Putting myself out of my misery

Of course putting (in place) and putting (in golf) are the same word, which is very neat. In my last post, I said I would simplify my putting by forgetting about grip and simply using tucked elbows to stabilise the club face and swing path on the short putts. First then, an update.

Using the ten finger, weak to neutral putting grip I used for many years felt good. I felt comfortable with long putts and for the short putts using the tucked elbows worked well. I still three-putted perhaps three times, but two of these were from 50 feet away where I left myself tricky 5 or 6 footers.

So, for putting I plan to continue with my basic grip and elbow technique. But now for the exciting news. I have come to a realisation about the grip I use for the full shots.

I thought I had a neutral grip, but after a comment from a playing partner and some research, I've had to acknowledge that my grip has got stronger, and is now the root cause of the hooks I'm hitting with driver and fairway woods, and pull shots with the shorter clubs, including wedges.

Luckily, the grip is one of relatively easy things to assess and fix. Simply by taking up grip at set up (club on the ground) and then lifting the club straight up (easiest to see with driver) you can tell if the club face is closed, square or open. If the club face points down (left) significantly (for righties) that's a closed club face and the position it will very likely be in at impact. The compensatory stand up move that hookers employ to stop the ball starting left will then create the club face to path relationship that will put hook spin on the ball.

The physics of side spin (ball flight laws) are now well known (thanks to Trackman et al.) so there is no guesswork in this. The main task for me is to correct my grip - to a true neutral position - and then get used to the new ball flight - having been warned about the likelihood of some pushes and cuts to start with until the new grip melds with the swing plane and body movements.

I'm happy about all of this - my hooking misery might, hopefully, be a thing of the past. My putting woes are probably far from over, but I reckon I'm finally on the right path there also.