Page 4 - The Grip

If you have ever participated in a game of egg tossing or water

balloon tossing, you will have experienced the “soft” hands

necessary to catch the egg or water balloon without breaking

or bursting them.

Most golfers have heard the advice “Hold the club like a bird

or small animal, don’t hurt it but don’t let it escape.” this is

not too difficult to imagine but were you also told to imagine

swinging the unfortunate creature around at the speed of a

golf club without inflicting serious injury? You are probably

unable to imagine performing such an action, however you

might have held a small child by the hands and swung them

from side to side. Did you use your hands and arms to move

the child or did you use the big muscles of your body? Did you

increase or decrease the amount of pressure with which you

held the child’s hands? Did you ever hold so tight that the

child cried out in pain, or hold so softly that they slipped from

your grasp? I don’t think so.

Many golfers who have wonderful grip pressure at address

will unconsciously increase the pressure in order to start the

backswing, they will then release the club slightly towards the

top of the backswing in order to achieve a longer swing and

then increase the pressure once more in order to start the

forward swing. The pressure will become a death grip at