The claw. It was a putting grio that used to be seen as a kind of act of desperation, but now more and more players keep switching to the claw—and it keeps working.
Justin Rose is perhaps the best success story, but Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood and Collin Morikawa and Nick Taylor and tons of others.
And that's because there's some good science behind this weird-looking grip. It's why it works so well for so many golfers, and why it might even work for you, too.
It's something we explore in our most recent episode of Film Study, which you can watch right here:
The science
A lot of golfers don't realize that their full swing tendencies almost always show up in some form in their putting stroke.
Take Justin Rose.
From a young age, Rose had a tendency in his full swing: In his downswing, the thumb of his right hand would move towards his right forearm, a movement in the wrist known as a radial deviation. Almost like he's re-hinging slightly. Basically this move would lag the club on the downswing and in doing so, open the face slightly. Rose would then match this up later in his downswing with a big rolling release of his right hand through impact.
This was a perfectly good, manageable pattern for full shots, actually. It helped Rose create speed, and he had spent years perfecting it. However, on the greens, it was kind of a problem.
Putting at the elite level is about face control and how well you can deliver a square face to the ball consistently on your line. On the downstroke, when Rose would apply force via his wrist, this subtle movement would twist the putter face open, just like it did in his full swing. Except unlike his full swing, Rose didn't have time to roll his wrist back over, so he'd miss putts right because of an open clubface, or occasionally overcompensate and pull them left.
Rose's putting coach Phil Kenyon came up with the solution: the claw. The reason? It hid Rose's wrist movement.
With a traditional putting grip, this right wrist movement would open the clubface. But by repositioning Rose's right hand less to the side of the grip and more on top of the grip, any movement of his right thumb towards his forearm would no longer twist the face open.
Yes, it may add a bit of loft to the putter, but that's not a big deal. All the movement of the putter would happen in-plane. The clubface was under control, which meant fewer right-and-left misses.
Kenyon also found that the best putters accelerate the putterhead the most at the end of the backstroke.
Think of it like a car flooring it before the foot comes off the gas. You're not accelerating anymore but you are still rolling. Worse putters force the putterhead through way later, right around impact. And very often it's their right hand that's doing the forcing. When that happens it doesn't just take the putter face offline, it also makes speed control really difficult.
The claw can be a really great way of calming an overactive right hand, and ensuring the acceleration happens in the right place.
The variations of the claw
There are a few variations of the claw which you often see pop up.
The kind Rose uses is the most common. The grip sits between the thumb and index finger while your palm sits more open on top of the grip. The position of the hand mostly neutralizes your right hand but you also have enough of a grip with it to control the club while it moves around.
Some golfers still find their right hand takes over, so they move their right hand more off the club and clasp only with their fingers. Others feel like they need more control of the club so they clasp with their entire hand. That's how Chris DiMarco did it.
The pencil variation is when you have the right hand claw but place it more on the side of the club, which can help release the putter through while also calming down your right hand.
And then there's the reverse claw, which moves the right hand to the top of the grip and uses a claw grip with your left. This actually seems to be a pretty good yips solution.
Again, the goal of all of these variations is the same: Calm down your right hand, especially if you have a lot of it in your full swing.
It's why you see guys like Webb Simpson fit really well into the claw. He has a more extreme version of Rose's move at the start of the downswing. You can see his right wrist cupping, then the big rolling release. He paired the claw with an arm-lock putter and had a ton of success with it.
Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood are two more players who switched to the claw for similar reasons. The claw neutralized that full swing move, and again, worked a charm.
How to know if you're a good fit
The claw grip is often a really good fit for golfers with a lot of right hand release through the ball, because the claw essentially makes it impossible for your right hand to take over.
A quick warning, though: players with the opposite tendency tend to be worse fits for the claw. Golfers with more of a hold-off release, someone like Jordan Spieth or Dustin Johnson, kind of need more right hand in their stroke, otherwise they'll miss putts to the right. That's why you see so many of those players stick with a conventional grip, or a close relative, like left hand low.
So if this sounds like you, tread carefully when it comes to jumping into the claw.
Ultimately, it's all about matching up what your tendencies are with your putting grip. And remember that your full swing can provide some clues. The same moves that happen in your full swing often show up in your putting stroke, for better or for worse. The good news is that unlike in your full swing, you can adjust the grip you use to counteract it.