2004-07-09

Using a Strong Vardon Grip

When I began playing golf I used an unorthodox grip. It was way too strong and turned out to cause all kinds of problems with my swing. My theory was this: hitting a golf ball was a lot like hammering in a nail. Notice the motion of your wrist when you hold a hammer and hit a nail; kind of a karate chop wrist action. I figured a slice or hook in the golf swing is like bending the nail. It is not that difficult to hit a nail without bending it. You don't have to go to a nail range and practice with a hammer twice a week to get good enough to not bend a nail.

This is how I wanted to hit the ball, I knew that is where the power was, not in the standard grip method where your wrist action is more like swinging a tennis racket (sort of fanning motion). Try hammering in a nail swinging the hammer like you do a tennis racket and you will not have enough power to sink the nail, plus you would have no accuracy, after missing and bending nail after nail you would end up giving up and changing over to the karate chop wrist action.

I got pretty good using this sideways style grip and made my way to a 10 handicap. I could hit the ball very far but not very accurate. Every time I played with a good golfer they would always comment on it ? among other things it caused me to come down to the ball too steep ? I took deep divots and put a lot of spin on the ball.

At the end of last season, I decided to bite the bullet and fix my grip. Left hand was easy, weaken it as much as I wanted and it felt ok, but my right hand never felt correct. Every few balls I hit my right hand would begin creeping back under so I could swing it like a hammer.

This season my first priority was to make my grip standard and after such a long time away from golf I thought it would be easy. Wrong. My right hand just wants to be way too strong, that way it feels natural and I seem to hit the ball best with it like that ? at least in the short term.

I am going for long term results though and know to get really good I need to fix this grip situation. I went though about 20 pages of google looking for an answer. They all said basically the same old generic, clich? grip advice, as if no body since Harry Vardon has had an opinion on how to grip a golf club. The best I found was about using your right pointer finger as a trigger.

Images from: http://www.mandens.dk/tema.asp?Soegeord=221

I picture the way John Daly gripped his driver. I started gripping the club that way and everything started to feel natural. Unlike Daly, I just have a slight ?trigger' but it is enough to feel that your right hand has a purpose. It kind of encourages you to hit with your right hand which I don't like because it brings timing issues into your swing but I think as I get used to it that feeling will go away.

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