Instruction
Golf 101: How to properly grip the golf club
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that a good grip is one of the cornerstones of a good swing. Clichés become clichés because they’re true, and putting your hands on the club is extremely important… for reasons you know, and for some reasons you probably haven’t heard before.
Let’s start with the big, obvious one you already know. Your grip establishes the default relationship between the clubface and the golf ball. If you set your grip in a way that promotes bringing the club back to impact open or closed, you’re going to have to do something else in your swing to compensate for that. In other words, a sound grip makes the job of squaring the club easier.
The less obvious reason that a good grip is important is speed. If you set the club in your hands correctly—so that the handle runs across the base of the fingers in your left hand and not across the palm—you’re giving your wrists much more freedom to move. This wrist “mobility” is what allows the final transfer of energy from the body to the club. A great swing thought is to envision that your wrist joints were just greased up. They should feel like they are unrestricted and “oily.”
Another less obvious problem caused by a bad grip is that it tends to perpetuate itself. If you have a bad grip and repeatedly make off-center contact on the clubface, the off-center hits will actually jar the face of the club more off-line, and you’ll hit it even more crooked. And the bad feeling those shots produce in your hands will cause you to continually adjust it. There’s no consistency or feel there. It’s like hitting a whole bunch of baseballs off the end of an aluminum bat on a 39-degree day. A recipe for pain.
To fix your grip, start with your left (top) hand. Set the handle along the first joints of your fingers, and hold it like you would carry a suitcase or briefcase by its handle.
When you get the grip in this position, you’re creating an angle (and a lever) between the club and your left arm, and you’re giving the wrist freedom to move. If you turned the handle so that it crossed your palm diagonally—like a putting grip—you’d immediately feel how your wrist would be much more restricted in how it could bend or turn. That’s why it’s great for putting—because it restricts how the face turns. But on a full swing, you want to take full advantage of the range of motion that comes from rotating from open to square. (this is what the club is designed to do!)
Get a firm grip on the handle with all of the fingers of your left hand and get as much of the thumbprint pushed onto the grip as you can. Now, place your right hand on the handle so that the underside of your right thumb covers the left thumb as much as possible, and get as much of the thumbprint on your right hand onto the top of the grip as possible.
Where you place your hand on the grip is more important than if you decide to interlock, overlap or play with all 10 fingers on the handle. I prefer the overlapping grip because it keeps the index finger of your left hand on the handle, and that extra finger can make a difference for many players.
If your grip isn’t great and you make these changes, it’ll definitely feel strange at first. But I’m betting that straighter and longer shots will make up for it.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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James J Gutierrez
Apr 22, 2020 at 1:07 pm
I have a question.
I am right handed in everything I do but my grip for a golf club is left hand down the shaft and right hand above. (Cross handed). I’ve tried changing grip to the natural right handed one but cannot do it at all. Would you recommend keep trying to learn to play the natural right handed way or play the way I feel a lot more comfortable?
Dr. Freud
Nov 1, 2018 at 3:45 pm
You should grip the club handle with your lower dominant hand the same way you hold your member when you pound it… 😮
Jr.
Nov 12, 2018 at 3:02 pm
Hairy palm grip??????
skip
Oct 24, 2018 at 3:35 pm
I dunno, his grip looks sloppy and in the palm.
steve
Oct 27, 2018 at 7:45 pm
He’s got fat-palmed hands… so thin grips fill his hand gripping style.
allanengineering
Oct 16, 2018 at 12:12 am
Michael and Brian sound so amateurish trying to explain Dr. Sasho’s scientific sham… so pathetic…
steve
Oct 24, 2018 at 12:50 am
If you understand the alpha-beta-gamma torques you have your golfswing aced… but it only applies to the lead hand/arm…. a one armed swing… lol
James
Oct 15, 2018 at 3:24 pm
A good grip starts with the right size grips! The most underlooked part of even most ‘high-end’ fittings. It’s ‘too hard’ to go through shafts/heads/loft/lie adjustments – then test 5 grip sizes. Not practical – yet we all know about the tour player with ’12 wraps under left hand & 5 1/2 under the Rt” (etc). We just LOVE the guy who needs mizuno’s – off the wall – but ‘with ONE extra wrap’ pulleeze…
I am constantly surprised when new students who can palm a basketball MAYBE have std midsize grips – or guys with 90+mph 6iron speed – who can crush walnuts in their paws come in with MUSHY winn oversize wraps! Ruin an otherwise good fitting….
