Common Faults With The Grip When Golfing

The most common faults in the grip are holding theWhen the right hand is dropped low, the faults of the
club entirely in the fingers of the left hand, placingleft are compounded, for a low right hand tends to
the left hand too much on top of the shaft, androll over at impact. The poor player may switch from
getting the right hand under the shaft.slicing to smothering and go for several holes without
An all-finger grip and getting the left hand on top, sogetting the ball more than a few feet off the ground.
that four knuckles show, go together. It's almostThis, we need hardly remind you, is a horrible
impossible to hold the club entirely in the fingers ofexperience.
the left, without getting the left on top of the shaft.On any course and in almost any foursome you will
When dropping the right hand lower and lower, somesee many peculiar stances. Most of them are not
people feel they will get more power.fundamentally bad, except for one thing: standing
Well, they are all wrong and they go a long waywith an "open" body. This means, simply, that
toward ruining what might be a good shot. When thealthough the feet are in a perfectly square position
club is held entirely in the fingers of the left hand and(an equal distance from the direction line), the hips
that hand is on top of the shaft with three or fourand the shoulders are facing a little to the left.
knuckles showing, there is an overpowering tendencyThese players are, in effect, aiming to the left of
to roll that hand over to the left as the club comestheir target without realizing it.
into the ball at impact. When this happens the faceYou need hardly be reminded of the damage this can
of the club is turned over and closed, or hooded. Thedo. The player develops a pull to his shots, the ball
result is a bad smother or hook. That is whatstarting out a shade to the left and, if it doesn't slice,
happens with some players.staying to the left. There are usually just as much
The all-finger, left-hand-on-top position leads torough and as many traps to the left of a fairway or
another fault. It has a strong tendency to make thegreen as there are to the right, and the chronic puller
player bend the left hand back at the top of theis sure to find most of them.
swing and get the left wrist under the shaft. ThisThere are other bad positions, such as bending over
opens the face at the top, and it must then betoo much, standing too far from the ball, having the
closed on the downswing. With the body andweight too far forward, and so on, but the "open"
shoulder action most players have, plus their fear ofbody is by all odds the most common fault the
getting the face closed too much, this is seldomaverage player has in the stance department.
accomplished. Hence we have what is by far theLet us turn now to the positive side and take the
most common and exasperating bad shot of them allpositions that will help so much to give us a square
- the slice.face at impact, a straight ball that goes where we
Another move is for the player to try to hold theaim it, and fewer shots.
face of the club from turning as it goes through theActually there is nothing mysterious about the grip.
ball. Then you see the lifting, lofting action which is soWe merely want the club held in a certain way, a
common, with the player trying to hold the faceway that will help bring it to the top in the position
square long after it has hit the ball. This is a goodwe want and which will help bring it back to the ball
way to bring on a slice.at the correct angle to the line of flight.