How tight should you grip the club? Here’s what the data says

You might think that the way you hold the club is important. (Actually, it is.) But our research shows that how much you wrap your mitts around the handle — or how easily — makes the real difference.

We tested a dozen Tour pros, cutters, hooks and top handicappers using special grips to record pressure and found that how much pressure you put on different parts of the swing is what separates great shots from ones you’d rather forget. Too strong? Too little? The answers, simply, make sense in finding the middle of the fairway or green or looking for that Titleist owner lost in the fescue. This is not a matter of grabbing it and tearing it apart.

Read on to perfect your bugaboo ballflight forever.

How we did it

My team at the Golf Lab (thank you, Jonny Collins and Carson Hau) in Toronto analyzed 7 iron swings of four different groups of golfers: 1) professionals, 2) golf cutters, 3) hookers and 4) hand-handcappers, they are very focused. only in pressure to hold with six key points in the swing. To collect data we used the services of a launch monitor, GEARS Motion Capture, SwingCatalyst 3D Motion Plate and—most importantly—SensorGrips installed on premium LA Golf shafts (above). We shot full swings and those used for high and low pitch shots from 50 yards. As you can see just by looking at the results below, good golfers press the grip very differently than most weekend golfers.

Full study summary

1. Despite all the dynamics involved in the swing, professional golfers vary the grip pressure perfectly from start to finish – the way Tiger Woods described it.

2. Professionals stress a lot on setup. This is especially impactful when you consider how strong a Tour player’s hands are compared to those found in the golf community.

3. Weekend players, often, fail to squeeze the club enough in the setup and early backswing positions.

4. Regardless of skill level, the lead hand grip pressure is, without a doubt, the dominant force generator in the swing.

The expert

The grip pressure profiles of the professionals we measured in this study were remarkably consistent from player to player. As you can see in the graph above, experts are pushing the handle hard on the address [1]—are almost twice as strong as members of other groups (especially with the leading hand). Good golfers are known for mastering the clubface. Their ability to do that starts with a good squeeze before they swing the club back. Strong initial pressure is also consistent with the tendency of the better player to power his backswing through body rotation. They simply grip and swing, while poor golfers tend to lift the club with their hands and wrists, which may explain why their grip pressure on the set is so low.

The champion increases the pressure as he reaches the top of the backswing [2]. These findings suggest that this increased initial pressure is what allows the pro to properly set up his backswing without jumping, dropping the club or crossing the line.

What’s interesting is that the pro grip pressure drops as soon as he starts down [3]. This fuels what is often described as the “magic swing” sought by golfers. Combining this pressure drop with body rotation (as in the target) is what causes the club to enter a powerful flight, creating easy speed.

Following the drop there is a second pressure rise [4], about when the lead arm moves from parallel to downward to impact. Dr. Sasho MacKenzie, one of golf’s leading golf experts, teaches that the most effective way to create power is to pull lengthwise along the shaft, “as if you were holding a club.” The appearance of this second pressure peak supports his findings.

As the technician approaches, his hand pressure remains remarkably steady [5]unlike some clubs we have found to be less pressing or lighter as they swing the ball – another reason better players are able to control the clubface through impact.

The cutter

The only comfort you can take as a cutting golfer is that you are not alone! Cutters represent a large portion of the golfing population. Our research on grip pressure throughout the swing explains why so many are stuck with a persistent, left-to-right swing of the ball. Hope: There is hope. The data shows that if you can adjust the feel of your hands, from setup to impact, you can straighten your shots – and add yards – once and for all. But first, let’s see what you’re doing wrong.

Like all of the other non-professional teams we looked at in this study, cutters are guilty of holding the club slightly at address. [1]. Sam Snead once said that you should hold the handle “as if you were holding a small bird.” Remember that Sam shook hands with the miner.

Another big revelation from our research is that cutters add a lot more pressure to the hand of the route [2] as they start down from the top – the exact opposite of professional golfers, who reduce grip pressure in this part of the swing. If you look at this set of data points, and you’ve trained hundreds of cutters, it’s this extra application of force from the lane that pushes the club into flight, leading to the outside path and swing across the golf ball.

