6 Grip
A weak grip
A weak grip means the lead hand is turned toward the target. The face tends to arrive open. The ball leaks right.
The situation
The ball starts left of where you aimed and then bends right, or it simply leaks right, and at address you barely see the knuckles of the lead hand. That pattern is a face problem before it is a swing problem. The full flight is on the slice page. This page is only the hands.
Strong is the other direction: the lead hand is under the shaft and you see three or four knuckles. That can send the ball left. Do not chase a hook you do not have.
A check you can do
Take your grip and look down without moving the hands. Count the lead-hand knuckles you can see. One or none is a weak hold. Two, or a hint of a third, is a workable place for most people learning the game. If you already see four knuckles and the ball still slices, the grip is not the weak part. Go to the slice page and check the path.
The fix
- 01Rotate the lead hand Open the lead hand, turn the palm a little toward the sky, and close it again. You should now see two knuckles.
- 02Move the lead thumb off the top The thumb sits on the trail side of the shaft, not dead on top. Dead on top is the weak position you are leaving.
- 03Match the trail palm to the lead palm The trail thumb sits on the lead side of the shaft, not far underneath it. The V of the trail hand points up the trail shoulder, same as the lead V.
- 04Hit five easy shots You are looking for the start line to stop leaking right. Do not add speed until the face holds. If you use a ten-finger grip or an overlap or interlock, the knuckle count is the same.
- 05Ease back if everything now goes left If the ball starts left and stays left, you turned the lead hand too far. Return until two knuckles show, then check ball position. A ball that has crept up toward the lead toe can keep the face open even after the hands are right.