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Golf Grip and Stance Tutorial

Your grip on the golf club and your stance over the ball are the foundations for the swing. Here's a simple way to make sure they are right everytime.

Your grip on the golf club is the foundation for the swing. If you get the right grip you stand a chance of a decent swing, and might even get the ball to go down the fairway. Blow the grip, and you'll be looking for your ball in the trees more than you care. Here's an easy 3 point system to make sure it's right every time.

Getting a good grip is not as hard as it's made out to be. Here are just a few simple checks you can do every time you address the ball to verify your grip is correct. The first one is that the club grip is resting at the base of your fingers, not the palm of your hand. Then when you wrap your left hand around the club, you should see two knuckles on your left hand when looking straight down. (Assuming you are right handed.) If you see only one knuckle, you have the grip in the palm of the hand. If you see three knuckles, you have grip too far towards the finger tips.

Next when you grip with the right hand either overlapping or interlocking the right pinky finger over the left index finger, be sure the club grip is again in the "roots" of the fingers, not the palm. To check this, look for the "v" created between your right thumb and right forefinger. It should point right back up to your right shoulder.

Finally, after you have both hands on the grip and you are happy with their position, take a deep breath and relax. Relax the grip, and relax your mind. Now your grip is the best it can be and you are ready for the stance.

There are basically three stances in golf. One for putting & wedges, one for medium irons and one for drivers. To help eliminate confusion, I'm going to speak of a "lead foot" and "back foot." For a right handed person, the lead foot is the left foot, and the back foot is the right one. For a southpaw, it's just the opposite; Lead foot is the right and back foot is the left.

With that said, your feet should start out about shoulders width apart, and the ball should be about three inches off your lead foot's heel. To envision this, assume a square stance between you and the ball. Draw a line between your two feet at the heels and make it parallel to a line from the ball to the pin (or wherever you are trying to put the ball). To imagine this, picture yourself standing on a railroad track. On the far track is teed the ball and the track goes straight from the ball to the pin (or wherever you are trying to put the ball.) On the other track you are standing, with your heels on the track. Now imagine a railroad tie at the ball. (A very thin railroad tie. :-) ) That thin line at the ball should be about three inches off the heel of your lead foot. This is the same basic stance for every club. The distance of the ball off your lead foot's heel is always the same, about three inches.

The only thing you are going to change in your stance is your back foot position. For instance, when you pick up a medium iron, the lead foot and ball do not change. You only open your stance slightly by moving your back foot back. The ball and the lead foot do not change.

Again, when you use a driver, your stance starts out the same, the ball is about three inches off the heel of the lead foot, but now your back foot opens up even more. By using this method, the ball will always be at the same position on every swing and you'll hit more consistently.