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Mel Sole has 30 years experience teaching golf and is co-founder of Ritson-Sole Golf Schools, USA
www.ritson-sole.com

The grip is the most neglected element of the golf swing. As an instructor I see more bad grips than bad swings, and I have never seen a good player with a bad grip.

For reasons of clarity I will be referring to top hand and bottom hand rather than left or right. This is so the article can be understood by both left or right handed golfers.

The problem begins when the student is unsure of which of the three grips is best. Decide your body type - do you have strong hands and arms, or are you weak in that area, and are your fingers long and thin or short and pudgy ? This will determine the right grip for you.

The baseball or 10 finger grip is good for lady golfers and senior golfers who do not have a lot of strength in their wrists and forearms. This allows the lower hand to be a little more active through the hitting area helping rotation and resulting in straighter shots and more distance.

The Overlapping or Vardon grip (named after Harry Vardon) is the most popular grip and is suitable for most male golfers and female golfers with strong arms and wrists. This grip unifies the hands and helps them work as one unit.

The interlocking grip works well for people with short fingers and pudgy palms who find it difficult to get the small finger to overlap correctly or sufficiently. The small finger and index finger of the opposite hand interlock again unifying the hands in order to work as one unit. (Jack Nicklaus uses this grip)

The top hand position

The top hand needs to be placed on the club so that as you look down you can see two knuckles. The line formed by the thumb and the back of the hand is pointing to the right shoulder. (left shoulder for left handers)

The bottom hand is placed on the club with the palms adjacent to one another and the lines formed by the thumbs and the back of the hands are parallel to one another. The lifeline of the bottom hand fits snugly over the thumb of the top hand. The thumb and index finger of the bottom hand form a slight "trigger grip" with the tip of each finger touching.