Hold Pressure

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Moe Norman/ Ben Hogan/ Byron Nelson etc

Moe was quoted to say he holds the left hand tight, very tight.

Hogan, not sure, I suspect he was of the firm then light.

Okay, many say Moe was a short hitter. Did his holding tight of the left hand hinder clubhead speed for his lack of distance?

What advantage or disadvantage is there in holding tight with the left over the right?

Moe was extremely accurate, did that play a role as well?

Having a correct position hold is critical. How much does grip (hold) pressure hold the hammer on most swings.

Its seems to me that a firmer to tight hold with the left hand (speaking about right hand players here) would give more control and the better ability to really go after it with the right side with out steering. Plus would it help with the ol double cross as well.

I also heard that Long Drive players have gone more to firmer holding then the light hold that was thought to have produced longer shots of old.
 
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If you hold a club loosely with the left hand, the subconscious senses "Oops, I can't swing very hard or I'll lose the club!" But you can send the opposite message to the subconscious by the opposite procedure: by really holding tight with your fingers you "give permission" to RIP it ("grip it and rip it...") secure in the assurance that you WON'T lose the club. And firm fingers to not translate into tight or inflexible wrists at all.

So hold on tight and let 'er rip. Surprising how subtle things like this can be so important.
 
Perfect Impact said:
If you hold a club loosely with the left hand, the subconscious senses "Oops, I can't swing very hard or I'll lose the club!" But you can send the opposite message to the subconscious by the opposite procedure: by really holding tight with your fingers you "give permission" to RIP it ("grip it and rip it...") secure in the assurance that you WON'T lose the club. And firm fingers to not translate into tight or inflexible wrists at all.

So hold on tight and let 'er rip. Surprising how subtle things like this can be so important.

PI Are you the same one that knew Mike Austin? What was his hold per hand? Light school or firm to strong hold school? Being he used his wrist differently then most modern players.


The wrist's if they know what there role is should do there job better on the firm side then light. Now are we talking firmer with the left then the right?

Moe was very tight with left. Does anyone know if he was light or somewhat firm with the right also?

In some print, some pros stated equal pressure in both hands, but it seems that maybe this is not the case with regards to grip hold. I find this hold maybe as huge as alignment in performing much in the golf swing.
 
I personally use a tighter grip and it's pretty even through both hands. On a scale of 1-10 i'm close to 7. I agree that firm fingers do not translate into tight or inflexible wrists although "shouldn't" might be the keyword. I'm sure if you asked some golfers to take a tighter grip it would lead to tension in the wrists and shoulders but that can be overcome with practice.
 
Mike did not advocate holding the club tight. But understand that with his massive strength - unbelievablly large forearms - for him a "one" would be a "nine" for a lady...

I don't recall any distinction between right and left hand pressure... I do seem to recall he taught people to allow the right hand completely to come off the club after impact as a drill--and I discovered this myself when with an injured middle finger in my right hand I could NOT hold the club at all: I simply laid my right palm against the right side of the shaft and left hand. Works just fine, thank you. I STILL HIT BALLS on the course with minimal contact of the right fingers. Usually a two finger overlap, or three! Boy that makes wristcock easier!
 
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PI,

What kind of distance would you get with double overlap or TRIPLE OVERLAP compared to a single overlap?

Matt
 
I don't quantify my differences, except that if I do HOLD the club with the fingers of the right hand, 1) that hand simply can't bend back to permit the fuller acute angle of wristcock as with more overlap, and 2) there is less resistance to the uncocking because there is absolutely nothing squeezing the club IN that hand. It is about comfort and ease more than distance per se, except that if I were 40 years younger, hence stronger and much more flexible, I bet the quantification would amount to at least 10%.
 
Don't squeeze!

My grip pressure varies and changes a little from backswing to downswing. At address and takeaway the pressure is light, with relaxed hands. On the downswing my hands and fingers react to the momentum of the club and automatically clamp down. The main pressure is always on the middle two fingers of both hands. There is almost no pressure on the right index finger and thumb. I would say that most of the pressure is on the ring fingers with the middle fingers coming in a close second. :)
 
PI,

So you reckon if circumstances were different you might hit the ball 10% FARTHER with a double overlap!?

Matt
 
There is no question that I do hit the ball farther with less right hand holding onto the clubshaft. Funny, just tonight something on one of the forums sent me to a Greg Norman statement where he or a follower intentionally removes pressure from his thumb and forefinger; and of course, Hogan is legendary for pointing out the damage of right thumb pressure.

Double or whatever overlap is not the issue: less right hand on the club IS. I use the base of my right wristbone to do everything that hand needs to do. A tennis pro pupil of mine in golf remarked to me how similar that is to how he taught his pupils to smash the ball.
 

hcw

New
try this...

take your grip on the club (interlocking, overlap, baseball, doesn't matter) and hold your arms at shoulder level out in front of you with the shaft pointed straight up...now remove the middle, ring, and little fingers of the lead hand as well as the index finger and thumb of the trail hand off the club...you can now squeeze as hard as you like with the remaining five fingers and still easily cock/bend the wrists...add back EITHER the middle, ring, and little fingers of the lead hand OR the index finger and thumb of the trail hand, squeeze hard and you can still have wrist cock/bend (albeit not as freely or as extensive)...if you add back BOTH the middle, ring, and little fingers of the lead hand AND the index finger and thumb of the trail hand and then squeeze hard, you can't really cock/bend the wrists much at all...pick whichever of the first three finger combos with whatever pressure is most comfortable for you and/or gives best results...the last one is the one to avoid...

-hcw
 
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