| Good iron play requires a good grip. Without | | | | and right hand. This movement can be likened |
| such a grip it is virtually impossible to | | | | to cracking a whip underhanded. A tremendous |
| control your shots to the green and score | | | | amount of clubhead speed can be generated |
| with any degree of consistency. Most golfers, | | | | this way, provided you have a proper grip on |
| particularly beginners, fail to appreciate | | | | the club and are on the proper swing plane |
| the importance of the grip and its influence | | | | coming into the ball. |
| on the over-all swing. | | | | |
| | | | On the other hand, if the club is not gripped |
| After some 20 years of playing golf, both for | | | | properly, you lose control at some critical |
| fun and as a profession, spending countless | | | | juncture in the swing and the clubhead cannot |
| hours of thinking about the swing and how it | | | | be accelerated to its maximum speed. |
| should function, and hundreds of other hours | | | | |
| on the practice tee, I have reached one | | | | The Overlapping Grip. Although there are many |
| emphatic conclusion: No one who aspires to | | | | ways to grip the club, the most effective and |
| become a good golfer can do so without a | | | | widely accepted one is the overlapping grip. |
| correct grip. It is as simple as that. | | | | This grip promotes excellent unity of the |
| | | | hands, allowing them to function as a |
| I experienced trouble with my grip for years | | | | one-piece unit throughout the swing. The |
| before I finally made a major change in 1958. | | | | overlapping grip places initial control in |
| Prior to that time, I had been fortunate | | | | the left hand and keeps it there throughout |
| enough to win a number of tournaments, but I | | | | the backswing and early in the downswing. The |
| always had a tendency to hook the ball. The | | | | right hand then takes over and applies the |
| reason was that I had carried my right hand | | | | power through the clubshaft and clubhead. |
| under the shaft too much, invariably | | | | |
| resulting in a closed face at the top of the | | | | Positioning your left hand on the club |
| swing. | | | | correctly is the first step toward building a |
| | | | good grip. To obtain this position, place the |
| In the fall of 1958, Paul Runyan, La Jolla | | | | open palm against the left side of the shaft |
| Country Club professional, advised me to | | | | and then close the palm and fingers around |
| change my grip. He suggested that I move my | | | | the shaft This puts the shaft under the |
| right hand slightly counterclockwise, or more | | | | muscular pad and slightly above the roots of |
| on top of the shaft, to have the clubface | | | | the last three fingers of the left hand. |
| more open at the top of the swing. These | | | | |
| changes were related, and it took me a month | | | | It is a little more difficult to position |
| or more to become accustomed to this new | | | | your right hand on the club, because it is |
| right-hand position. | | | | the overlapping hand. With your left hand |
| | | | affixed on the shaft in the correct manner, |
| By moving my right hand more on top of the | | | | extend your right hand down to meet the left |
| shaft, there were fewer tendencies to have | | | | hand. The palm faces toward the target, and |
| the right hand exert initial control during | | | | the center of the palm fits snugly against, |
| the backswing. The right hand merely rides on | | | | and over, the thumb of the left hand. Now |
| the shaft, thus allowing the clubface to | | | | close the fingers around the shaft allowing |
| remain square, or slightly open, as the body | | | | the little finger to overlap between the |
| is turned away from the ball. Also, this new | | | | forefinger and middle finger. Actually, the |
| grip prevented my right hand from taking over | | | | little finger sort of hooks around the middle |
| too soon at the start of the downswing. | | | | knuckle of the forefinger, creating a firm |
| | | | yet flexible union of the hands. |
| In the golf swing, the body movements | | | | |
| generate the power and the hands apply it | | | | Now it is just necessary for you to go out |
| through the shaft and clubhead with a | | | | and practice. |
| terrific lashing action of the right forearm | | | | |