Grip’s the Thing
Today, after work, I went to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch in Lewisville. This is my first visit to this facility, and a very nice one it is. There’s a large grass range and a nine-hole course. I didn’t know there was a nine-hole course here, or I would have played it, since it is the closest nine-hole course.
The day was very warm, record setting, in fact, for Big D in November. There was a breeze from the south, which is from left to right on the range.
Anyway, today I wanted to get the draw working and working well. Things went poorly from the start. Anything longer than a 7-iron was fading or worse, slicing. After hitting half the balls, with no better results, I went back to fundamentals. I thought my grip was good, but, just in case, I decided to overdo putting the grip into the fingers vs. the palm, and a miracle happened! First shot with the new grip, and bingo, instant draw! Finally, the cause of my fades and slices is revealed: I had the grip too much in the palm and not enough in the fingers. As long as I maintain light tension in my arms and body, my swing turned back into the long desired draw. Wow!!
I went back and hit the 3-, 5-, 7-, and 9-irons, to see how the ball draws. The 3-iron went straight, maybe a slight fade, the 5-iron drew slightly, the 7-iron drew nicely, and the 9-iron actually hooked!
Life is good again! Now I can tweak my swing back into shape, now that the cause of the fades and slices has been revealed to me.