A strong golf grip is one where your left hand is going to turn more towards the back of your club.
With a strong grip, both your left and right hand will be in a slightly different position than they are with a neutral grip.
Although some golf professionals advocate for a neutral grip, some will tell you to do what is best for your game.
If your hands happen to sit most naturally on the club with a strong grip, then there are some advantages.
If you have been struggling with your grip overall, it may be time to start considering these advantages to a strong golf grip.
5 Advantages of a Strong Golf Grip
1. Lead with Your Hands
When you have a strong grip, your left hand will have more control over the club.
This can be a good and bad thing, but if you learn how to use your timing properly, it is a great thing.
As you come through the golf ball, your body can pull your hands through the hitting area.
This will leave the club trailing behind, and your clubface will still be square.
Having a strong grip helps to make sure you are set up to hit more of a draw-type shot.
A draw is going to give you that topspin and potentially more distance as well.
If you feel as though you have been struggling with solid contact at the ball, the strong grip can make a difference.
Some people think it is not good to have your hands leading your golf swing.
Of course, if you do not involve the rest of your body, your hands could end up getting in the way, but this should not be the case.
As long as golfers initiate their backswing by turning the hips and getting their body moving, they should have no trouble allowing their hands to be a little more active in the swing.
The great thing about a strong grip is that you can change it back to neutral and weak if you would like.
You can experiment with how strong you make the grip and find a position that works well for your game.
There is no need to make the grip too strong.
2. Deeper Wrist Cock
Our second advantage of having a strong golf grip is a deeper wrist cock.
With a deeper wrist cock, you can set your hands a bit more at the top.
Although you may think this takes your swing past parallel, that is not the case.
At the top of your swing, you need to have a wrist cock so you have power.
This angle allows you to get much more distance from your golf swing.
If you never “set” your wrists, you will have a hard time getting the ball speed you need.
You have to think of the physics involved in a golf swing and the fact that a lever is going to help you produce a great deal of power.
You can experiment with this on your own at the driving range.
Take a small chip shot, and don’t bend your wrists.
You will be able to hit the ball and get some distance.
There is nothing wrong with this method of playing.
Now take a chip shot about the same size, but add in a wrist cock.
You will notice you will get a lot more of a descending and powerful blow on the golf ball.
For golfers who get spin and accuracy with their shots, this is the type of swing they are taking.
Professional golfers can get the spin and the height they need on their shots because they have quite a bit of wrist cock at the top of their swing.
Although there are some sweeping type golf swings in history with limited wrist cock, this is a concept you will eventually need to master.
Because the left hand on the golf club has a more powerful position, it is much easier to bend it at the top of the swing.
In a neutral swing, this same amount of wrist cock may make you feel as though you don’t have control of the golf club at the top.
3. Easier to Bring Club from Inside
The third advantage of a strong grip is an extension of the second.
Golfers who have a good wrist cock at the top of their swing have a hard time taking the club over the top.
When you take the club over the top of the plane, you will end up hitting quite a few fades and slices.
If the club comes down on the wrong plane, your hands and body are no longer working together.
When you have a very good wrist cock at the top of your swing, it is much easier to drop the club in from the inside.
When you drop the club from the inside, your body can rotate through towards your target, and your hands will naturally release.
Most golfers who bring the club down from the inside are going to see a ball pattern that looks a lot like a draw.
The club dropping from the inside and heading out towards the target is a much more powerful approach to the golf ball.
If you feel as though your golf swing is lacking distance in any way, this is a quick way to add it back in.
Some golfers feel that, when they set their hands in a strong position from setup, they can feel this inside position much easier.
For some reason, it feels as though the takeaway and the top position in the swing are easier to obtain with your hand in this position at setup.
Of course, you are not going to be able to turn your hand over a few degrees and naturally bring the club from the inside.
This move will take a bit of time and practice with timing and speed as well.
Over time, though, you will start to feel how much easier it is to approach the golf ball from the inside with a stronger grip.
4. Easier to Hit a Draw
If you tend to slice the golf ball, this is the time to start paying attention to the benefits of a strong grip.
A slice and an unintentional fade can be very frustrating golf shots.
Unfortunately, with these shots, you are likely going to lose distance, and you will end up making some unnecessary changes in your golf swing just to fix a slice.
Sometimes all you need to do is make your golf grip just a little bit stronger.
Hitting a draw tends to be a favorable golf shot for getting around the golf course.
The reason it is easier to hit a draw with a strong grip is that it helps golfers to square the clubface.
If you haven’t quite figured out what it feels like to release the golf club, the strong grip can undoubtedly help.
You will feel as though you have more power and control in your hands, and you can turn the club over as you come to impact.
Of course, the strong grip is determined by your left-hand position and not your right hand, but your right hand has a role in this as well.
You will see that the right hand will end up sitting a bit more underneath the golf club.
This will help golfers naturally feel the golf club turning over.
The more often you do this, the easier it is to release the golf club.
When your hands are setup too weakly on the club, you will have a hard time getting this feeling down, and you will slice it.
Of course, the problem with this concept is that it is not foolproof.
If you grip the club too strongly, you will end up hooking the golf ball.
The more time you spend around the game of golf, the more you will learn about the subtle fixes it takes to become a great player.
Any swing fixes or changes that require large movements are going to be challenging to adapt to, and they could potentially cause a poor result as well.
5. Increases Likelihood of a Good Turn Through Impact
Last on our list is the fact that the strong grip can increase your likelihood of making a great turn through impact.
As you make your way through the golf ball, you will want your body to be turning as well.
If your body stays in place and only your hands and arms are doing all the work, the golf ball can end up anywhere.
Luckily, with the wrist cock and the fact that the golf club can drop from the inside, the strong grip increases the likelihood of a great turn.
Again, as we have mentioned with several other advantages, this will not come without work.
You will have to turn your body, you will have to learn to rotate, and you will have to learn to transfer your weight.
The strong grip happens to make these positions a little easier to get into.
If your grip is too strong, you will start hitting hooks.
You can simply move your grip back to a more neutral position, and it should correct the mistake quite quickly.
What Is the Difference Between a Strong Grip and a Tight Grip?
A tight grip refers to grip pressure.
A golfer will never want to have a tight grip pressure in their golf swing.
The tighter the grip pressure is, the harder it is for players to get through a golf ball and release their shots.
If you have a light grip pressure, you will get much more distance, and your swing will be more fluid.
A strong grip refers to the way your hands are positioned on the golf club.
If your left hand is turned further away from the target, this is a strong grip.
A golf grip can be either strong, weak, or neutral.
Although the ideal grip is most likely going to be neutral, some golfers will find that something slightly neutral or slightly weak works best for their game.
Conclusion
Hopefully, these five advantages of a strong golf grip helped you to realize the impact this could have on your game.
It is important to remember that a strong golf grip is not the right choice for all players.
If you start hooking your golf shots, you have probably taken it too far.
The grip is the only connection you have with the golf club, so it is best to make grip changes while practicing on the range.
The first few swings you take may feel very funny.
It is best to make these changes when it doesn’t impact your score.
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