Is your grip causing your slice?
Is your golf grip affecting how you swing the golf club?
We all think we know how to grip a golf club, but there are some fundamentals that lots of us are still getting wrong.
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It is important to remember there is no one perfect golf grip that will work for every player and every swing, but often golfers have a grip that doesn’t match up with what they are trying to achieve in their shots.
One of the biggest faults across club golfers is they hold the club too much in the palm of their left hand. This makes it very hard to load the wrists correctly in the golf swing. It can also lead to the hands pointing too much to the target at address.
This is known as a weak grip which encourages the club face to open up in the takeaway. An open club face is not a slicer’s friend; it just encourages the ball to move to the right.
It also means you will constantly be trying to manipulate the club face to get the ball to travel straight, which isn’t helping your consistency.
How can I change my grip to stop my slice?
Many golfers who hit a slice could benefit from having a stronger grip. For right-handed golfers, this is created by moving the left hand further to the right on the grip so that the crease between your left thumb and forefinger points up towards your right shoulder.
Having a stronger grip will help the club face shut more in take away. This can help neutralise your ball flight and stop it from leaking so far to the right.
How to grip a golf club properly
Most golfers would benefit from gripping the club more in their fingers. When we look at the left-hand grip, the club should be running through middle of the fingers rather than sitting on the palm of the club.
From here we can go ahead and wrap the hand over the top of the club in a neutral to strong position. Here you should feel like the left thumb is sitting down the right-hand side of the grip and that the crease between your left thumb and forefinger points up towards your right shoulder.
Again you want to add the right hand with the grip pressure in the fingers. You can choose if you want to interlock, overlap or go for a baseball-style grip but the most important part is holding the club with your fingers so you can load the wrists properly.
This is going to help you create speed and power better and is going to encourage you to square the club head up through the ball and stop your shots slicing.
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Hannah Holden
Hannah Holden is the Equipment and Instruction Editor here at National Club Golfer. If you’re looking to improve your game, by changing your golf swing or upgrading your golf equipment she’ll have the answers.
As well as writing lots of features and reviews you can find her on our YouTube channel giving you insights on the latest rules, clubs and tips to improve your golf game.
Hannah is a member at Alwoodley golf club. You will either find her here or driving up and down the country playing in a variety of elite amateur events.
