What Should the Proper Grip Pressure Be?

How many of you just hold the golf club and never think about your Grip Pressure?   That used to be me.  I have no idea how tight I may have held the club in my past golf life.  It is entirely possible that I gripped the club at a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. That is way too tight to hold a golf club.  Maybe that is why I didn’t make it to the Big Tour.  Your Grip Pressure is one of the most important parts of your golf swing.  In general, for the power swing, your Grip Pressure should be between 3 and 5 on the scale of 1 to 10.

 For your Short Game Finesse Wedge Swings and Bunker Swings, it should be a constant 1 to 2 on the scale of 10.  Why that light?  Well, first of all, you want to feel the weight of the club head in your hands.  If you can’t feel the club head, lighten up!  That’s one of the reasons that I dislike graphite shafts in wedges.  I can’t feel the club heads.  Second, a light Grip Pressure will allow your hands and wrists to do what they are naturally supposed to do during the swing.  First they hinge to a position that makes the angle between the lead arm and shaft of the club a 90 degree angle.  That’s called cocking or hinging your wrists to 90 degrees.  As you start the downswing, the club head starts to develop centrifugal force and accelerates through impact.  At this point, your hands and wrists should naturally rotate or Release through Impact causing your wrists to re-cock to that 90 degree position that you had on the backswing and further accelerate up to the follow-through.  

This feeling is what you might call not manipulating the club during the swing.  Most golfers feel that they need to create the shot with their hands and arms.  Nothing is further from the truth.  Let’s face it, golf clubs are designed to hit golf shots perfectly, and if we just let the club hit the ball without human interference, all shots would be almost perfect.  Refer to the swing robot Iron Byron.  Every shot is close to perfect.  Unfortunately, we feel the need to help the shot.  The trick is to get you out the shot.  You are just the delivery system, the taxi cab, the holder of the club; the less you do, the better the shot.  Try it!  You will not believe how straight and long you will hit your Long Game Shots. 

Now, back to the Short Game.  The same theory applies.  Less is more.  Hold the club lightly, feel the club head, swing with a smooth rhythm, release your hands, make a great finish as discussed in the Hold Your Finish Post, and watch in amazement as your shot goes where you want it to go.