Todd Sones is someone whom I’ve looked up to for a long time. He’s a Golf Digest Top 50 and Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor, a Golf Channel Academy Lead Coach, and he also serves on the Golf Academy of America’s National Advisory Board. Todd teaches out of White Deer Run Golf Club near Chicago, until the winter. That’s when he moves indoors to the Buffalo Grove Golf & Sports Center.
Todd says there are two grips necessary to play golf well. For the full swing as well as some shots around the green, a player needs leverage. In this week’s video, Todd shows you how to find your natural grip that will create the most leverage.
I try to loosely transcribe these tips because they usually only stay up for about a week. You can always gain access to this tip and more simply by becoming an Impact Golf Member at toddsones.com:
When you swing the golf club for full shots, Todd says you need what’s called a “leverage grip.” What that means is that when you swing the club back, you want to be able to leverage the golf club by hinging it so that the shaft is at a right angle to your lead arm.
That happens in the golf swing by applying downward pressure to the top of the grip as the club goes back. It levers up. You don’t want to apply sideways pressure. That would make the club rotate too much. When you look on Tour, you can see the different grips of great players. David Duval, who was No. 1 in the world, had a very strong grip. His lead (left) hand was turned to the right where you could see a lot of knuckles.
If you look at Corey Pavin, also a major champion, he gripped the club in what was considered a very neutral or even a weak grip. On his left (lead) hand, you couldn’t see as many knuckles. His hand was turned more to the left. Both won majors, and both were very successful players. One had what we call a weak grip. One had what we call a strong grip. Why is that? How does it work?
“It’s simply this,” says Todd. “Your natural grip is based on how your lead arm hangs naturally from your shoulder. The best way to find that position is to set up and grip the golf club with your hand behind your hip joint.”
The mistake Todd commonly sees is players who put the club in front of their body and swing their lead arm over. Sometimes they go under and palm the club in too weak of a grip for them. And then sometimes they actually rotate their whole arm to make their hand look proper in their mind and get their lead arm all twisted.
The key is to have your arm in a natural hanging position and the club in a position where your lead palm is on top of the grip. Find the spot with your hand behind your hip joint with your arm hanging naturally. Grip the club in your fingers with your palm on top, and then push down so that you can lever the club up. If you can push down and lever the club up, you’ve found your leverage grip, which is natural.
From that position, if you push down and lever the club up, just bring your trail arm up to the golf club again where your arm is hanging naturally, and fit the club into your fingers. The heel pad of your right hand fits behind your thumb. The lifeline fits right behind your thumb, and then you just come over it so you can push down on the club. Lever it up, and you’ve created a leverage grip that’s natural for you.
Find your natural grip. That’s the one that will allow you to deliver the golf club with as much speed as possible for you with a club face as square as possible, and you’ll be a better player for it.