Golf Swing Step 1 Overlapping Grips Versus Interlocking Grips

The word grip here is refer to the action of the golfer holding onto the club. First thing to learn is how to have a good grip, you don't have a good golf swing with bad grip.

The word grip was used in the essential golf equipment session to denote the soft material at the end of the club shaft opposite the clubhead; that is, the material that servers as the handle for the club. The word grip is also used for the action of the golfer in holding onto the club. In other words, the golfer "grips" the "grip" of the club. This gripping action of the golfer is what is described next.

The grip is so basic to the foundation of the golf swing, if you have a bad grip, you don't want a good golf swing. If the grips is incorrect, the swing will necessarily have to be incorrect to compensate. On the other hand, if the grip is correct, a correct swing comes more easily and with less conscious effort. The grip is so important that as a beginner when you took up golf, the first lesson got to spending a couple of hours working on nothing but the grip.

A fundamental of the grip is the two hands working together as a unit. To accomplish a unified grip, take a 7 iron, set the sole bottom of the clubhead flat on the ground about 12 inches in front of the instep of  your left foot, and rest the other end of the club against your left thigh. Now, reach down with your left hand like you are going to shake hands with the club. This should result in the bottom of the grip (the club's handle) resting in the curled fingers of the left hand, the palm of the left and being somewhat on top of te grip, and the left thumb resting slightly to the right of the top of the grip. It is very important that the club rest in the curled fingers of the hand, rather than in the palm, and that the last three fingers of the left hand maintain a firm old on the club throughout the swing.

To encourage the hands working together, the right hand is now placed on the grip below the left hand so that the little finger on the right hand either overlaps the forefinger of the left hand or interlocks with it. The overlapping grip is widely used and attributed to British golfing legend Harry Vardon. Thus it is called the Vardon grip.

Whether the overlapping or interlocking version of the grip is used, the bottom of the grip again rests in the curled fingers of the right hand while (and this is very important) the right palm completely covers the left thumb. The right thumb is positioned slightly to the left of the top of the grip, resting gently against the right forefinger.

The end result of the above placement of the hands on the club is that the palms of the hands are basically facing each other. In addition, the back of the golfer's left hand and the palm of the right hand are facing the target.

Make sure the entire left hand is on the grip. That is, don't let the heel of the left hand be dangling off the end of the club. Grip pressure should be light, as opposed to tight or loose. The club should be held like one would hold a bird not so tight that the bird is squeezed to death, nor so loose that it can fly away. Any pressure exerted, as stated earlier, is focused on the last three fingers of the left hand, the ones at the very top of the grip. These fingers keep the club snug in the hand, particularly at the top of the swing and during the follow through. The feeling for the club transmitted through the thumb and forefinger of each and is also important, as these fingers help you perceive the swinging motion of the clubhead during the swing.