn and more movement

I would hinge my wrist naturally and gradually like the video on TW's swing. I don't break my wrist abruptly. David Leadbetter would make it a point to hinge almost 90 deg when the club is up to waist level. That is why his students like Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman execute the upswing that way.

Cheers,
Turbo

Yes, this is what we do in the RSS as well. It is not one piece however. It is as I described in the original answer to your question

"The club head moves first. It has to move first, it is on the end of the circle. What moves the club head then? Movements of the arms and wrists start the club head moving. Moving the arms in the right direction pulls the body into a turn."

So its sounds like you are doing this subconsciously which is great. It happens naturally if the grip and set up is correct.