Ninety-five percent of leisure golfers lack a sound grip, says champion pro golfer Tom Watson. Learn how a good swing starts with a good grip in The Timeless Swing, by Tom Watson with Nick Seitz.
The grip may not be the most exciting fundamental to many of you — but it’s the most important. A good swing starts with a good grip. A bad swing starts with a poor grip.
I would say that 95 percent of the leisure golfers I see lack a sound grip. They’ll never be able to play to their potential or even close to it.
We’ll look at the three most popular grips: the Vardon overlapping grip, the interlocking grip, and the 10-finger grip. I use the Vardon grip because I feel the ring finger of the right hand is positioned better, allowing for better wrist hinging. The Vardon grip unifies the hands and helps them work together.
2. The Interlocking Grip
The little finger of the right hand interweaves with the index finger of the left hand. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods use this one. Jack believes it’s the most natural, solid grip.
3. The 10-Finger Grip
Also called the baseball grip. All 10 fingers are on the club. Its proponents believe it promotes easier wrist action, for one thing.
My Grip Advice
Your hands connect you to the club. You must put them on the club correctly. I would like to see you grip the club mainly with your fingers instead of your palms. Your fingers give you feel. If you reach into your pocket to pull out a coin, you feel it with your fingers. Also, you grip more lightly with your fingers than your palms. With a good grip, you can whip the clubhead through the ball faster, which means more distance.
In a proper grip, the left hand goes on first. When I was six years old, my dad put my hands on the club and the first thing he said was, “Son, turn that left hand over so you see two knuckles.”
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