Does your golf grip pass the “HAMMER TEST”?
One of the biggest causes of bad shots for many golfers comes from gripping the club incorrectly.
The position of the hands on the grip affects the clubface during the swing. It is imperative that the hands are correctly placed on the club at the address in a neutral position to help keep the clubface properly aligned or square when hitting the ball.
As a general rule hands placed to the right on the grip, known as a strong grip, will lead to a clubface that points to the sky at the top if the backswing, referred to as a closed or shut face. This can lead to a closed clubface at impact causing a hook and/or a lower flighted shot with lots of run. But because the golfer then tries to keep the clubface open at impact in an effort to try and keep the ball flight straight particularly with Driver it is easy to turn the body out of the way too quickly and by keeping the hands firm (not turning over naturally) through impact which can also lead to a vicious left to right slice.
If the hands are too much to the left on the club, known as a weak grip, with the “v” shape between the thumb and forefingers of both hands pointing to the left shoulder. This will result in an open face at the top of the backswing with the toe of the club pointing down to the floor and the wrists very cupped. As the hands may not be able to square up the clubface at impact, a weak left to right shot will result.
The easiest way to learn how to grip the club correctly for both the golfer in need of a grip change and the beginner learning for the first time is to hold a heavy hammer in each hand as if you were about to drive a nail into a piece of wood. Your hand will automatically sit on top of the hammer handle in the perfect position for a golf grip with both “v’s” between thumb and forefinger pointing between the chin and right shoulder in the proper golf position, so giving the best leverage. Try swinging a hammer with either hand to the left or right of the handle and you will find it almost impossible to impart enough power.
So the hammer test will illustrate if your hands are correctly positioned on the club to give the best results out on the course.