How to Hold a Golf Club
By Steve Silverman
It all starts with the grip. If you want to play golf and enjoy the game, the first thing you need to know is how to hold the club properly. Knowing how to hold the club the right way won't make you a successful golfer by itself, but not knowing will almost certainly assure that you will have many frustrating days on the golf course. Learn to grip the club the correct way and you have taken the first step to becoming a successful golfer.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Take the club in your left hand. If you are a right-handed golfer, your left hand is at the top of the club in the grip area. Wrap your left hand around the club and hold it firmly. Take your right hand and place the small finger on that hand and put it in the gap between the forefinger and middle finger on the left hand. This is called the overlapping grip and it is the most popular grip in the game.
Put the club in your left hand and wrap it around the top of the club. Take the little finger on your right hand and allow the forefinger on the left hand to come over the top of it. The little finger on the right hand the left forefinger should be interlocked. This is called the interlocking grip. This is used by many golfers, but not as many as the overlapping grip.
Grab the club in your left hand and grip the top of the club. Take your right hand and put it directly underneath the left hand. You may be thinking this looks exactly like the grip a baseball player has on a bat. You would be correct. This is called the baseball grip.
Choke way down on the club with the overlapping grip when your have a short shot to take with a pitching wedge. The more you choke down on the club, the greater control you will have on the club. The overlapping grip will give you more sensitivity when you need to make a finesse shot.
Take a very tight grip on the club when your ball is stuck in high grass. Normally, a firm grip is enough and a tight grip is ill-advised. However, when the ball is in the high grass, you don't want your club stopped in mid-flight. You need to be able to follow through and make a full swing. Having a tighter grip will prevent the club from slipping when you hit the ball through the vegetation.
Tips & Warnings
Take the grip that is comfortable for you. Most may use the overlapping grip, but if you prefer the interlocking grip or the baseball grip, don't worry how it looks. Go with what feels comfortable.
About The Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
