Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons, (02) The Grip, Notes

Post date: Sep 5, 2017 12:31:02 PM

Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons by Ben Hogan with Herbert Warren Wind

The Grip

• • Good golf begins with a good grip. There is an undeniable beauty in the way a good player sets his hands on the club. The grip is the heartbeat of the action of the golf swing. The player’s only contact with the ball is through the clubhead, and the only direct physical contact with the club is through his hands. In the golf swing the power is generated and originated in the body. As the power builds up, it is transferred from the body to the arms. It multiplies with every transfer. This chain reaction depends on a proper grip in order for the power to reach the club.

  • In a good grip both hands act as one unit. To insure a proper grip is to get the left hand on the club absolutely correctly:

    • With the back of the left hand facing the target place the club in the left hand so that (1) the shaft is pressed up under the muscular pad at the inside heel of the palm and (2) the shaft lies also directly across the top joint of the forefinger.

• • • Now just close the left hand. Close the fingers before the thumb. (p.22) When completed the V-formed by the form and forefinger should point to his right eye. In the completed grip the pressure points are the last three fingers and grip pressure should be light. The three fingers press up, the pads press down. Keep the pressure in the palm pad (1) strengthens the left arm through the backswing (2) at the top of the backswing the pressure in the pad prevents the club from slipping and (3) it acts as a firm reinforcement at impact. This is an active pressure that feels alive and ready for action--a secure, alive and comfortable grip. Never overdo the strength of the grip. Stiff muscles are deaf muscles. As the club swings back the club should be instinctively tightened.

• • The second half of the equation is a proper right hand grip.

• • • The right hand grip is a finger grip. The two fingers which should apply the most pressure are the two middle fingers. The forefinger must not be allowed to be too forceful. The little finger slides up and over the forefinger of the left hand and locks itself securely in the groove between the left pointer finger and middle finger.

• • • With the grip complete, try to feel that the tips of the forefinger and thumb are hardly on the club and strive to build up the opposite feeling that the knuckle above the forefinger is pressing toward the thumb and toward the target. The grip is one of those details that must be completely right. Being painstaking about the grip will reward you a thousand times over. If the grip is correct, along with the posture and stance we can virtually forget about what the hands are doing. A correct grip brings into play the correct muscles of the arm and body. The golf grip is bound to function more effectively when the hands and fingers feel thin.

• • Practice the proper grip for 10 minutes a day until it becomes natural. Intelligent application is required to learn the golf swing. The grip is the beginning step to the development of a correct repeatable swing. After we develop a correct, repeatable swing we can focus on absorbing the spirit of the game and focus on playing golf shots.