It would be fitting, though. Because without a proper golf grip, you won’t be ripping anything. Except maybe your scorecard.

The grip is where the rubber meets the road, or rather the hands. It’s the single most important – and most personal – fundamental in golf.

While there are rights and wrongs when it comes to the golf grip, there’s also room for individualization. A textbook grip may work great for one player, but another golfer might perform better with an unconventional style.

How you hold the golf club affects everything from your swing plane to your backswing length and club position at the top. The slightest grip imperfection can cause a domino effect of compensations starting with the first few inches of the takeaway. Yet many great players utilize “flawed” golf grips.

Talk of the golf grip typically involves two parts: the style or type of grip, and hand position.

Grip style regards the placement of the right pinky finger in relation to the left index and middle finger (for a right-handed golfer) on the club. By far the most commonly used styles are the Vardon or overlapping grip, where the pinky rests in the groove between the left index and middle fingers, and the interlocking grip, in which the pinky curls between those fingers. A few golfers use the so-called “baseball” grip, where the fingers are not joined.

Hand position describes the hands’ placement relative to the club’s handle and, therefore, the clubface. A golfer’s grip is said to be “neutral,” “weak” or “strong” based on his hand position, with neutral being ideal.

Most golfers use the same grip style and hand position for their drives, fairway wood, hybrid and iron shots, chips, pitches and bunker shots. In other words, everything except putts.

On the green, players usually switch to a different grip style – and there’s even more variation here. The primary goal of any putting grip is to ensure that the hands work in unison and foster an arms-and-shoulder motion with limited wrist action.

Common types of putting golf grips include the reverse overlap, cross-handed or left hand low, and the claw (aka “saw” or “pencil grip”). Golfers who use a belly or long putter may employ a grip adapted to those clubs’ added length.

Golf-Info-Guide.com’s ever-expanding Golf Grip section offers tips on the fundamentals and fine points of this critical task. Our experts provide advice on solving grip problems, changing your grip style or position, adapting your grip to play different types of shots, and determining your most effective putting grip.

We also examine the grips of golf’s greatest players, past and present, analyzing how their grips influence their swings. These breakdowns offer in-depth insight that can translate to your game.

You’ll also find tips on the actual grip – the one attached to your club. Should you try thicker or thinner grips? When should you clean or replace your grips? Perhaps a larger putter grip could cure your yips?

If you’ve got a grip-related question, we’ve got the answer. Our experts will have you gripping it—correctly—and ripping it. Rolling it, too.