Lead Hand Placement

Left hand for a right-handed player, right hand for a left-handed player.

Putting the lead hand on the club correctly is crucial in allowing your wrists to hinge and unhinge.

A common mistake is the club sitting too much in the palm of the lead hand, reducing your ability to use your wrists correctly, and often leads to a “weak” grip, potentially causing club face control issues.

Let’s look at the process for placing the lead hand on the club correctly in the fingers:

Definitions:

Lead Hand: Left hand for a right-handed player, right hand for a left-handed player.
Trail Hand: Right hand for a right-handed player, left hand for a left-handed player.

Step One

1. Start by holding well down the club (towards the shaft) with your trail hand.

2. Now, pretend you are going to do a handshake with your lead hand.

3. Place the base of the knuckle joints on the side of the grip.

Step Two

1. With the base of the knuckle joints placed on the side of the grip, close your fingers around the grip.

2. Finally, sit the heel pad of the lead hand on top of the grip.

Regardless of your grip type, having the handle in your fingers and not the palm is essential for your full swing.

Review

Shake Hands

1. Place the handle of the club in the fingers with the back of your knuckle joints on the side of the grip.
Fingers Under. Palm On Top.

1. Close your fingers around the underside of the grip.
2. Place your thumb on the slightly right of center (right-handed player).
3. Pad of the lead hand sits on top of the club.

Up next: Check out the “Finger VS Palm” Grip Check to see if you are doing this correctly.

Struggling with wrist hinge?

This could be a result of gripping too much in the fingers. We dive into that in the section on “Lead Hand Errors - Cause and Effect.

All Grip Sections

Lead Hand Placement

It’s crucial that the lead hand grip is positioned correctly in the fingers!

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Finger VS Plam "Grip Check"

Use this “grip test” to see if you are gripping in the fingers or the palm of your lead hand.

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Lead Hand Strength

You have most likely heard the term “weak,” “neutral,” and strong.” Let’s explore!

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Lead Hand Errors

Let’s look at some of the issues related to lead hand errors.

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Trail Hand Placement

Placing the trail hand correctly is crucial for club face control. This often is the culprit for misdirected shots!

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Trail Hand Strength

Trail hand grip strength is just as influential on the club face as the lead hand. Let’s take a look!

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Trail Hand Errors

Common issues you will see that are a result of trail hand errors.

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Face Issues - Slice

Slice/open club face issues that are a result of grip errors.

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Face Issues - Hook

Hook/closed club face issues that are a result of grip errors.

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Grip Strength Curve

How changing your grip can create curve intentionally when needed.

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Grip Pressure

Let’s look at how tight you should be holding onto the club.

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Three Grip Types

These are the most common three grip types. They can all be done well, and all can have issues.

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