The Finger Golf Grip is a hugely important element contributing to the consistency, strike, direction and shape of your ball flight with the majority of clubs in your golf bag. As a coach to new golfers  through to the England Regional squad and Essex Ladies County members, I constantly ensure the player spends time checking and understanding the crucial elements of the hold and how it can impact their game.

There are “three” coached grips which are all perfectly correct but do fulfil different requirements for the player from smaller fingers through to any medial issues. A new player will often take a few sessions to decide which type of hold they prefer, I often have clients who return after practising who have inadvertently migrated to either the Overlapping, Baseball or Interlocking grip without realising!

This preference does not concern me but one key element that does is to ensure the handle is held predominately in the fingers of the left hand (right-handed player) The image below clearly shows the positioning of the handle clearly running across the fingers which is vital for the most effective hinging of the wrist and transfer of power within the swing. A misplaced left hand can also cause the clubface to close (grooves pointing downwards) during the backswing often resulting in compensatory movements during the swing.

Finger grip

The big give away for a palm held grip is wear and tear of the pad of the glove caused by movement and friction during the swing, also resulting in a costly Pro-Shop bill! The problem is for many players this is the most comfortable but as we know over time will become second nature.

I would advise if you are undergoing a grip change and are practising at the range, try not to use the pop up tees instead work on your grip routine each time picking a ball from the bucket each time rather than “scraping” it from the tray.

Just be patient when making a grip change, it will be worth it in the long run and assist with your shot making skills right through the bag