Right hand, Man!

For several weeks I've been messing around with my right-hand (trailing or lower hand) grip. In part, this stems from the ostensibly contrary view of CJ Goecks and the Perfect Golf-swing people who advocate a palm rather than a finger grip for the trailing hand.

This palm grip has two major consequences for the golf swing - one good and one bad - in my humble opinion. The bad consequence is so bad that I have come to the conclusion that the grip is too dangerous to use. I will elaborate.

Firstly, I should describe the palm grip. The club is held at the base of the fingers, that is, where the fingers join the palm. In contrast, a finger grip is where the club is held higher in the fingers, between the middle knuckles.

A palm grip causes or forces the trailing or lower hand to rotate under the club at address with the consequence that the trailing hand is now in what is referred to as a 'strong' position. A strong grip (in either hand) increases the tendency of the player to roll the wrists coming into impact - as a result of the compensatory or automatic adjustment that the hands make (courtesy of the brain's instructions).

This rolling of the wrists and hands closes the face of the club more than a less strong (a so called neutral or weak) grip. And although the resultant hook or draw spin might be just what was intended, the hook spin can be excessive, with the result being a disastrous low curving ball that doesn't even sniff the fairway or green.

The above scenario is about tendencies only. There are compensatory moves that can and are being made by good golfers who have strong grips. However, the main move that is needed is an active body rotation through the ball - not the easiest move for older and less agile (or skilful) golfers.

Before summing up, I should mention the positive outcome of a strong lower hand grip. This is the encouragement that such a grip gives to the golfer to keep the trailing elbow down on the backswing and close to the hip on the downswing. The positioning of the right elbow is very important. It is one of the few common elements identifiable in the swing of good golfers, because it indicates a downswing plane that is from the inside - rather than from outside or over-the-top swing plane that is common in poorer golfers. There is an added bonus in having your trailing elbow in sound positions: it feels good and powerful.

My desire to develop a sound swing plane and to make sure I close the clubface at impact were the two main reasons I chose to experiment with the strong lower hand grip. The lower hand grip experiment helped to reinforce my view that the trailing elbow position is crucial, however, it also revealed to me the dangers inherent in such a grip (mainly out of control hooks).

What I will have to do now is adopt what will probably be a neutral to strong grip for both hands and find a way to ensure that my trailing elbow finds the correct positions in my swing. I also need to remember to swing down and out through the ball - not always the easiest thing to do - but essential nonetheless.