May Teaching Tip of the Month

Have you ever adjusted a student’s grip, only to have him or her revert back to their old grip two swings later?   This is a problem that has plagued teaching pros for decades, but there is a better way to get your students to adopt a grip change.  Merely adjusting their grip for them only works temporarily and usually for only one or two shots.  The key lies in having them faithfully adhere to a new routine for taking the grip on each and every shot.  For example, when taking the top-hand grip, you might have them adopt the routine Ben Hogan described in his Five Lessons book, where the student is able to lift the club up while holding the grip in his index finger and under the heel pad.  The bottom-hand grip might be taken while holding the club vertically in front of the student with the top-hand grip already in place.   Again, merely adjusting their grip for them can be good, but is usually only a short-term fix.  Have your students go through a new grip-taking routine, and the results will likely be permanent.