Wednesday 3 January 2018

Neutrality

Tried a few things last round. Big realisation, however, there is no getting away from the value of a neutral grip (2 or so knuckles). A stronger grip works for some people; a weaker grip works for a very small number of people, but a neutral grip provides the best opportunity to develop and use a decent golf swing.

The path of the golf club is part of the equation. If you swing from the outside, a strong grip will only ensure you hit plenty of pulls and pull slices. If you swing inside-out with a strong grip, you will often be fighting a hook, and if that develops, a push will come into play. A decent swing path or plane and a neutral grip are definitely the safest way to go.

There are a lot of variables in the golf swing and a lot of compensations can be introduced to correct for the variables that are not (Adam Scott) perfect in execution. Even pros who hit thousand of golf balls will lose consistency if they are constantly trying to compensate for a swing fault (generally a  serious swing path deviation).

I'm not sure I have all the answers on how to develop a decent golf swing (though generally the correct plane is key), but I'm fairly sure I need to use a neutral golf grip and work on my other fundamentals - good connection, good body turn and release and proper weight transfer during the downswing (the front foot rule). And when things get tough, neutrality wins.