Grip it and top it

A strange experience recently when I decided to mess with my grip - and go back to hitting draws.

For some months, I have been deliberately hitting fades and, mainly for that reason, losing distance. And by losing some distance, maybe up to 30 yards with driver, I was making it much more difficult to reach the longer holes or even position myself with the shorter par 4s or par 5s.

Now this wouldn't have been a big problem if my short game had been in good shape - but it wasn't.

Anyway, I decided the other day that I needed to strengthen my grip and start hitting draws, basically with every club, and only excepting on holes that require a fade. I know there are alternative ways to hit a draw but, personally, I find that pre-setting my grip strong and just aligning right (right-hander) works quite well. The swing doesn't change otherwise.

There is a change in the 'feeling' of the swing however. It feels more powerful and, at the same time, it feels like there is no need to force the swing. The flight path change and spin created produce extra distance with no extra effort.

But I did more than change my grip, I also increased my turn on the backswing. This did require some extra effort, though I achieved this by freeing up my front foot to lift slightly at the top of the backswing. This is a work in progress, so I did not achieve total consistency with this, but the results were very good.

The grip change together with the extra turn (and lengthening of the swing) allowed me to find the 30 yards off the tee that I had lost. It also allowed my to find quite a bit of distance with my fairway woods. The only problem came with short irons where I seemed to have upset my usual weight transfer method, failing to get back to my front foot, and hitting some thin iron shots as a result.

There are dangers in hitting a draw: the extra curve that you don't want (the snap-hook risk) and even the extra run that can mean your ball runs into trouble. But I think the benefits outweigh the dangers and I'm going to continue on this path for a while. I just hope I can grip it and rip it and avoid the dreaded tops.