The Vardon Overlapping Hold

The Vardon Overlapping Hold First, the placing of the left hand. With the open palm facing outwards, place the club handle so that it passes diagonally across the base of the fingers from the middle knuckle of the forefinger to a spot just below the base of the little finger. Close the fingers on the shaft so that the ball of the thumb is on the shaft, slightly to the

I right of centre, but not curled round it, making sure that the fleshy pad at the base of the hand rests on top of the shaft. This last is of the utmost importance in making the hold by the left hand firm and secure on the handle throughout the swing. Unless this fleshy pad remains in the position I have described, the left hand cannot possibly perform its proper function. To test the security of this hold by the left hand, extend the club in front of you with the fingers partly open and the thumb raised off the shaft. The club should still be firmly contained between the fingers below the handle and the fleshy base of the hand on top. Make sure that you fully appreciate this and can apply it before moving on to the next stage.

Now resume the closed hold and take a look at the thumb of this left hand. I have said it should be on the shaft, not curled round it. More precisely it must be on the shaft just right of centre for the beginner and weekend golfer, and with the base of the thumb close against the base of the forefinger. This forms a narrow crevice which we refer to in golf as the closed Vposition. And as you ground the clubhead in front of you this crevice should point to the right of your chin, but, as you will learn, not so far round that it points below the right shoulder. The position I am recommending is the ‘strong’ left hand position, as distinct from the position which the trained professional may favour where the closed V points straight up to the chin. The former must always be recommended for the beginner who has to learn and practise lefthand control before experimenting with what might be termed the more sophisticated lefthand position.

Ideally the thumb is drawn up on the shaft so that the pad between the inside of the knuckle and the tip of the thumb, generally known as the ball of the thumb, is quite definitely on the shaft with its tip about level with, or only a little below, the knuckle of the forefinger in the completed hold. All too often, we see the thumb extended down the shaft which tends to take the suppleness out of the wrists and induce sharp leverage rather than a smooth swinging action. The extended thumb is something to be avoided.

Now the last two fingers of the left hand, the little one and its neighbour, will trap the handle closely and securely against the fleshy pad at the base of the hand. It is most important that these last two fingers should be strengthened so that without specially applied effort they can wrap themselves firmly round the handle like a pair of tentacles. I said ‘strengthened,’ assuming that your beginner’s hands are not in tiptop shape for golf. In which case, strengthened they must be, but more about that later.

The hold with the right hand is predominantly in the middle two fingers of that hand. With the left hand taking its correct hold on the club, the sole of which is grounded in front of you, curl the two middle fingers of the right hand round the handle of the club , and with the little finger still out of the way, draw the next finger, that is the top finger of the two middle ones, close up against the left forefinger so that they are touching.

Now we come to the overlap, so called because the right little finger, instead of being round the shaft, is placed on top of the left forefinger. There are two options with this overlap and which you adopt will depend to some extent on the length of the little finger and its flexibility. You will quickly find out which suits you best. The little finger can either be extended across the left forefinger to settle behind it in the crevice formed by the first and second fingers of the left hand, or you can opt for the alternative – right little finger on top of the left forefinger. I want you to take careful note of this. The object of overlapping the right little finger is purely and simply to get it out of the way! It has no functional role.

The important thing is to ensure that the next finger of the right hand is close up against the left forefinger and that it remains so throughout the swing. The object of the overlap is to unite more closely the two hands on the shaft and to keep under control the natural desire of the strong right hand to overpower the left. For, as you will learn, the left hand must be the controlling factor throughout the movement. So it is quite wrong to wedge the right little finger hard on top of the left forefinger or to dig it in forcibly behind the left forefinger. Yet so many golfers do this out of ignorance. In doing so they inevitably set up tension in the grip which is the very evil we must be at pains to avoid. There is also the likelihood that as the swing develops the little finger, unless it remains passive, will tug the left forefinger out of place on the shaft. Remember that the right little finger is not the operative member in this close union of the hands on the shaft. What does matter is the close contact between the left forefinger and the third finger of the right hand. These two fingers in continual close contact play a vital role and to enable them to do this the right little finger has to be dispensed with.

Now we come to the position of the right thumb, and let it be understood at once that it must never be on the shaft in the manner of its opposite number, the left. I will repeat that: the ball of the right thumb must not be on the shaft. The right thumb must pass across the shaft and make light contact, or almost make contact, with the tip of the right forefinger, the finger which is cradling the shaft. This means that only the inside edge – if I can so describe it – of the right thumb makes contact diagonally on the shaft, and here you will have, as with the left thumb and forefinger, a narrow V or crevice at the base of thumb and forefinger. Why, you may well be thinking, am I so insistent that the ball of the right thumb must not be pressing on the shaft in what feels like a natural position for control? The answer is that the right thumb does not, cannot, control the swing, and in any case in that position it can only inhibit it. The right thumb on the shaft, instead of across it, is bound to prevent that essential smoothness in the swing which we must constantly strive to develop and maintain. You will learn that an all too common fault among handicap golfers is snatching from the top of the swing, and nothing induces this more than the right thumb planted firmly on the shaft.

