Here we are going to look at the correct way to hold the golf club.

Your hands are the only connection that you have with the club, so it is really important that they are placed on to the club correctly.

Placing your hands on the club correctly will allow you to have directional control over the club face and will also allow you to be able to hinge your wrists correctly during your golf swing. Before we look at exactly how to put your hands on to the golf club correctly, stand with your hands in a natural, relaxed position. Notice the position of your hands here. They are palm inwards to your body and hang slightly ahead of your body, they are not directly down your side. This position is really important when placing your hands on to the golf club, as when you address the ball with your club, your hands will be in front of your body and so will naturally want to be palm inwards to you.

When you look at how to hold the golf club correctly, we are going to place your hands on to the club as closely as we can to replicate this palm inward position to allow you to deliver the club face back to it's original starting position, aiming at the target. If you deliberately turn your left hand palm outwards and then hold the golf club, even though you have the club face aiming at the target initially, as you swing the club away and then return it back, your hand will be trying to rotate to it's natural palm inwards position, and as such, it will affect the club face and return it so that it is aiming to the right of the target. Placing your hands on in the way we are going to discuss is of vital importance if you want to improve the directional control of your golf shots.

For right handed golfers, we are going to point your left hand directly down at the ground and place the handle of the golf club diagonally from the first joint of your index finger to the heel of your left palm. Make sure the name of the grip or your grip guide is in the middle of the grip as you do this, as this will ensure the club face is positioned correctly in relation to you. Close your fingers around the back of the handle and place your thumb on top. The absolutely crucial thing to achieve with your left hand is to keep your left thumb next to your hand, keeping your thumb short and neat.

To achieve this, take a coin and hold it between your thumb and hand. This is the correct position for your left thumb, next to your hand. Now rotate your thumb, hand and coin if necessary, so that the coin points to your right shoulder. This will now position your left thumb bone, still next to your hand and short (not extended down the golf club shaft), parallel to the handle of the club and slightly off centre to the right. This position of the coin pointing to your right shoulder and your thumb being short and your thumb bone being parallel to the handle are the key points to remember and learn here.

Point your right hand directly down at the ground and place the handle of the club diagonally from the middle joint of your index finger to the heel of your right hand. Do this lower down on the hand below your left hand position. Close your fingers around the back and place your thumb on top. Slide your right hand towards your left and allow your right palm to sit over your left thumb. The scooped out bit of your right palm will locate on to your left thumb and your right hand will be correctly in place as it is responding to the position of your left thumb. Your right thumb position should be next to your hand and you can double check this by placing a coin to be held between your thumb and hand. This coin should also point at your right shoulder.

You have choice as to how to get your hands to work as one unit rather than two separate hands. You can either overlap, which sees the right little finger sitting over the left index finger or in the channel between the left index finger and second finger. Or you can interlock where the right little finger interlocks with the left index finger. Either interlocking or overlapping work equally well, as long as your left thumb is short and your left thumb bone is parallel. However, if you deeply interlock, that much so that the fingers are meshed at their webbing, you will not be able to maintain a short parallel left thumb position and your left thumb will become long. A long left thumb will give you problems with rotating your forearms correctly during your swing and also with excessive wrist hinging so if you are going to interlock, do it in a shallow way where the webbing of your fingers does not meet, to maintain a short, parallel left thumb.

Try both overlapping or a shallow interlocking grip to see which you feel most comfortable with. It does not matter which you go for as long as you achieve the correct left thumb position that we have discussed.

Altering your grip can feel really uncomfortable initially but persevere with the improved position and after a few practice sessions you will be used to the new position and you will begin to see the benefits.