I did something a couple of weeks ago.. been working with it ever since.. and its a game changer..!
And its so simple it’s stupid !
I asked Tom just a pretty innocuous question… “how tightly do you grip the club?”
I got an answer from another subscriber saying if im thinking about that, im over analyzing things, but Tom did kindly reply.. words to the effect of “i grip it just firm enough so it doesnt fly out of my hands..”
So the more speed slightly firmer but not throttling the club..
I found this curious.. then I saw another video, on a very similar topic, and the coach in this instance was demonstrating a pendulum swing of the club with his finger and thumb
His advice was club developers spend millions of research dollars designing and balancing clubheads so the return to the same point at impact.. it’s the golfer that corrects this by notmally gripping the club to hard and preventing falling on its natural line… (Golfmates if you are interested, Liam had a lesson!”
Now im really interested…. Not that I wasnt woth Tom Saguto s advice.. but i had to try and incorporate this.. so I have.. and the results!?…
Top 10 (well 11) shots of the month. #countdown WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE?? #Comment #golf #golflife
GAME CHANGING!!.. stunning in fact.. and i know now im gripping too firm or my lead arm is weak when things go wrong.. and they do lol… but when it’s right… it’s more right that it has ever been…
Long winded way of saying.. hit it better by loosening off a little!!
😉 Bazza!
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Dang, Bazza - great highlight reel, and the swing looks awesome!! 💪💪
As I've conveyed on more than a few occasions, grip pressure is something that is very unique to each of us, which is why conveying personal "feels" in this regard have led so many golfers astray. For example, a 2 out of 10 “baby bird” grip to a strong guy like Sam Snead may equate to an 8 out of 10 to another golfer. We definitely don't want that handle swimming around in our hands because we're so loosey goosey that we can't control the clubface. A secure grip and soft arms are what we're after here. That prescription will certainly resonate differently for different folks, but the key is that our grip pressure should give us complete control of the club while not introducing swing-killing tension that prevents us from properly executing the motion and/or robs us of speed potential. Finding that sweet spot is a highly individual thing, and it is critical to consistently blissful ballstriking.
So, my main concerns are that the handle remains secure in the fingers throughout the entirety of the motion and that the proper hinging and unhinging of the wrists is fully supported without any contrived effort. Beyond that, each golfer is free to add their own individual flair and determine what works best for them (being mindful, of course, to the tendencies if the grip leaks too much to the strong side as I've mentioned in some YT videos such as this recent episode.
There are a lot of different opinions regarding how tightly to hold the club. One thing you can do is look at your glove (if you use one). If the palm area below the pinky finger is wearing out you probably don't have a firm enough grip on the club. The grip is slipping against your palm causing the wear on your glove. If you grip the club using the pressure points Tom mentions in his lessons you will grip the club with the necessary amount of tightness to prevent the grip from moving in your hands causing loss of clubface control. The key is to grip it tight enough without tensing up the wrists and forearms. The wrists must be allowed to hinge and it is during the hinge and unhinge that a too light grip gets you in trouble. And don't forget to apply the trail hand pressure down onto the top of the lead hand thumb. This promotes a good hinge.
Another problem with too light a grip at address is that it will cause you to increase the tightness during the transition and this usually causes some accuracy problems. Also if the grip is too loose at impact you will lose compression. Again, this is just a post of my ideas about the grip based on my experience.
Good luck!