Anyway, the STRONG HAND MUST BE positioned in a position to function – at speed as the article says based on Functional Human Anatomy & the size & shape of the head of the Radius bone. How much ‘on top’ of the lead hand’s thumb is relative to the person’s size , strength & rotational flexiblity – as well as the right platform to place the hands on.
geohogan
Oct 15, 2018 at 4:49 pm
5 different grip sizes is bound to change the SW.
Std grips are 50 grams and oversize up to 100 grams. That is serious counterbalancing, which will significantly change feel.
Many great ball strikers with large hands use(d) woman’s grips.
allan
Oct 16, 2018 at 12:07 am
Only if they have fat hands… and thin skinny hands may need oversized grips to fill the hand grip volume/
geo
Oct 19, 2018 at 9:01 pm
Control is the pinkie of the top hand.
Grip hand volume has nothing to do with control of a lever.
oversize grips work for some golfers because of the change in SW as a result of heavier weight at the butt end of the lever.
steve
Oct 24, 2018 at 12:39 am
The pinkie is the weakest of the all the fingers… and you depend on ‘control’ with that weakness??!!! The club is NOT a “lever”… it’s just a simple segment that flips over and around. Stop with the “lever” nonsense…!!!
geohogan
Oct 26, 2018 at 10:02 am
There is more than one way to swing a golf club for sure. Some like you are flippers… carry on.
steve
Oct 27, 2018 at 7:47 pm
…. and you don’t know the difference between kinematics and kinetics… btw it’s you who flips out… 😛
geohogan
Oct 26, 2018 at 10:09 am
Now you understand why a small diameter , womans grip is preferred by many.
It is easily controlled by a pinkie.
steve
Oct 27, 2018 at 7:51 pm
No… you need a bigger grip butt diameter to counteract the gamma torque which twists the club axially…. and the weak pinkie finger need a bigger grip butt end to apply more counter-torque. You are ignorant about shaft torque science.
the dude
Oct 15, 2018 at 8:14 pm
well done sir….
geohogan
Oct 15, 2018 at 11:31 am
But on a full swing, you want to take full advantage of the range of motion that comes from rotating from open to square. (this is what the club is designed to do!)
beg to differ. Our body turn is what causes the clubface to square not the club(or hands)
steve
Oct 16, 2018 at 12:15 am
The clubhead flips square because it’s eccentric from the shaft. It’s all in the hands and arms. The body will align the swing path only. Do I have to teach you everything?!!
geo
Oct 19, 2018 at 8:24 pm
Good luck squaring the clubface consistently with hands
when it impossible to even know where our hands or club is in space during the 1/4 second of DS and when impact is
5, 10,000th second.
Whereas we can rotate and consistently square the clubface to the target, SIDE ON.
steve
Oct 24, 2018 at 12:36 am
No… I didn’t say that duufus…. I said the eccentricity of the clubhead squares the hands and arms…. if you time it correctly with body aligned swing path. Jeez, you are non-scientific … lol
Tom
Oct 14, 2018 at 9:59 pm
Suggestions for next articles; tying ones golf shoes, teeing up the ball and how to use the ball washer….deep deep info…
geohogan
Oct 14, 2018 at 8:40 pm
The key to a good grip is establishing the proper fulcrum point. The proper fulcrum is fundamental to lag, IMO.
allanengineering
Oct 16, 2018 at 12:19 am
You are confusing a static fulcrum with dynamic torque pivot points. Sheesh, you are really engineering ignorant.
geo
Oct 19, 2018 at 8:58 pm
Lag increases radial acceleration
The proper fulcrum established by the hands
maximizes the kinetic energy of lag.
Ke=1/2mv2
Another example is the “one inch punch”
steve
Oct 24, 2018 at 12:44 am
What a pile of nonsense!!!!
Lag decreases accelerations because it interferes with the Kinetic Chain.
There is no “hand fulcrum” because you “release” the club approaching impact. There is no time to apply any hand leverage effectively.
What is the “one inch punch”… references?
geohogan
Oct 26, 2018 at 9:27 pm
Clubhead behind the hands at P6, means when arms decelerate (kinematic chain),
there is maximum (maximum radius) for radial acceleration of the clubhead to impact.
steve
Oct 27, 2018 at 7:40 pm
What is P6? Define “maximum radius”.
“decelerate” is a Kinetic Chain term… NOT kinematic!
Kinematics is positions… kinetics is energy. Sheesh you really lost it now.
