How To Get More Club Head Speed? Grip The Club Lightly - Golf Tip (Video) - by Pete Styles
How To Get More Club Head Speed? Grip The Club Lightly - Golf Tip (Video) - by Pete Styles

Now the number of times I see golfers beat on the driving range beatt on the golf course. They step up and they say ‘right Pete I’m really going to hit this one a long way, I’m really going to hit this harder.’ And I look at them and I think, okay, what’s he going to do differently to really hit this one harder. And then I see those three knuckles, four knuckles how they all go white. And I think why has he done that? Why is he trying to grip he golf club tighter to hit the ball farther that way because it is not going to work. Squeezing the life out of this end doesn’t make that end go any faster. I can assure you of that. So when they set up the ball,’ I’m going to hit this one farther, I’m definitely going to hit this one farther, and they squeeze and they lock up. And they make a shorter swing, and they make a slower swing. And the ball pops in the air and lands 30 yards short than it did the day before, and they say ‘oh it must have been a head wind, or I didn’t quite catch it. But in reality, they were going to always hit it shorter, down to that setup. The setup the tension was going to kill the power. You watch the best players in the world, when they hit the really big tee shots; they’re still pretty relaxed. They might look a bit pumped up but that does not translate into lots and lots of grip pressure. There’s a bit of a waggle, there’s a bit of a flare they set up to it here they’re nice and loose and relaxed. And then they lay into it. So tension in the hands and the forearms does not cause extra distance and extra club head speed, its exactly the opposite.

And here is a great way of checking that for yourself. Take your driver, spin it upside down so you are holding it this way around, and then swing this end. And as you swing that end, it will make a swoosh. You might be able to hear that through my microphone, you can hear there is a swoosh there. Now if I relax and swing that quickly, that swoosh will get louder. If I really squeeze the golf club as tight as I can, pressure goes through my forearms, pressure even around my neck and shoulders, I swing short, I hit down as hard as I can but I can’t release the golf club. So certainly more tension reduces the distance of the speed I get. Now you try this on the driving range, stick five balls down, squeeze them as hard as they can and hit them. Take five balls, swing them relaxed, swing them with a softer grip pressure. I think you’ll hit them farther. And I also think you will hit them, you know, a little bit more easy; I’m going to breathe now because I’ve been squeezing the golf club too tightly. If you swing for an entire round, squeezing the life out of it, you’re going to feel that after you’ve played. So if you feel that golf is a big physical exertion, check that your grip pressure isn’t killing the distance that you have. And I think if you play relaxed golf, you play more enjoyable golf and you play better golf. 2014-03-26

Now the number of times I see golfers beat on the driving range beatt on the golf course. They step up and they say ‘right Pete I’m really going to hit this one a long way, I’m really going to hit this harder.’ And I look at them and I think, okay, what’s he going to do differently to really hit this one harder. And then I see those three knuckles, four knuckles how they all go white. And I think why has he done that? Why is he trying to grip he golf club tighter to hit the ball farther that way because it is not going to work. Squeezing the life out of this end doesn’t make that end go any faster. I can assure you of that. So when they set up the ball,’ I’m going to hit this one farther, I’m definitely going to hit this one farther, and they squeeze and they lock up. And they make a shorter swing, and they make a slower swing. And the ball pops in the air and lands 30 yards short than it did the day before, and they say ‘oh it must have been a head wind, or I didn’t quite catch it. But in reality, they were going to always hit it shorter, down to that setup. The setup the tension was going to kill the power. You watch the best players in the world, when they hit the really big tee shots; they’re still pretty relaxed. They might look a bit pumped up but that does not translate into lots and lots of grip pressure. There’s a bit of a waggle, there’s a bit of a flare they set up to it here they’re nice and loose and relaxed. And then they lay into it. So tension in the hands and the forearms does not cause extra distance and extra club head speed, its exactly the opposite.

And here is a great way of checking that for yourself. Take your driver, spin it upside down so you are holding it this way around, and then swing this end. And as you swing that end, it will make a swoosh. You might be able to hear that through my microphone, you can hear there is a swoosh there. Now if I relax and swing that quickly, that swoosh will get louder. If I really squeeze the golf club as tight as I can, pressure goes through my forearms, pressure even around my neck and shoulders, I swing short, I hit down as hard as I can but I can’t release the golf club. So certainly more tension reduces the distance of the speed I get. Now you try this on the driving range, stick five balls down, squeeze them as hard as they can and hit them. Take five balls, swing them relaxed, swing them with a softer grip pressure. I think you’ll hit them farther. And I also think you will hit them, you know, a little bit more easy; I’m going to breathe now because I’ve been squeezing the golf club too tightly. If you swing for an entire round, squeezing the life out of it, you’re going to feel that after you’ve played. So if you feel that golf is a big physical exertion, check that your grip pressure isn’t killing the distance that you have. And I think if you play relaxed golf, you play more enjoyable golf and you play better golf.