I t would be fair to say that there are very few really good golfers who have a so-called bad grip. Certainly the best professionals in the world have a variety of grip positions, according to how they wish to hit the ball. However, these positions all fall within certain guidelines.

For the beginner, trying to adopt a good grip is perhaps one of the most difficult parts of golf, but if learned in the early stages, it will be a solid foundation on which to build his game. Any changes made by a teacher tend to feel uncomfortable, and the only way to overcome the unfamiliar feel of the new grip is to practise not only hitting shots but also just gripping and regripping the club without hitting the ball, and eventually the new, correct grip will feel natural.

The purpose of the grip is to return the clubhead back to the ball in a square position, without having to manipulate or use your hands exces-sively. If your grip does not allow you to square the clubhead at impact, it is quite probable that you will start to build compensating factors into your swing. So get the grip right, and you stand a good chance of developing a sound swing.

Left hand

For the right-handed player, this is the guiding, or leading, hand in the swing, and thus it is placed on the grip in such a way that some firmness is created. With the clubface square to your intended target, the end of the grip is placed underneath the fleshy pad at the heel of the hand, and then across the palm and the first finger. It lies in a diagonal position across the hand, rather than straight across the base of the fingers, which would not give a sufficiently firm support. As the hand closes on the grip, the thumb rests just to the right-hand side of the centre of the grip, and is neither stretched down the shaft nor pulled up in any way. The’ V formed between the thumb and forefinger should point between your chin and right shoulder. You should also be able to see at least two knuckles of your hand when you look down. The last three fingers are the ones that grip the club, thus bringing the muscles in the back of the arm into play.

Right hand

As the left hand is the guide, so the right hand provides the power, and is therefore placed on the grip in a slightly different way to allow this to happen. Whereas with the left hand the grip was placed in the palm and fingers, with the right hand the club sits more towards the base of the fin-gers, which allows the hand to be more active at impact. In fact, the right hand grips the club in much the same manner as you would grip a stone that you were about to throw. The hollow of the palm of the hand fits snugly over the left thumb, and if you were to view the grip in a mirror, you should not be able to see the left thumb at all. The right forefinger should be triggered on the shaft, which helps to prevent the hand get-ting too far under the grip, and the thumb should rest just to the left-hand side of the centre of the grip. The ‘V created between the forefinger and thumb should point parallel to that of the left hand, and the middle two fingers should apply all the pressure.

Whether you overlap the little fin-ger of the right hand onto the forefin-ger of the left – the Vardon grip inter-locks these two fingers, as does Jack Nicklaus – or have both hands com-pletely on the grip, is a matter of pre-ference, but in each case, the hands should be placed in such a way as to make them work together as much as possible.

Grip pressure

Grip pressure is one of the most important points to consider, and one of the most difficult to define, but generally speaking, more people grip the club too tightly, than too loosely. The grip should feel light at address, and will naturally tighten slightly under the weight of the club during the backswing.

Clubface reaction

If both hands are placed in such a way that the two ‘V’s point too much towards the chin, the clubface will be returned to the ball in an open position, i.e. looking right of your target, and the ball will curve in that direction. Alternatively, hands placed too much under the grip, resulting in the ‘V’s pointing outside the right shoul-der, will close the clubface at impact, and the ball will curve to the left.

The correct grip position for each person will vary according to how much hand action is employed naturally, i.e. little with the beginner, but increasing with the better player. So if your shots curve viciously to either right or left, first check your grip.