How to Grip a Golf Club Correctly

By Dean Sklar, PGA Professional

The golf grip is often overlooked when trying to cure a slice or any other problem with a shot for that matter. Knowing the correct way to grip a golf club could help you see an end to your hooks and slices and have you on your way to a lower handicap.

One thing I often see when people have problems with their grip is they tend to hold it too much in their palm. Gripping the golf club too much in the palm leads to a loss of wrist action, which is a great source of power. Limiting the wrist action will lead to a loss of power and feel in the golf club. The fingers are the most sensitive parts of our hands. Placing the golf club more in the fingers than the palms results in an increased amount of wrist hinge, which means longer tee shots and more feel.

You don’t have to grip it hard to hit it hard! So many times, I see people choking their clubs to death to try and hit it longer. In actual fact gripping the club this hard can seriously decrease the distance you get on your shots.

The Vardon grip is a popular way of holding the golf club and it is seen as a proper golf grip for distance. Many pros use this grip today, but it was made popular by a golfer known as Harry Vardon way back at the turn of the 20th century. This golf grip is taught by many professional golf instructors to beginners, and it’s ideal for getting players to grip the club in their fingers rather than their palms.

To use the Vardon grip, all you do is overlap the pinky of your trailing hand (in a right-handed golfer’s case, the right hand is the trailing hand) and place it between the middle and index finger of the lead hand (which is the left for a right-handed golfer). The lead hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand. This works especially well for players with large hands.

Make sure that when looking down at address, you can see the first two knuckles of your left hand and a “V” formed between the thumb and forefinger pointing toward your right shoulder. With the right hand, have the “V” pointing toward your chin or slightly to the right shoulder. Trust me, this works!

This Interlock grip literally locks the hands together, but the golfer also runs the risk of having the handle stray into the palms of the hands. People with medium sized hands, weak forearms and wrists, and beginners in many cases prefer this style of grip.

To apply the interlocking grip, you start off by taking the little finger on the trailing hand (the trailing hand is the right hand for right handed golfers) and intertwine it with the index finger on the lead hand. The lead hand’s thumb should fit perfectly into the lifeline of the trailing hand.

In every sport, physical strength and conditioning are important to succeed. Golf is no different. Strong forearms and wrists are essential for golf success and they play a huge part in developing a proper golf grip.

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