Tom
Oct 14, 2018 at 6:57 pm
WOW, breathtaking!
steve
Oct 14, 2018 at 4:59 pm
How does the hand grip affect gamma torque? Thanks.
allan
Oct 16, 2018 at 12:03 am
…or…. how is gamma torque affected by the hand grip?
Greg V
Oct 14, 2018 at 8:41 am
Funny, I’ve never seen a really good professional golfer’s grip with the thumb on the top of the shaft.
I would also generally see more of the two knuckles on the left hand.
When your hands hang down naturally from your shoulders, they are not perfectly aligned. The left hand will be turned a bit to the right, while the right hand will be turned a bit to the left – if the arms are relaxed. They should be this way on the club as well.
But the most important thing, which few reveal, is that the left hand heel pad should be mostly on top of the club, not beside it.
JD
Oct 14, 2018 at 10:54 am
Fantastic and excellent review! The article is most beneficial a single We have knowledgeable, and contains served me personally. Hold on to undertaking of which
Don Underhill
Oct 13, 2018 at 8:25 pm
Picture shows a baseball grip with back of top hand facing target and back of lower hand facing the opposite way = a weak grip resulting in club face open at impact. Need to place club in fingers of top hand and position top hand to see 2 knuckles when looking down. Then interlock lower hand = a stronger grip that allows the club head to square at impact.
Kevin B
Oct 15, 2018 at 12:01 am
Unless the picture has changed, that isn’t a baseball grip. Are we looking at the same article? Also, are you trying to say using a weak or neutral grip means you cannot square the club up at impact?
Jeremy
Oct 15, 2018 at 1:53 pm
Way too weak of a left hand grip. Will encourage slicing which is the biggest problem in amateur golf. Why not at least recommend a neutral grip?
David B Tupper
Oct 13, 2018 at 6:06 pm
Decent article but cover topic thoroughly. Hands work together. They are parallel and backs of hands are vertical. Put your palms together as if praying, then separate them enough to allow room for club. Non-dominant hand goes on top – this is your steering wheel. Dominant hand goes below – this is your engine. Overlap, interlock, 10-finger baseball grip is personal choice. Grip pressure is light – just enough to keep from throwing club; as if holding a rabbit or a bird… firm enough to prevent escape but not so hard as to hurt it.
geohogan
Oct 15, 2018 at 8:02 pm
We keep a light grip and feel by using small diameter grips
A surgeon would not use scalpel the size of a baseball bat, nor do we use oversize pen.
steve
Oct 16, 2018 at 12:21 am
Then why do so many tour pros have extra wraps under the lower hand? Ever think of that?!!
geo
Oct 20, 2018 at 9:02 pm
Extra wraps of tape add weight .. counter balancing.
A softjoy golf glove adds 25 grams to the grip end. Ever think of how that changes swing weight?
Jack N said he added weight under his grips, as did Ben Hogan.
Bobby Jones’ hickery shafts were tapered solid wood, therefore counterbalanced. Ever think of that?
Chip
Oct 22, 2018 at 10:37 am
So you think the only reason people use extra wraps or midsize grips it to change swing weight? Because that’s not the case at all.
geohogan
Nov 9, 2018 at 3:02 pm
I am saying that golfers who think an oversize grip changes their stroke or ‘feel’ is simply because the grips size is larger are fooling themselves.
To prove it to yourself (because it means nothing to me that you dont believe this)
Measure Swing Weight of the putter with the original grip(a), then with the oversize grip(b). With oversize grip on, now add lead tape or other weights, to the putter head until the swing weight is back to the original(a) SW.
Now how does the putter work for you?
steve
Oct 24, 2018 at 12:48 am
But tape under the lower hand will be on the wrong side of your “counter balancing”… if you believe in “hand leverage” with the fulcrum between the hands. You are so disoriented in your analysis… lol
geohogan
Oct 26, 2018 at 10:37 am
The shaft is counterbalanced with weight at one end relative to the opposite end of the shaft.
Articulates like you will find any excuse to polarize.
steve
Oct 27, 2018 at 7:43 pm
Okay…. where is the “fulcrum” in your balance-counterbalance set of leverages of or on the shaft ?!!
Tiger Noods
Oct 16, 2018 at 6:32 am
I really hate to break it to you, but you can see through a simple amazon search that scalpels have widely varying grip sizes.
steve
Oct 27, 2018 at 7:54 pm
…. ouch ….!