Effects of grip position on ball flight and clubface!

The reason behind talking about the grip the last couple of weeks is to highlight the effect on clubface position at impact and in turn the effect on the ball flight.

As coaches we see so many different types of grip, like you also do on the PGA and European Tours. There is no right or wrong way to grip the club, however there are ideal positions we teach to help give the most neutral grip. We teach a neutral grip as it is a good starting point to hitting a straight ball flight. When people grip the club too strongly, they tend to either hit a draw, a hook or a push. When people grip the club too weakly, they will tend to hit a fade, push slice or pull.

Therefore, if you feel you tend to draw/hook or fade/slice the ball too much then make these few adjustments. Or you want to achieve certain ball flights try the following, although swing path will have an influence on ball flight direction as well.

To Encourage Draw/Hook

Simply turn the left hand more to the right, keep the pressure light, this will encourage the left arm to rotate as the club starts down, in turn closing the club face.

If you are someone that leaks the ball to the right this will hopefully straighten the flight up.

Now hit some shots and you should see the ball flight start to straighten up. It will feel strange but try to persist with it.

To Encourage Fade/Slice

The opposite of the afore mentioned, turn the left hand to the left, this will encourage less rotation in the left arm as the club starts down, in turn leaving the face slightly open.

Now hit some shots and you should see the ball flight start to straighten up. It will feel strange but try to persist with it.

It must be noted turning the left hand excessively either way will cause maximum movement to ball flights – you have been warned!