Improving Your Driver Golf Grip
By Steve Silverman
Learning how to hit your driver is instrumental to your success in golf. If you can hit the biggest club in your bag successfully, you will hit the ball for distance and give yourself a chance to put a good score on the card every day. You will also gain confidence that impacts every other area of your game. Much of your success with the driver depends on how you grip the club.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Hold your driver in your left hand. The left hand is the lead hand for nearly every swing in golf (for a righthanded golfer). When taking your grip on the driver, hold it about half an inch below the top of the grip.
Place the club deep in your left palm and wrap your fingers around it so your fingertips hit or come close to the palm of your hand. Make sure your left thumb is going down the shaft of the club. If you have a firm enough grip, you will be able to bring the club back and mimic a backswing even though you are holding the club with just one hand.
Place the small finger of your right hand in the space between the forefinger and middle finger of your left hand. Then wrap the rest of your fingers on your right hand around the shaft of the club. Your right thumb should be aligned down the shaft of the club.
Make sure you have a firm grip of the club as you prepare to hit the ball. You should hold the club at about a "5" on a scale of 1 to 10. This is the equivalent of a firm handshake with a business associate. If you squeeze the club any tighter than that, your ability to get a full swing with full hip rotation will be limited. If you hold it looser than that, the club will not be secure in your hands.
Go to the driving range and work on the consistency of your grip. Many golfers will subconsciously tighten their grip on the club in key situations in a tournament or a match. Work on building the same grip and the same swing each time you take hold of the club.
Tips & Warnings
Your left hand needs to lead the club into the hitting zone, so make sure you have a secure grip with your left hand.
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.
