Many golfers have swing tendencies that, no matter how hard they try, they can’t get rid of. That’s why in this Golf Digest+ series, Matchmakers, Golf Digest No. 1 Teacher in America Mark Blackburn is teaching you how to play with what you’ve got. No matter your tendency, you can play well with it as long as you match it up with the right moves.
Changing your grip can be tough. Sometimes, we just want to stick with what we’ve got. The good news is that lots of different grips—strong, weak and neutral—can be effective, as long as you match them up with the proper release patterns.
Take a strong grip, for example. Many great players, like Paul Azinger and David Duval, have played well with very strong grips. How do you know if you’ve got a strong grip? Look down at your hands at address. If you see more than two-and-a-half knuckles on your lead hand, you’re in a strong position. Players with a strong grip in their left hand (for right-handers) will have the logo on their glove pointing more toward the sky, like I show below.
Strong-grip players tend to have the face more closed throughout the swing. At the top of the backswing, their clubfaces often point toward the sky. This can be great for preventing a slice but can often lead to low hooks if you don’t make two essential adjustments.
1. Move the ball up
Great strong-grip players almost always play a power fade, or a shot that starts left of the target (for a right-hander) and gently curves back. I’ll explain why the fade is so important in a moment, but first, play the ball more forward in your stance. If you typically have the ball off your lead heel with a driver, get it off your lead toes. With an iron, make sure your ball position is forward of center, closer to your lead foot. This will allow you to more easily start the ball to the left of your target so that the fade brings it back right on your line.
2. Use an underhand release
If you have a strong grip and a traditional release, where the trail forearm gently rolls over the lead forearm in the follow-through, you’ll hit nasty hooks over and over again because the face will be too closed.
Instead, strong-grip players need an underhand release, where the right hand and forearm work under the left through impact. Notice how when I demonstrate this, my right forearm never crosses over my left. I’m releasing the club in a way where the face stays square and never flips shut.
To perfect the underhand release, focus on keeping your torso and pelvis turning through impact. If they stop rotating, the face will flip closed immediately. Then, apply some pressure to the back of the shaft with your trail hand through impact. Feel like your trail forearm works under your lead forearm, instead of rolling over. A good checkpoint is to stop when the club is parallel to the ground after impact. If you’ve done it right, your trail arm will still be underneath your lead arm.
This is why playing a fade is so key when you have a strong grip. This underhand release helps keep the face open to your club path, which promotes a slight fade. If you try and hit draws with a strong grip, they can quickly turn into hooks as you allow the club to release more traditionally. Let’s stay away from that.
Move the ball up in your stance, keep your body rotating and work your trail arm underneath— that’s how you play great golf with a strong grip.
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Blackburn’s new book, The Coaching Code, is now out. In it, he explains the concepts he has used in coaching dozens of tour players, including Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa. Blackburn is a Golf Digest Teaching Professional.