The importance of feeling the clubhead, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
The importance of feeling the clubhead, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

I think most golfers at some stage in their careers have been told that you’ve got to let the club do the work. It’s a common thing when everyone is trying to hit the ball too hard. Let the club do the work. And specifically let the club head do the work. It’s really important that you can feel where that club head is during your swing. It gives you a sense of how long your swing is, the plain of your golf swing, but also the timing of the releasing of your swing. And if you can’t specifically feel where the club head is, it can get a bit awkward to get all of those positions right. Now particularly with the modern drivers, the every light weight shafts, the very light weight heads, it can be quite awkward to actually feel the golf club, particularly if you’re very strong or your grip pressure is too tight.

So here is a great way of checking that you can feel the club head and you’ve got good so the soft hand action you know hand… grip pressure. If you take your normal setup, lift the golf club slightly off of up off the ground; and then just swing it gently in little circles this way and just feel the club head. And I can feel it moving round there. If I close my eyes I can feel like the shape and the size of the circle that club head is making. If I grip it too tight now and I grab the whole thing as tight as I can, I lock my forearms up with too much tension and I shut my eyes into it, I don’t really feel the club head so much, I feel much more like its only one big piece and I can’t really accurately work out where the club head is. And if I take that grip pressure then into my swing, it’s just chop chop and it’s too fast and I don’t feel the delicates of precise position of where that club head is. So go ahead and just have a little pre-shot waggle and use that pre-shot waggle to remind you of your grip pressure that you require during your swing so you can feel where the club head is.

So as I set up to the golf ball, just that pre-shot waggle there, creates soft hand action. If I’m grabbing it too tight and squeezing it, that all gets a little bit mechanical and a bit too much sort of force in that movement and I can’t feel the club head. So nicely relaxed, a little wiggle, then during my swing I can feel where the club head is, ultimately releasing the club head at the right point and getting a longer straighter golf shots.

 2013-03-27

I think most golfers at some stage in their careers have been told that you’ve got to let the club do the work. It’s a common thing when everyone is trying to hit the ball too hard. Let the club do the work. And specifically let the club head do the work. It’s really important that you can feel where that club head is during your swing. It gives you a sense of how long your swing is, the plain of your golf swing, but also the timing of the releasing of your swing. And if you can’t specifically feel where the club head is, it can get a bit awkward to get all of those positions right. Now particularly with the modern drivers, the every light weight shafts, the very light weight heads, it can be quite awkward to actually feel the golf club, particularly if you’re very strong or your grip pressure is too tight.

So here is a great way of checking that you can feel the club head and you’ve got good so the soft hand action you know hand… grip pressure. If you take your normal setup, lift the golf club slightly off of up off the ground; and then just swing it gently in little circles this way and just feel the club head. And I can feel it moving round there. If I close my eyes I can feel like the shape and the size of the circle that club head is making. If I grip it too tight now and I grab the whole thing as tight as I can, I lock my forearms up with too much tension and I shut my eyes into it, I don’t really feel the club head so much, I feel much more like its only one big piece and I can’t really accurately work out where the club head is. And if I take that grip pressure then into my swing, it’s just chop chop and it’s too fast and I don’t feel the delicates of precise position of where that club head is. So go ahead and just have a little pre-shot waggle and use that pre-shot waggle to remind you of your grip pressure that you require during your swing so you can feel where the club head is.

So as I set up to the golf ball, just that pre-shot waggle there, creates soft hand action. If I’m grabbing it too tight and squeezing it, that all gets a little bit mechanical and a bit too much sort of force in that movement and I can’t feel the club head. So nicely relaxed, a little wiggle, then during my swing I can feel where the club head is, ultimately releasing the club head at the right point and getting a longer straighter golf shots.