Bottom Hand/Grip Pressure

[John]

So i've been struggling all year in most aspects of the game but especially with Driver off the tee and putting. Last Saturday we played Equinelle and I hit a bucket of balls before going out making one swing change, lessening my right hand(bottom hand) grip pressure by about 60% as i realized i was gripping the club quite tightly with it which i also realized in turn was causing me to be so inconsistent especially when it came to hooking the ball.

I putted the lights out, drove the ball well and came in with a 75 with this one swing change. How lightly do the rest of you grip it with your lower hand? I'm essentially applying as little pressure right now as i possibly can and i'm hammering it again!!

[habsfan]

i hit a fairly straight driver, a weak fade at worst, and i can tell you thats all because of a very weak right hand, it feels like my left hand sort of dominates impact, I eliminate the left side of the golf course by doing this. If im at 5 grip pressure with my left hand im at a 1 with my right hand, firm up a bit with irons to allow a draw.

[nokids]

For the driver and putter: baseball grip, even pressure on both.

For irons: baseball grip, left hand controls the face (tight pressure), right hand delivers power (not much grip pressure).

[Sunny D]

For years I struggled with this. Only in the last couple of years have I stopped trying to strangle my golf club with my lower hand. Now I hold on just tight enough so the club does leave with the ball. The only exception to this is when I am using wedges, then I sometimes have a bit more tension in the trigger finger of the lower hand, it's a feel touch thing for me then. But to echo above if the left hand is a 5 right hand is a 1. Helps keep things straight and for me long. As for the putter I use a claw grip to because for me at least it means that my left hands draws the club to the target and my right is just along for the ride more a dominance thing than a grip thing but I did used to notice tension in my right hand when putting because in just about everthing I do I am very right hand dominant.

[Ruskie]

I'm a right-hander in life, but play golf left-handed, so I usually have the opposite problem. My bottom hand(left) tends to just come along for the ride, resulting in a push or a push-fade. Most of the time I have to consciously think of keeping the bottom hand active. A while ago I read a tip in one of the golf mags to try to feel as if you're constantly applying pressure to the base of the index finger of your bottom hand where it's in contact with the club. That helped me a lot, especially with the wedges, although I have to be careful not to overdo it with longer clubs.

As for grip pressure, I have no trouble keeping the bottom hand relaxed. My top hand, on the other hand...

[jsttaylor]

Thanks for the insight everyone. I have the same inconsistencies as John so I'm going to give this a try.....but I seem to have a problem, especially with driver, in keeping the club from twisting upon impact. I'm thinking loosening my bottom hand is going to make this even worse. Anyone have any insight on this?

[rezadue]

Jordan,

Take this with a grain of salt. I am not sure if this thought process is correct, but it seems to work for me.

I am very right hand dominant. During the backswing my right hand seems to want to take over the swing. And since it is on the right hand side of my body, it seems like the right hand wants to go too far in. This for me results on a club stuck behind me which causes all kids of problems on the down swing. Loss of direction and distance.

When I have the most success is when I try to convince my brain to perform the backswing with my left hand/arm/shoulder. Since the left hand must come across the front of the body, I feel like I have a better chance of keeping the club from going too far inside. Therefore I tend to make my best swings this way.

In order to achieve that feel, I tend to make my right hand grip pressure less than the left hand, on the backswing.

With respect to putting I generally feel like pushing the putter grip back is a less violent and more smooth route, rather than pulling it back with the right hand. So while I keep the grip pressure light and 50/50, I tend to try to go for the feel of pushing with my left side.

Again, I am not sure if these are correct thought, and or if what I pull off jives with what my swing thought it, but the two seem to somehow be related to each other, and it works. The problem is convincing my brain to do it every time.

[leftylucas]

Reza, I feel your pain but my problem is the anti-thesis of what is happening with you. I am right handed but play left. My right arm (forward arm) wants to pull and tug and dominate on the downswing but often makes me come across and pull the shots. I am not able to let my back arm release the club, its just going along for the ride. When I concentrate on making my arms work together I have great success, when I try to power my swing up, YIKES!!!!