Trail hand grip question

[MidwestHacker]

Reading a Golf Magazine article on a layover and I see this image:

 

 

Is this grip demonstration showing a trail hand way too much into the palm? Or have I been gripping it wrong this whole time and gripping it like this will fix everything for me? 

[GoGoErky]

IMO yes. The grip should be more in the middle two fingers and the lifeline more on the left thumb

[TheDeanAbides]

Yeah, that's not a helpful photo at all. 

[sundaypins]

17 hours ago, MidwestHacker said:

Is this grip demonstration showing a trail hand way too much into the palm? Or have I been gripping it wrong this whole time and gripping like this will fix everything for me?

  

Forget magazine, Hogan's 5L book, page 25, has a good picture.  Put left hand only on club and fully c0ck and set that wrist-hand at eye level and orient shaft vertical to ground, then place trail hand as shown. 

[MidwestHacker]

1 hour ago, sundaypins said:

  

Forget magazine, Hogan's 5L book, page 25, has a good picture.  Put left hand only on club and fully c0ck and set that wrist-hand at eye level and orient shaft vertical to ground, then place trail hand as shown. 

This is what Im currently doing, more or less. Grip runs through the first pad of the middle two fingers, palm contact is only at base of pinky. The picture shown is wildly more palmy than that, you can even see in the second picture its not just an exaggeration for instruction as you can see by the position of the middle two fingers that the grip is way in his palm on the completed grip photo. Wild to see something this far from the established norm in the "Instruction" section of a major publication. 

 

[bladehunter]

I’d love to see an identical pic to match these two.  With the correct grip.  I’m familiar with the hogan page , etc etc. but this is a great view in my opinion of the hands and club.  Just in the palms. A perfect juxtaposition would be a good teaching tool. 

[sundaypins]

11 minutes ago, MidwestHacker said:

 Wild to see something this far from the established norm in the "Instruction" section of a major publication. 

 

There are playable alternative trail hand orientations, which is too long to get into, but straying too far from Hogan's grip will make life a little bit tougher.  Just remember when finding your best option the thumb and index finger are the touch side of the hand and the other three fingers are the power side of the hand.   Some players executing a delicate maneuver around the green might orient more like the magazine pic.     Not sure what context was for magazine article.  

[MidwestHacker]

1 minute ago, sundaypins said:

Not sure what context was for magazine article.  

It was a generic "Fix your grip" type thing, so they're saying use this grip for all of your full swings. 

[sundaypins]

Just now, MidwestHacker said:

It was a generic "Fix your grip" type thing, so they're saying use this grip for all of your full swings. 

 

Pink slip to the author.  

[wagolfer7]

The grip is pretty complex in my opinion.  Really difficult to interpret things correctly from images.  How you wrap your fingers / hands around and where it ultimately ends up is not something that's easily visible in pictures.

 

I went round and round - more in the fingers, more in the hand, etc. for a long time.  Then I watched Padraig's grip video and he goes into great detail on it.  After watching that and being able to complete the 3 things below, I've never questioned my grip again.  

 

1) Wrist Movement - You should be able to do figure 8 movements with the club just using your wrists.  A good fundamental grip gives you a lot of wrist mobility compared to a poor one. 

2) Being able to swing without the club face opening or closing.  Can you take a swing and return that club back to address in the same square position? 

3) Continuation of 2.  Hit 3 balls in a row and then return the club to address, is it still in a square position? 

 

 

 

  

[The Golfing Carpenter]

I watched the Harrington grip video last week and it was a great refresher. I like you he illustrates how to use the middle two fingers of the trail hand to pull the lifeline of the trail hand down over the thumb. That was very helpful for me. 

 

I also love the visual of the right hand being palm open and alongside the club and matching the clubface. That is a great reference in therms of how to rotate the trail hand to its correct orientation. 

 

This is also a great video showing how the trail hand orientation will influence the path back in the takeaway. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR4gikihXG4?si=0WzL3so4dSN9fkXE&t=104

[Pepperturbo]

On 7/30/2025 at 11:31 AM, MidwestHacker said:

Reading a Golf Magazine article on a layover and I see this image:

 

 

Is this grip demonstration showing a trail hand way too much into the palm? Or have I been gripping it wrong this whole time and gripping it like this will fix everything for me? 

IMO, the picture distorts the proper trail hand position. Look at the picture below provided by Hogan 5. It has the club laying half across the knuckles and under palm pad.  I have been using this Vardon grip since taking up golf. The right hand merely solidifies the grip with the right little finger riding between the left index and second finger, NOT on top.

 

 The left hand portion of the grip is key.

Edited July 31 by Pepperturbo

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Pepperturbo said:

 

 

 The left hand portion of the grip is key.

It may be key, but those pics are also grips that have made instructors a lot of money.

[Pepperturbo]

45 minutes ago, iacas said:

It may be key, but those pics are also grips that have made instructors a lot of money.

That may be the case.  I suppose that depends on the person and the instructors bias.  I've been using that grip since the 90s, got me to a 2, now 5ish, and still hitting the ball straight or as needed.