USGTF Level IV Member
Port St. Lucie, Florida
Golf is a game of a lifetime…and you as a teacher of this amazing game Readmore
This is not to say a neutral grip is not ideal but is it a prerequisite to play good golf? I don’t believe it is and therefore it should be considered an option in the same way overlap, interlock, ten-finger, double overlap (Jim Furyk), reverse overlap (Steve Jones), intermesh (Greg Norman) and countless other finger formations are chosen by a variety of world class players.
If the orientation of our hands and fingers on the club offer many variations then what should we as instructors be standardizing when teaching an EFFECTIVE grip to our students? Firstly let’s get one thing out of the way. A strong grip does not necessarily cause a hook as a weak grip does not necessarily cause a slice. Could they be contributing factors? Yes of course but three of the aforementioned players above hit fades with a strong grip (Azinger, Couples, Duval). The strong top hand position helped create a “cupped” left wrist at the top of the backswing which opened the clubface just enough in order to hit a fade.
As an instructor it requires experience to take a quick snapshot of a student’s swing and observe how the grip correlates to the clubface position and ball flight. If a slice is the order of the day for your student and weak grip is evident then the correction is evident. The same can be said for a large hook and a strong grip. However if your student hits a power fade with a strong grip, then there is no correction of the grip required. What if he/she hits a big slice with a strong grip and his/her swing is on plane? Believe it or not a weaker grip may be necessary as the strong grip causes too much “cupping” of the left wrist (RH golfer) at the top of the back swing resulting in an open clubface. As one can now understand and appreciate, teaching golf and being good at it isn’t that easy and requires years of experience to hone the craft.
Bottom line there are very few elements to the grip which must be standardized but here they are:
1) The middle joint of the thumbs must be snug to the forefinger otherwise the club may rest too much into the palms. This results into either the club slipping or holding tight so the club does not slip. Proper wrist action is inhibited and tension prevails
2) The heel pad of top hand rests on top of club as shown in image below:
3) The pad of the thumbs should rest on the club slights askew from each other. In other words neither thumb rests on the center of the grip (shaft). For the right handed golfer the left thumb rests toward 1:00 and the right thumb toward 11:00
4) The unification of the hands has nothing to do with interlock, overlap (Vardon grip) etc… What unifies the hands is the top thumb fitting snugly in the lifeline (under the thumb pad) of the bottom hand.
There, that’s it!! The rest is up to you in understanding ball flight and how one’s grip affects the clubface and swing plane.
Next month: What does the tool in your hands do?
Or, how about incorrect Rules beliefs? Twice in competition my fellow competitors tried to penalize me for holding onto the removed flagstick while tapping in a putt. This is not a penalty, as Decision 17-1/5 makes clear. When I informed these fellow competitors of this Decision, they then say, “Well, it used to be a penalty.” In fact, no, it was never a penalty. Another favorite is practicing on the putting green after you hole out. Again, well-meaning fellow-competitors have tried to call penalties on me for this, saying that the practice is illegal in stroke play but not in match play. In each case, I had to direct them to Rule 7 which governs practice. They are genuinely surprised to learn that it is not a penalty in stroke play, except if local rules provide for it.
The instruction realm is not immune. How many times do we hear that for every club in the bag, the butt end of the grip should be a fist away from the body? The fact is that the longer the club, the farther away the butt end should be from the body. Or how about “the slower the better” when it comes to backswings, backed up with “evidence” that amateurs swing back more slowly than professionals. The truth is that the opposite occurs, and swinging back too slowly is not good for most people. Or how about the downswing should be started by the arms and hands?
There are many more examples, too numerous to list here. So, is there any way to correct all the mis-information that is out there in one fell swoop? Probably not. People believe what they are going to believe. All we can do as USGTF professionals is to know what is factually correct and to pass the correct information along. We can start with educating one golfer at a time, and go from there.
