Golf Instruction:
"Seat" Your Hands for Tension Free Grip

By Scotty Hofer
Mike McGetrick Golf School Instructor

The importance of the grip is impossible to overestimate. An improper grip requires swing manipulation. You should "seat" the shaft grip in, under, or against certain points in the hands so the hands, wrists, and forearms can function properly.

To promote a proper "seating" of your hands, start by holding your golf club in the right hand along the shaft and extending it at a 45 degree angle in front of you. Now extend your left hand to the grip material with the thumb up and the palm facing to the right. As you look down at the left hand, you should see the base knuckles of both the index and middle fingers. Place the lower fleshy pad of the palm on top of the grip material and the index finger like a trigger underneath so that the grip is between the middle and end joints. You have now established the first two seats of the grip.

To secure this seating, simply close the remaining fingers to the grip material. Finally, position the left thumb slightly to the right of the shaft centerline.

With the left hand grip, move the club shaft to vertical in front of you. With the right palm facing you, align the right hand so that the shaft traverses a line from between the middle and end joints of the index finger to the middle joint of the little finger. Now raise the little finger of the right hand from the grip material and slide the right hand to the left until they are snug together. Choose one of the following right little finger positions to create the fourth seat: overlap, interlock, or ten finger.

For the fifth seat, simply close the middle two fingers of the right hand to the grip material which should seat the grip between those two fingers and the fleshy pad at the base of the fingers. The sixth and seventh seats are established together. The palm of the right hand must cover the left thumb. The left thumb is seated in the crevice between the two pads near the base of the right hand which locks the two hands together. As this is being done, place the right thumb so that the end joint is a quarter turn to the left of the shaft centerline.

The eighth and final seat is accomplished by extending the right index finger along the shaft and crooking it around the shaft as if it were a trigger until the tips of the finger and thumb touch or almost touch. When the grip is done properly, the middle joint of the right index finger protrudes down the shaft about three-quarters of an inch past the tip of the thumb. As a final checkpoint, the crease or "V" formed between the right thumb and index finger points between the right chin and point of the right shoulder.

Now that your hands are properly "seated", there is no need for excessive grip pressure. You want enough pressure to control the club but light enough to eliminate tension and allow the hands, wrists, and forearms to function properly.

What do you think? Join our golf forums and post your thoughts!