We’ve all been there: You’re on the course, trying your best, but something just feels off. Is it your stance, your posture, your ball position? Maybe, it’s your grip.
One of the first fundamentals golfers learn when they’re introduced to the game is the grip, and it’s really easy to fall into bad habits over time if you aren’t vigilant about your hand position on the club.
I asked Top 100 Teacher Krista Dunton how you can ensure you’re using the correct grip every time, and she provided a few excellent checkpoints.
How to grip a golf club properly
Dunton says the first step to making a proper grip is to shake out your arms so they’ll be free of any tension when you grip the club. Then, let your arms hang naturally from your side.
“When you look down, you’ll see your lead arm — the left arm for a right-handed player — and how it naturally hangs,” she says. “Check to see how many of your knuckles are visible on that hand when you look down. Some people might see one or two, others might see three or four.
“Then, instead of losing that feeling by re-gripping the club in front of you, take the club and rest it in your fingers first, and get that same look and feel, with the same number of knuckles visible.”
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Dunton says the number of knuckles will vary because everyone is anatomically different, but the key is to match what you see in your natural arm hang to what you see when you place your hand on the club.
“All those joints seek alignment: the shoulder, the elbow and the wrist,” Dunton says. “The face will be too open or closed if the alignment isn’t natural.”
Situating your grip in this may even alleviate some mishits, because setting up with a naturally positioned grip will help the clubface reach the ball more squarely.
“This is a great way to not only find where your grip should be,” Dunton says, “but also get it in the fingers correctly.”
For more tips from Krista Dunton, click here.