Finally Discovered My Primary Swing Fault
 

Just thought I'd share...

It was my grip fellas. My instructor talked about my grip probably one or too times, that was it. I have been making little progress over the last 6 months and became frustrated. I stopped taking lessons (because he got lazy and stopped helping), but kept practicing, reading, watching videos on my own.

I FINALLY discovered Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons. Over the last few days I focused only on the first chapter, the grip. WOW. There are two key aspects for me that I took from Hogan's explanation: 1) the interlocking "jigsaw" relationship between the right lifeline and the left thumb, and 2) the "siamese" twin relationship between the right thumb and upper portion of the right forefinger allowing me to press left against the shaft with the upper forefinger knuckle. These two things instantly saved my admittedly super amateur swing. I immediately stopped flipping and casting, primarily because I could use much much less pressure while maintaining an absolute lock on the club. Also, I feel as if my backswing is immediately on plane and the correct muscles are activated. It takes hardly any effort to get on plane and use my lower body to pull my arms through....My new grip feels as if something completely changed in the feel of my arms, shoulders, lower body. Something just feels right now...

Now, guys, we can argue over whether his grip in the book (or in real life) was weak, strong, slicer grip, hookey grip, etc... But it doesn't matter. You can use his explanation of "corporate" hand and "siamese twin" and make the grip as weak or as strong as you like, depending on the nature of your mishits. I've experimented at the range and have found that neutral to slightly strong is best, for me.

I guess there's no point to this thread other than to say that I'm glad I finally found out what has been causing my shanks, slices, and overall inability to get on plane. Hogan was absolutely correct in asserting that the grip is absolutely critical to activating the correct muscle to make a proper golf swing. I'm sure plenty of you guys have read the book, but if you haven't, pick it up!

never read the book but I had a similar experience. My driver was trash, never good hit it and always stayed away from it. A local pro who i've become friends with helped me with that. I told him i wanted to hit my driver and I took a lesson. He watched me take 3 swings, stopped me and told me to roll my left hand to the right and to roll my right hand so my thumb presses down on the grip and points down the shaft. Since then its been all gravy and I am loving the ability to put the ball long down the fairway.

The biggest gains I have made this year with my play, has been with my grip and my putting. In working with my PGA teaching pro, he pointed out just how weak my grip had become over time, and once he had me using a much stronger grip, everything fell into place. I'm hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens right now. The correct grip is very important.

Without the right grip it is very hard to swing the club properly. Here is something else, the stronger your grip the flatter your swing plane has to be and vice versa the weaker it is the more upright it has to be, best grip is neutral but a little strong can't hurt.

Sounds a lot like what Jim Flick had me do when I was at the Kingdom.
He had me adjust my grip similarly and then strengthend it a bit.
He turned me from a fade player to more of a draw player.

Glad to hear you found something that works for you. I found my primary swing fault, I'm standing too close to the ball, after I hit it!

Good to hear that you found something that worked for you.

Guess you can't get away from the basic fundamentals.

That book is awesome. Tom Watson's timeless swing is very similar to it as well, but it explains a few more things in detail. If you felt Hogan's book helped Watson's book will be great for you as well.

glad you are discovering some stuff with your swing, h0ss. Typically when I am struggling, I also begin first by checking both my posture and grip before I move on to other things.

Ben Hogan's fundamentals book is great. I reread it at the start of each season to remind myself of the basics such as grip.

Amazing what a proper grip can do. I fixed my grip and started swinging a little more softly (i.e. stopped trying to kill the ball), and my cap this year has gone from 19 to 11 this year and is still improving as my putting does too. After I did all the research this winter and implemented it, I've been watching people's grips this year and wow are very few good. I think unsurprisingly, the only people I've seen with good grips are the better golfers. I'm by no means an expert, but the number of people I see with inches between their hands or their palms forming almost a straight line makes me want to scream at them to get a lesson lol.

Good post. I often ignore grip pressure and I'm sure there are times my knuckles are bleach white.

My new secure but light grip has really allowed me to feel the weight and momentum of the club. Finding the right grip was like flipping a switch in my brain and body. I can now "feel" my swing's plane.