Grip pressure-----EUREKA!!!!

[spineshank]

4 hours ago, uscheese said:

 

Sorry to bump an 8 year old thread but I've had what I consider to be my biggest breakthrough in my golfing life this year.  Over the years I've come back to this thread trying to figure out what had happened to me on that magical July day in 2014 and why I couldn't find it again.  Well this year I've found it again and it's been working for me for a couple of months and not just one round.  The key to me in grip pressure wasn't starting my swing with a light grip on the club...it was not choking the crap out of the club in transition.  My transition has always been quick and violent which made me cup at the top of the swing and come over the top which was killing my distance and causing massive hooks.  This year I almost feel like the club might fly out of my hands in transition (feel...not real) and I have gained 10-30 yards on all of my clubs.  My average drive over the last month has gone from 225 to 260 and my irons are easily two clubs longer.  My home course has four par fours on the back over 410 which were close to unreachable for me and now I'm not only getting to those consistently, I'm also green high on my pars 5's in two.  So much more fun for me to golf right now.

 

Tensions is a major swing killer. Something i fight a lot. This thread needs to be stickied imo.

[podunker]

I have been having a heck of a time with flipping the club at the bottom, early extension,  and just inconsistent ball striking. All of these are related, I know. I have tried a bunch of drills to help with the flip, early extension, etc.  None have really worked. I have been taking video with my phone to see if I have made any progress. Not really. This morning I got to thinking about why I am so straight armed at impact. The reason is because I want to control the club head at impact. Control, Control, control is all I am thinking. I am using my wrist to control it. I went out and just tried not to control my impact with my wrist and let them just relax. Holy Cow, Early extension gone, flipping gone. CRAZY!

[iacas]

On 2/2/2021 at 4:45 PM, Mr_Wolfe said:

you can grip the club REALLY loose and you will not let go of the club.

No, you’re gripping it quite firmly around impact whether you realize it or not. The club is often pulling with over 100 pounds. If you’re not squeezing with equal force it moves in your hands.

 

Just physics. Feel ain’t real. Pro golfers have very strong hands so a three or four out of 10 to them is often quite firm.

 

You can grip the club firmly without the tension going up your arms let alone to your shoulders.

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by iacas
Typo

[Ross_Albatross]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

No, you’re gripping it quite firmly around impact whether you realize it or not. The club is pulling with often over 100 pounds. If you’re not squeezing with equal drive it moves in your hands.

 

Just physics. Feel ain’t real. Pro golfers have very strong hands so a three or four out of 10 to them is often quite firm.

 

You can grip the club firmly without the tension going up your arms let alone to your shoulders.

100%. Played and still play hockey with guys at the NHL level, tremendous strength in hands, forearms. All of them. Just shake their hand. And it’s not that you play with tension, just a firmly tight grip, don’t want anything to move, rotate, especially at those speeds. 

[PedronNiall]

Adding to the last two comments, those forces at work are something I've discussed with a friend of mine a few times. Beyond the inertia of the club itself making its arc, there are multiple moments--points--upon which the torque generated in the swing can act: shoulders, elbows, wrists, and the contact planes between the fingers and the grip of the club, which is a mirror of any torque experienced by the clubhead out in space as well as a point capable of affecting the clubhead.

 

How much each of these is affected depends on the individual swing, but however much most of them are or aren't controlled as well as swing timing have an effect on how much minimum grip pressure is required to keep the club from twisting during travel. A number of famous advocates for looser grips have swing actions that help mitigate or eliminate rotation that might be present in other swings, especially those with higher tempos.

 

There's also a minimum amount of pressure required to resist twisting at impact. While perfect shots from perfectly flat lies should be ball first then turf, even great shots can remain in contact with the ball long enough for torsion caused by the ground to matter, and all the more on an imperfect strike or lie.

 

Lastly, the physical medium of the grip comes into play: the frictional force applied at any point by the player's grip is equal to the perpendicular Normal force of the player's grip pressure multiplied by the combined coefficient of friction created by the actual grip and the player's glove or bare skin. Physics absolutely shows that a low tack grip in a slightly damp bare hand will require a higher normal force to overcome twisting than a higher tack grip resting against a glove. I don't think any physicists, material scientists, or golfers have been motivated enough to chart and experiment with all possibilities but it would be doable to get minimum required pressures for different conditions if anyone had the desire to really do so. There are at least some bits of data out there, which is why gloves caught on in the first place and are still the norm in the information age. 

 

Odds are if you don't have an issue with the club twisting or loss of distance you've found the balance of grip type, grip pressure, and tension in the right places that works for your swing. There's no magic bullet, but there are minimum required pressures depending on the individual's swing, transition, and certain environmental & shot conditions. 

 

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[Mr_Wolfe]

On 5/17/2023 at 3:51 PM, iacas said:

No, you’re gripping it quite firmly around impact whether you realize it or not. The club is often pulling with over 100 pounds. If you’re not squeezing with equal force it moves in your hands.

 

Just physics. Feel ain’t real. Pro golfers have very strong hands so a three or four out of 10 to them is often quite firm.

 

You can grip the club firmly without the tension going up your arms let alone to your shoulders.

 

 

This is what I meant, originally. You can feel like you are gripping loose and by impact, you will be gripping very tightly, but without tension in your four-arms.

 

Mr. Wolfe

[FEHTLH]

https://golf.com/instruction/common-myth-costing-you-distance-grip-strength/?amp=1https://golf.com/instruction/common-myth-costing-you-distance-grip-strength/?amp=1