Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Size Matters

Golf | 25 August, 2021

Welcome

Hello avid golfers, welcome to this weeks tips & tricks. This week we’re going to look at your equipment and how it could potentially be affecting your game. We’re going to look at the grip and how this could alter the way you hold the club and also the way that the head and shaft perform.

Grip

The way that you hold the club will play a vital role in how you can swing the golf club. If your grip is not correct it’s likely you’re going to be battling against these faults during the swing. The way that you hold the club can cause problems with direction and spin on the ball as well as biomechanical limitations. Having the correct size of grip and good texture will help.

Size

Firstly if the grip size is too small (your hands are too big for the grip) then it will feel like you’re strangling the handle and have nowhere to put your hands on the club. Anyone that wears bigger than a size medium glove should be looking to have extra layers of tape under the grip or moving towards a midsize. As soon as you’re into a size large glove you could be looking at oversize grips. A rough guidance for testing the size is to check where the middle finger on the left hand touches the pad of your left hand when you hold the club. You only want it to be gently resting against it. If that finger is squeezing the pad it’s likely the grips are too small and you won’t have complete control of the club.

Texture

The texture will also play a part in how you hold the club. If the grips are 25 years old and it’s a hot sweaty day you’re going to grip onto it for dear life so it doesn’t go flying across the fairway, increasing tension. As we all know tension on the golf course can cause disaster. We want the grip to be tight enough to not let go of the club and no more. A grip with more “grip” will help relieve this tension meaning you can swing more freely.

Guidance points on how to hold the golf club

  • Support through the fingers
  • Two knuckles showing on top of the left hand
  • Left thumb to right side of the grip
  • Right palm over left thumb
  • Right thumb to left side of the grip
  • Relaxed pressure

You can buy grip trainers in the shop or online. They’re brilliant and if you want to improve your golf I highly recommend getting one. The picture shows a with and without grip trainer of a pupil. The one on the left is with the trainer and the one on the right is without. Notice the thumb positioning for both. The pupil was missing left with restricted mobility in the wrists. The grip trainer added yardage, height, improved the strike and direction. Changing the way you hold the club feels horrible but better size and texture could help you.

Shaft & Head

Shaft Length

The length of the shaft can be very important when looking at ball striking. We are always trying to find the middle of the clubface and if the length of shaft is wrong it can compromise the strike. If the shaft is too long and the player can’t control it, the strike location may become scattered all over the face. Some will be from the toe, some the heel, some the middle. If the shaft is too short the strike location will be more consistently from the toe of the club. Finding the correct length of club can be difficult and finding the middle of the clubface takes practice. The more you can find it, the more consistent the distance control becomes.

Head size

The size and shape of the head of an iron can change how controllable and easy it is to hit. Larger “game improvement” heads make off centre hits more forgiving. The only downside to this is that the speed from a centred strike can vary. Some shots could come right out of the sweet spot sending the ball further than normal. Forged irons with smaller heads give much more consistent ball speed from the middle of the clubface but aren’t as forgiving with off centre hits. Choosing the correct head design for you is crucial based on your ability and ball striking.

Summary

Overall the equipment you use can play a huge part on your performance. The wrong grip size or texture can lead to errors before you have even swung the golf club. Having the wrong length of shaft can also make the game more difficult. If any of this sounds familiar and you would like a custom fit or lesson based on what you have seen please get in touch. You can also enquire about having your clubs regripped and either myself or one of the other staff can educate you on different sizes and textures.

I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.

Cheers,

Josh