Your grip may be the cause of your bad shots!

December 1, 2003

Hi, I’m Mel Sole, Director of Instruction at the Mel Sole Golf School, headquartered at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in Pawleys Island, SC. We conduct 1, 2 and 3-day golf schools, hourly golf lessons, and senior golf schools—any golf instruction program your heart desires. Give us a call at 800-624-4653 or 843-237-4993. We will be happy to book a commuter school or a package that contains accommodations, golf, and golf school.

Monthly Golf Tips by the Mel Sole Golf School.

I recently gave a lesson to the son of one of my regular students in Mexico. He mentioned that he tended to hit the ball very high and weak to the right with most of his shots. While watching him warm up, I was impressed with his swing and wondered why he had this problem. My original thought (and most common reason) was breaking down with his left arm and not releasing correctly through the ball. Although as I watched him, I could see that this was not the case, as he had an excellent extension and release down the line. My eyes then focused on the top of his backswing, and I could immediately see the problem!

Check the grip at the address position.

At address, he had a neutral grip, that is, with only one knuckle showing on his top hand. (picture #1)

Your grip may be the cause of your bad shots

Check the grip at the top of the backswing.

However, at the top of his backswing, he “cupped” his wrist, causing the clubface to open with the club's toe pointing down to the ground. (picture #2)

Your grip may be the cause of your bad shots

This resulted in an open clubface at impact, causing his offline shots.

Your grip may be the cause of your bad shots

I made his grip stronger with two knuckles showing on his top hand (picture #3). This immediately set the clubface square at the top of the swing with the leading edge of the clubface at 45 degrees to the ground (picture #4).

This allowed him to square the clubface more easily.

Without changing anything else in his swing, he immediately started to hit the ball straighter and longer. If you fade or slice the ball, this might be the answer you are looking for.

If you are hooking the ball, your clubface may be closed at the top of the backswing, with the clubface facing the sky (picture #5).

Check that you do not have too strong a grip with more than 2 knuckles showing (picture #6).

The solution here would be to weaken your grip slightly to a 2 knuckle grip. This allows the clubface to be more square at the top of the swing and ultimately at impact.

Because Your grip may be the cause of your offline shots, it all boils down to the fact that the leading edge of the clubface must be at 45 degrees to the ground at the top of the swing. Get someone to check your clubface at the top of the backswing. (it is difficult for you to do this on your own unless you use a mirror) And by correcting this position, you will be on your way to hitting straighter shots without changing anything else in your swing!

Source: Mel Sole Golf School.

Thanks for reading - Your grip may be the cause of your bad shots! Check your grip regularly.

Monthly Golf Tips by the Mel Sole Golf School.

Check the grip at the address position.

Check the grip at the top of the backswing.

This allowed him to square the clubface more easily.

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