Of primary importance in the assembly of the two hands in a secure grip on the club is their correct alignment. The two Vs, or narrow crevices formed by the respective fingers and thumbs, must be parallel and pointing in the position of address to a point between chin and right shoulder. (More about this when we come to the stance; for the present we are concerned with the alignment of the hands. ) Having the two Vs in correct alignment ensures that the hands will be working together and not at cross purposes. For one thing this alignment helps to promote smoothness and a square delivery of the clubhead into the ball, to produce an accurate shot. The neatfitting union of the two hands on the clubshaft in a compact hold is our object, for golf is a twohanded game. The two hands must work as one unit and it is wrong to exaggerate the function of either member.

The trouble with this game of golf is that people in their keenness to learn and make good progress tend to exaggerate desirable features. Thus many handicap players, lefthand conscious as they should be in a sense, place the right hand loosely on the club shaft in the mistaken ider that this will help to resist the temptation to pour the right hand into the stroke too early. Slackness in the grip – and that means looseness – will not do at all. Train the two hands to work as one unit. Correctly aligned the back of the left hand and the palm of the right will both be facing the same way.

The overlap of the right little finger on to the bottom finger of the left hand facilitates one more requirement in the grip assembly. The hollow below the fleshy pad at the base of the right hand will house the left thumb in a snug, compact contact so that the fleshy pad of the right hand covers the left thumb, and remains in contact with it throughout the swing. How important this is, and how few players completely succeed in achieving it. A faulty union here has prevented many a player from leaping up into the next class of golfer.

A frequent fault to be found in beginners – and many others too – is a weak lefthand position where the V of that hand points to the left of the chin in the address. The same person will often compound the error by putting the right hand too far under the shaft. Another type of player, usually one with a more aggressive approach to the game, will have persistent difficulty in resisting the temptation to tuck the right hand under the shaft, thus making himself prone to the hook (a ball which swerves to the left of the target), often a smothered hook where the ball barely rises. Even comparatively advanced players who have climbed off the lower rungs of the handicap ladder move this right hand under without realising they have done it. They have a dangerous habit of turning the right hand under in the last split second before starting the clubhead back from the ball.

Now recall the warning I gave about digging the right little finger in or clamping it hard on top of the left forefinger in the overlap. The player who is preoccupied while setting himself to play the shot with tucking in this overlapping finger, is more than likely to turn the right hand under the shaft as he fidgets around. And it is a hundred to one that he will be utterly oblivious of the fact that he has altered the position of the right hand. So always watch the right hand, remembering how easy it is to err without realising it.

In the hold assembled as I have instructed control will be mainly in the fingers. And let me stress this; it must be a light but firm hold, not a fierce vicelike clenching of the hands round the shaft, or you will never become a golfer. Fierce gripping means that the wrists will be ‘frozen’ and the relationship between hands and clubhead will be lost. It is through the fingers that sensitivity of feel is promoted. The golf club is a precisionmade instrument, not a roughly hewn bludgeon. Neither is it a flute; a firm secure hold must be maintained. Lightness of hold, take note, does not mean looseness. To control the clubhead you must feel it and it can only be felt through the hands and more particularly the fingers. Now perhaps you see why I am loth to use the term ‘grip’ in the context of the beginner’s first technical lesson. Feel and control through a snug, compact hold is the ideal towards which you must work.

I advocate that the hold be taken up so that an inch or maybe a little more of the end of the shaft extends beyond the left hand. This is sometimes known as ‘choking’ the grip. It tends to give a better balance to the club in the hands and encourages control. The beginner is almost certain to find that the longer clubs feel unwieldy if the hold is taken up at the extreme end of the shaft. You will learn that for the short chips and pitches the hands can go still farther down the handle. Remember, however, that I am referring to the covered part of the shaft, and never overdo it.

The Vardon overlap is our model and I have dealt in detail with it. This is necessary because the paramount importance of the hold cannot be too strongly emphasised. For the majority of players, the Vardon overlap will serve well if they take the trouble to cultivate it, accepting that it may well feel strange and awkward for quite a time.

The basic principles of the overlapping style will apply to the other acceptable types of hold. In fact all the details with the exception of the actual overlap will apply to the twohanded hold where the same finger and thumb relationships are employed. The only difference is that the little finger of the right hand is on the shaft and it is vital in this type of hold that this little finger be kept close up against the forefinger of the left hand, otherwise there will be no unity in the hands.