The ability to play well takes time, effort, guidance, and perseverance. It involves frustration, for some even tears, and I may add a thousand humbling experiences. What becoming a competent golfer does require, and as Sherlock Holmes once said, is “Patience, my dear Watson!”
Being in the personal service business, I believe it is important to be honest with your students, especially beginners. Let them know about these learning factors and that they won’t become great overnight. Let them know that golf can be a lifetime learning process, but the benefits of pursuing the game far outweigh everything else.
I recall a recent conversation with Mike Levine, USGTF Level IV member and course examiner. Mike is a very quiet, thoughtful and soft spoken individual – all factors that contribute to his popularity as a teaching pro. He was talking about how the advent of the Internet can’t provide our kind of personal service; how the Internet can’t recognize talent or talk to a young golfer’s parents about nurturing that talent properly. And, about the handshake and dealing with people face-to-face as human beings.
In training teachers, Mike always makes a point to talk about sharing with students the idea of enjoying the journey of the golf learning curve. “Progress will come if your students allow it,” he espouses, “but in the meantime, they should be encouraged to enjoy the belly laughs, the camaraderie, and all the other elements involved in the pursuit of improvement.”
Pretty good advice in golf and in life.
It is one thing to hit a bad shot and get punished but when a good shot results in a penalty, I think it is bad design and boring. It would have been much more interesting if the ball had been held up in a little collar of rough requiring a delicate chip to save par. Contrast that with Phil Mickelson who I followed for 9 holes. On the par five number 2, he hit his drive in the woods, found it and played up the first fairway. He tried to hit his third shot over some pines about a hundred feet high. Failed, but found his ball and hit his fourth off a palm tree and into the bank short of the green. Standing awkwardly he chipped past the hole about 30 feet on to the fringe. He then made his putt for one of the greatest sixes I have ever seen. That was fun and exciting. How often have we golfers just hoped to be able to swing after an errant shot into the trees? So my message to the golf course architect is simple – punish a really bad shot but if I am a little wayward, just give me a swing.
Over the years I have developed a five part program that puts the major aspects of the golf game into a format that students can understand. I call each program a Box and I use the idea to combine practice programs with on the course pre shot routines and swing thoughts. Box 1 – Driver ( I give each student a swing thought, an idea on what we are working on and a plan on how to practice) They can take the swing thought to the course and they can evaluate if what they are working on is getting better. Box 2 – Fairway, Box 3 Long Irons / Hybrids, Box 4 Mid / Short Irons, Box 5 – Short Game.
Each part of the game has a different swing thought. If you notice putting is missing – that is because putting is game by itself as is the more advanced parts of short game.
In each Box you can develop your own concepts and ideas to help your students. I try to get all my students to practice in each Box at each practice session. I ask them to allot time based on how much total time the have to practice. If the have an hour, then they only have 10 minutes after they warm up to practice. I tell my students that if they really want to get better the have to allot a minimum of 2 hours, 3 times per week to get better, the also need to get on the course 2-3 times per week.
Arlen Bento Jr. is a USGTF Master Teaching Professional, former Head Golf Professional of the PGA Country Club and PGA Village and Director of Golf at Eagle Marsh Golf Club in Jensen Beach, FL. He is the Director of Junior Instruction at the Stuart Yacht and Country Club in Stuart, FL and He can be reached via his website at www.abjgolfsales.com
This summer the USGTF will honor golf teachers with a National Day of appreciation. Now I could say it’s about time but I’m sure I speak for all teachers who will humbly say thanks for the recognition, we are grateful for the tribute. I have been around the game of golf for 51 years now and often think back on how much pleasure it has provided me. I can think of nothing better than sharing that enjoyment with those who would like to find out what it is all about. Teaching and passing on the traditions of the sport is what I chose to do. It has been a rewarding experience and along the way I have collected lifelong friendships and supporters. On the National Day of Recognition, my fellow teachers, let’s lift a glass of cheer to each other and keep the fire burning. I leave you with the words of Cicero, “What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation.”
