Neutral Hand Grip Explained | Golf Monthly
Katie Dawkins PGA Professional demonstrates what a neutral grip is.
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Hi there, I'm gonna talk today about the neutral grip.
00:06 What is a neutral grip?
00:08 And why is it so important for your golf?
00:10 Your hands are the only connection
00:12 between you and that golf club.
00:14 And they control the face of the club.
00:17 If your hands are in a neutral position,
00:19 and by neutral, I mean that they're holding the club
00:21 how they naturally hang.
00:23 So, everyone's a little bit different,
00:25 but it's really important that you know
00:27 how your hands naturally hang.
00:29 As a general rule, most people's arms will hang down.
00:32 It's important not to have any tension.
00:33 If you were to clap your hands together,
00:35 the palms would be looking at each other,
00:37 and you then make gentle fists out of your hands.
00:40 Your club then needs to fit into the fingers of your fists.
00:44 It's a bit of a tongue twister, that,
00:46 but it's quite easy to remember.
00:47 So, the club fits into the top hand,
00:49 into the fingers a little bit, sits on top.
00:52 The other one comes on like a forehand,
00:54 and sits into those fingers there.
00:56 You link your hands however you want to on the club.
00:59 Some people like to link, some people like to overlap.
01:02 Others will prefer just a baseball grip.
01:04 That's up to you, but the most important relationship
01:07 is the one that those hands have to each other.
01:09 So, palms looking at each other,
01:12 fingers hanging down, pointing towards the ground,
01:14 and gently folded round.
01:16 That's gonna return that club nicely, square impact.
01:19 If you don't hold your hands in that way on the club,
01:24 so say for example, you've got a bit of a strong grip.
01:27 So, a strong grip is where the top hand's
01:28 a little bit more on top,
01:30 bottom hand's a bit more underneath.
01:31 They are still going to return to that position
01:34 where they're facing each other
01:35 and playing a forehand to the target, like that.
01:38 That's the effect you're gonna have on that club face.
01:41 And vice versa, if you've got the bottom hand
01:43 too much on top, club's gonna return like that.
01:45 You've got an open face.
01:47 So, a neutral grip is really, really important.
01:50 If you want to hit that ball straight,
01:52 and also you don't necessarily want to involve
01:55 any other complications or compensatory movements
01:57 within your golf swing, practise it at home.
01:59 Lean a club up by the bathroom door
02:01 every time you walk past it,
02:03 shake your hands, clap them together,
02:05 make that little channel in the fingers,
02:08 and sit that club in it.
02:10 Fold the hands over, have a waggle, and put it back.
02:14 You do that a few times a day,
02:16 and after a couple of weeks,
02:17 you'll start to hold the club
02:18 a little bit better on the course,
02:20 and your hands will be more neutral.
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