I FIND MYSELF GIVING
many lessons about the hands and their role in the
swing. After all, your hands are the only physical
connection to the club. They influence the club
shaft and clubface alignments throughout the swing.
By learning what your hands are supposed to do
both at address and in the swing, you can achieve
good impact alignments.
Address
Let's start with the hands and how they are placed
on the grip. The function of the grip is to help
produce a square clubface. Although you will see
different styles of grips on tour, the most popular
is what's considered a neutral grip.
A neutral grip begins with your left hand positioned
where the left thumb points slightly to the right
of center. As you do this, you will feel the grip
in the fingers allowing for no gap between the
thumb and first finger.
The right hand preferably connects by either
interlocking the pinky or overlapping with the
first finger of the left hand.
Make sure the middle three fingers of the right
hand are on the grip and that the left thumb fits
in the lifeline of the right hand. It is important
that the right hand covers up the left thumb at
address.
The final result will show a grip where the crease
or "V" you form between your thumb and
first finger is pointing to roughly your right
ear/shoulder.
Backswing
The next step to educating your hands is understanding
what they are doing in the backswing. This is
better known as hinging or hinge action. Here
again, this will directly influence the clubface
as well as the club shaft.
The fascinating aspect of hinging is that you
have options. These options allow the clubface
to work back open, square or closed. The left
hand is what controls these clubface options.
Generally speaking, I believe a player should
take the clubface back square, which means your
left hand will not turn or roll in the initial
part of the backswing.
The right hand during the backswing should be
bent. Some players like to bend the right wrist
at address, sending the club shaft well forward
and in line with the left arm. Regardless, the
right wrist needs to be bent during the backswing.
Let's assume the top of the swing is where the
hands have only traveled to just above the right
shoulder. At this point, your right wrist has
taken responsibility of the club shaft, placing
the club in a position where the butt end points
toward the target line.
The weight of the club will feel as if it is
behind you and resting on the first finger of
the right hand. This is called clubhead lag and
is a very explosive dynamic when delivered properly.
Downswing
On the way down to impact, you must maintain this
lag through the bend in the right wrist. A common
error is when a player starts down and loses the
bend in the right wrist. This is known as casting
or clubhead throwaway. It will lead to poor impact
alignments and inconsistent ball striking. Therefore,
it is crucial that on the way down you maintain
the bend in the right wrist all the way to impact
and even slightly beyond.
You are now in a great impact position with your
right wrist bent and left wrist flat. Every great
ball striker displays this position with the hands
at impact.
I also would recommend taking a video lesson
and learning just what your hands are doing. You
might take a picture of your grip and see what
type of grip you have. Look from the target-line
view and make sure the clubface is square and
the club shaft is on plane. Finally, examine your
impact alignments. Is your right wrist bent and
your left wrist flat at impact? If not, you need
to work with your instructor to get there.
