Golf Tips » December 2003: Your grip may be the cause of your off line shots!

I recently gave a lesson to a son of one of my regular students in Mexico. He mentioned to me that he had a tendency to hit the ball very high and weakly to the right with most of his shots. While watching him warm up, I was impressed with his swing and wondered why he had this problem. My original thought (and most common reason) was that he was breaking down with his left arm and not releasing correctly through the ball. Although as I watched him, I could see that this was not the case, as he had a very good extension and release down the line. My eyes then focused on the top of his backswing, and I could immediately see the problem!

At address he had a neutral grip, that is, with only one knuckle showing on his top hand. (picture #1)

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However, at the top of his backswing he “cupped” his wrist, causing the clubface to open with the toe of the club pointing down to the ground. (picture #2)

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This resulted in an open clubface at impact causing his off line shots.

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By making his grip stronger with two knuckles showing on his top hand (picture #3), it immediately set the clubface square at the top of the swing with the leading edge of the clubface at 45 degrees to the ground (picture #4).

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This allowed him to square the clubface more easily and, without changing anything else in his swing, he immediately started to hit the ball straighter and longer. If you fade or slice the ball this might be the answer you are looking for.

If you are hooking the ball your clubface may be closed at the top of the backswing with the clubface facing the sky (picture #5).

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Check that you do not have too strong a grip with more than 2 knuckles showing (picture #6).

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The solution here would be to weaken your grip slightly to a 2 knuckle grip allowing the clubface to be more square at the top of the swing and ultimately at impact.

It all boils down to the fact that the leading edge of the clubface must be at 45 degrees to the ground at the top of the swing. Get someone to check your clubface at the top of the backswing (it is difficult for you to do this on your own unless you use a mirror) and by correcting this position you will be on your way to hitting straighter shots without changing anything else in your swing!