David Leadbetter

“Tour players use only three fingers to control the club.”

Under Pressure

What science reveals about holding the club

It’s kind of ironic that in this era of golf, when practically every facet of the game can be scientifically measured for optimal performance, very little research has dealt with our only connection to the golf club—the hands. How hard should you hold the club when you swing? Should that grip pressure change during the swing? Where should the shaft lie within the hands? These are all questions that have been answered countless times by countless instructors. Yet, the advice almost always has been anecdotal. For example, Sam Snead famously said you should hold the club no tighter than if you had a baby bird in your hands. It’s a great metaphor—especially if you understand that Sam didn’t want you to crush the bird; nor did he want you to hold it so loosely that it could fly away. But when it comes to grip pressure, we no longer have to be ambiguous.

Using proprietary sensors, testing done by biomechanist J.J. Rivet and some of his colleagues in France revealed several interesting things about how to grip the club— and how hard. The first is that when swinging, professional golfers grip the club 12.5 to 20 percent of their hardest squeeze. But more important was that the pressure was consistent from address through impact. There was no noticeable increase or decrease. Conversely, amateurs gripped the club with inconsistent pressure, typically squeezing much harder at address and at impact.

Also revealed from the testing is where in the hands pressure is being applied. Tour players rely on the thumb and forefinger of the dominant hand and the pinky finger of the other hand to control the club. As you might guess, the middle and ring fingers and the palm of the dominant hand are a lot more involved in the swings of poorer players. Relying on those fingers restricts movement of the club, making it harder to square the face and create adequate clubhead speed.

The takeaway from this is to pay attention to where you’re applying pressure to the club with your hands when you practice—feel it in the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand and pinky of the opposite hand. And make swings holding on just hard enough that the handle doesn’t move around in your hands as you swing. — with ron kaspriske

david leadbetter is a Golf Digest Teaching Professional

before you swing . . .

▶ Here’s a great way

to make sure you’ve got a good hold on the club. When you set up to the ball, make sure one of the last things you do before you swing is feel the tension in your forearms release. Don’t take the club back until your forearms feel as relaxed as if you were lying in a hammock on some white-powder-sand beach. That way, even if the shot doesn’t work out, you’ll still have that great image of the beach to enjoy. (Kidding.)