Then, another mistake: After increasing the grip pressure from the top of the backswing, the cutters suddenly lose the swing during the downswing (the lead arm is parallel to the ground), reducing the force applied to the club when it should grow. [3].

Fix: First, squeeze the club hard with your left hand, not both hands. When it’s time to switch from a backswing to a downswing, feel the right-hand grip pressure relax, or let go, of the club. Start with slow practice swings to get the right feel, then try smooth 7 irons and slowly work your way up. Ultimately, it should feel like the club is following you in your transition. It’s strange at first, but this is the secret of power and precision.

It’s a hook

When I first started coaching 20 years ago, hooking the ball was a rare problem for most golfers. Recently, however, my fellow Top 100 Teachers and I have been seeing an increase in it. Lee Trevino’s great line “you talk to the fade but the hook won’t listen” always rings true, but hookers can boast that their grip pressure profile is more like a pro than any other segment of the population. . Just a few subtle changes will make all the difference in the world.

First, let’s address some issues. Like cutters and high-handicappers, hook pressure at address is still much lower than the pros but not as low as most weekend golfers. [1].

But similar to the cutter swing, hooks tend to increase grip pressure as soon as they start down from the top. [2]. (Remember that the benefits actually reduce the grip stress on this part of the throw, resulting in the “magic motion.”)

Looking beyond the pressure data provided by the SensorGrips, our GEARS data on this small group of golfers showed that the hooks produced the least amount of body rotation as they started down from the top. We’ll save that for another story.

Moving forward: From lead arm parallel in the backswing to shaft parallel at impact, the hooks really start to tone the lead arm’s pressure. [3]. In my opinion, this is what causes the club to move forward on the back of the golf ball (as in, too inside-out). You are now officially a resident of Hook City.

To top it off, the hooks increase their hand pressure just before impact [4]. They feel very inside, so they squeeze hard with the bottom hand in a last ditch effort to cut the face. What they get instead is a hook.

Fix: Press the handle harder with your lead hand to set. Then, press harder as you make your backswing. As you transition from the backswing to the downswing, quickly rotate your hips in the direction you are aiming while relaxing your lead hand and pushing with your trailing hand. Goodbye, hook.

A high-handicapper

Sorry, disabled. The truth is, as it pertains to grip pressure, you’re doing it all wrong—and back off! This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but for the first time—thanks to our grip data—you can learn how adjusting the feel in your hands can help you hit better shots. To begin, let’s talk about what is causing your shooting woes.

First, your route hand. High-handcappers are the only subset of golfers who use more pressure with their fairway hand than they do with the lead. [1]. Again, completely backwards.

Second, from half-way through backswing to impact, high handicappers (as we found out with the GEARS data) tend to hold on for dear life, forcing the club to move faster than the body. It’s the exact opposite of what a pro does, which, from top to top, swings the body first (swinging) the club back with a suit.

All that extra tension in the hands during the descent [2] eventually causing the muscles in your upper body to tighten, hindering your ability to perform the correct sequence (hips, shoulders, arms, club) and decreasing the required clubhead speed.

Also, more pressure on the hand of the route [3] (on the order of eight times what the master uses) contradicts what many teachers, including myself, have learned from Dr. MacKenzie, which means that most of the energy from the late impact impact should be used in the lead hand grip. so it can pull it lengthwise and have an effect. (Again, like you’re ripping it off the shaft.) I repeat: it’s wrong and I back off completely.

Fix: Squeeze the handle harder with your lead hand and keep your trailing hand relaxed. Throughout your backswing, try not to change your grip pressure anywhere. Put it in the address, and take care of it. And just before you start over, rest your hands. This gives your body a chance to turn and lead the club at impact instead of following it.

Liam Mucklow is a GOLF Top 100 instructor and founder of Golf Lab (mygolflab. com), headquartered in Toronto with 11 locations worldwide, including Liam’s base in Baton Rouge, La.