Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
An iron with a molded grip is a training aid used to teach beginners the proper way to hold the club. It’s also a tool used by the best player in the world.
Yes, you read that correctly. Scottie Scheffler — a two-time Masters champ and world No. 1 — carries around a club fitted with a molded grip.
While it may be surprising that the best ball striker in the world trains with such a novice-friendly device, it really shouldn’t be. Boring as they may be to practice, the pros are always working on the fundamentals.
In advance of his Arnold Palmer Invitational title defense, Scheffler was asked about his commitment to perfecting his golf grip. His answer shed some light on why it’s crucial that you strive to perfect your golf grip, too.
Scheffler’s grip obsession, explained
If you ever find yourself watching Scheffler practicing on the range, take note of how much he focuses on his grip. Before just about every shot, he takes hold of the club and looks at the clubface. And he only pulls the trigger once he’s made sure his grip feels right and the clubface is sqaure.
“The reason I monitor my grip so closely is because, as my body starts to feel different over the ball, my grip is usually the first thing to change to adjust to what my body’s doing that day,” Scheffler said. “That’s why I use the reminder club as often as I do.”
Scheffler’s rationale is a great reminder for all of us. Our swings are constantly changing — even from day to day — and those changes will cause us to make compensations. These changes are often made subconsciously, but even if we don’t notice them, they do occur.
To guard against poor habits creeping in, Scheffler obsesses over his fundamentals. And there’s no fundamental more top of mind than how he grips the cub.
“I feel like when my swing gets off, it’s usually something that’s very basic about what I’m doing,” Scheffler said last year. “I’m just working on my form and hitting shots.”
It can be easy to brush off the simple things in the golf swing, but the fundamentals are the foundation for a consistent golf swing. So, next time you feel your swing getting a little off, check your fundamentals before making a wholesale swing change. More than likely, the flaws in your move can be fixed simply by fixing your fundamentals.
