Page 9 - The Grip

percent stronger than the other hand. So how do we compare

a “5” for a person with 90 pounds of pressure with a “5” for a

person with 250 pounds of pressure?

One of the things that we know from the data collection

process is that golfers who hit the ball very long distances

overwhelmingly have very high hand strength and golfers who

hit the ball relatively short distances tend to have less hand

strength.

So, let’s look at an example. If it takes 70 pounds of grip

strength to maintain control of a golf club swinging at 90 miles

per hour - and by the way, I’m using these numbers for

illustration purposes only - then a person with a maximum of

100 pounds of pressure will be using 70% or “7” on the scale,

whereas a person with 200 pounds of pressure will only be

using 35% or “3.5” on the scale.

Why is this so important? A great analogy came up during the

2012 World Series of Baseball. The announcers were talking

about a pitcher who threw back-to-back pitches that looked

identical, but one ball flew at 92 miles per hour, and the next

flew at 81 miles per hour. The announcer, a former major