Is trail hand grip strength not talked about enough?

[SNIPERBBB]

I've been trying to work through an issue that popped out of nowhere on me on day 2 of our ryder cup-style interclub match where I was just flaring the ball out right with everything. I have always played with what I thought was a rather strong grip.  Reality was that while I had a strong LEFTHAND(righty) grip, it was getting offset by a weaker RIGHTHAND grip that apparently creeps in and out of my swing.  Seems like most instruction and commentary on pro and am swingsI  see talks more about the left(lead) hand grip position and not so much about the right(trail) hand.

[MPStrat]

I don’t think the grip gets talked about enough in general.  I agree, though. I think some are too liberal about grips, grip strength and particularly the trail hand. The trail hand grip can absolutely wreak havoc. If you look at golf swings like patterns with different matchups, of all the component pieces, the pattern is most influenced by the clubface which is most influenced by the attachment to the club. 
 

If a player goes to either extreme with the trail hand, among other things, best case scenario they can be introducing severe limitations on things like trajectory control, and dynamic loft. 

[Rdailey9108]

I'd venture to guess that most pros are closer to neutral/strong than weak with the trail hand. Seems like too weak and your shoulder tilts get out of whack. Too strong and the shoulders also get too far tilted back. Seems like staying around neutral is ideal unless your anatomy dictates otherwise which I'd say is a small percentage of people. 

[Louis_Posture]

On 11/8/2023 at 3:09 PM, Rdailey9108 said:

I'd venture to guess that most pros are closer to neutral/strong than weak with the trail hand. Seems like too weak and your shoulder tilts get out of whack. Too strong and the shoulders also get too far tilted back. Seems like staying around neutral is ideal unless your anatomy dictates otherwise which I'd say is a small percentage of people. 

 

Nearly all Tour pros have their right hand positioned on top of the club. This is not a weak position, it's neutral. This right-hand position promotes and allows the left arm and club face to rotate properly.

For example, if you position the right hand to the side or under notice how that restricts the rotation of the left arm and club face throughout the backswing.

A human standing tall , relaxed, and with their arms hanging from their sides will typically have their wrists oriented at a 45* angle. This is the same orientation/angle for the desired neutral golf grip.

 

[Louis_Posture]

On 11/8/2023 at 9:57 AM, MPStrat said:

I don’t think the grip gets talked about enough in general.  

You are correct. The late, great instructor Tommy Armour wanted 6-months to teach a player the grip. Most current 'instructors' spend less than 2 minutes discussing and, or teaching grip technique.

It's true there have always been a few successful Tour players with an unorthodox grip; however, that's doing things the very hard way and not something which should be taught or endorsed. The true benefit to learning proper grip technique is that it makes producing consistently good-looking effective swings a thousand times easier than trying to do it with a faulty grip.

[Rdailey9108]

8 minutes ago, Louis_Posture said:

 

Nearly all Tour pros have their right hand positioned on top of the club. This is not a weak position, it's neutral. This right-hand position promotes and allows the left arm and club face to rotate properly.

For example, if you position the right hand to the side or under notice how that restricts the rotation of the left arm and club face throughout the backswing.

A human standing tall , relaxed, and with their arms hanging from their sides will typically have their wrists oriented at a 45* angle. This is the same orientation/angle for the desired neutral golf grip.

 

Idk I'm no expert but I'd say you're about 90% wrong about pros having their hands on top of the club for the trail hand. This is old so take it fwiw but most of these pros don't look like their hand is on top.

 

http://kelvinmiyahiragolf-articles.com/index.php/articles/articles-2/2011-articles/67-2011-09-pga-tour-grip-styles-part-2

[MoneyMan300]

I think this is something that is vastly overlooked by AMs.  I wish I could find it, but I remember reading that there is very little deviation from player to player on tour with the trail hand, they were all within like 10 degrees of each other, minus a couple outliers.  Almost every tour player has the V pointing somewhere from the back peck to the back shoulder.  Whereas the lead hand had a much wider variance, something like 40 degrees.   AMs are all over the place with their trail hand.   It puzzles me to no end why AMs can't have a decent grip, it's completely controllable.

Edited November 10, 2023 by MoneyMan300

[Louis_Posture]

34 minutes ago, Rdailey9108 said:

Idk I'm no expert but I'd say you're about 90% wrong about pros having their hands on top of the club for the trail hand. This is old so take it fwiw but most of these pros don't look like their hand is on top.

 

http://kelvinmiyahiragolf-articles.com/index.php/articles/articles-2/2011-articles/67-2011-09-pga-tour-grip-styles-part-2

 The position of the right thumb and forefinger is personal preference, what matters is the orientation of the wrist.

[Pepperturbo]

IMO it's not discussed because both hands create a solid grip.  One without the other doesn't work. LOL  

 

During Hogan's earlier years, his grip was stronger, but later, before he published 5 Lessons, he discovered neutral improved club control at the top.  Over thirty years ago, I reproduced Hogans 5 neutral Vardon grip, and still use it today. 

 

My left wrist at the top has a slight bow, while my left hand V points at my nose; my right hand V points to my right ear.  Since I am still hitting the ball solid and straight, changing what works falls on deaf ears.

 

This still works...https://tinyurl.com/yodu7z5w

 

The only time I use Reverse Overlap grip is when I want to hit a stinger or low trajectory punch, and when I have a wedge in hand and look to flight the ball.  Reverse overlap "feels" like it uses my right side power as I move aggressively through the ball.

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Louis_Posture said:

Nearly all Tour pros have their right hand positioned on top of the club.

 

Almost none of the right hands in the KM link posted are what I would describe as "on top of the club."

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, BigBobKraft said:

Grip pressure is an interesting topic. A lot of teaching assumes even grip pressure. I rarely see discussion about modulating grip pressure, to hold it tighter in the lead hand and looser in the trail. 

 

That's not what this topic is about, though.

[Rdailey9108]

I'd call this on top of the club 

 

 

This is not

 

 

And most players are in the second orientation and not the first. 

[larrybud]

3 hours ago, BigBobKraft said:

Grip pressure is an interesting topic. A lot of teaching assumes even grip pressure. I rarely see discussion about modulating grip pressure, to hold it tighter in the lead hand and looser in the trail. 

 

"Grip strength" refers to the position of the hands on the club relative to the face, not how tightly someone is gripping the club.