How to Grip a Golf Club with Hank Haney

Your golf grip is your only connection to the club, and the way you hold it dictates where the ball goes more than any other part of your swing. That’s not an opinion, it’s a fundamental truth of golf physics, a principle tirelessly taught by legendary coach Hank Haney. Getting this right is the fastest way to gain control over your ball flight. This guide will break down exactly how to build a perfect, neutral grip, piece by piece, so you can stop compensating for a bad hold and start hitting more fairways and greens.

Why Your Grip is Non-Negotiable for a Better Swing

Hank Haney's coaching philosophy often boils down to a simple premise: focus on what causes the ball to do what it does. And what's the number one influence on the golf ball's initial direction and curve? The angle of the clubface at impact. Your grip is the single biggest factor that determines where that clubface is pointing when it meets the ball.

Think of your grip as the steering wheel of the golf club. If the steering wheel is crooked when you start the car, you're going to spend the whole drive fighting to keep it on the road. It’s the same in golf. A "strong" grip (with the hands twisted too far to the right for a right-handed player) will tend to close the clubface, causing hooks. A "weak" grip (twisted too far to the left) will tend to open the clubface, leading to the all-too-common slice. By building a fundamentally sound, neutral grip, you are setting the clubface on a path to arrive at the ball perfectly square, giving you the best chance for a straight shot.

Building Your Grip: A Step-by-Step Guide

Let's walk through this process one step at a time. The goal isn’t complexity, it’s a repeatable routine that sets you up for success before you even start your swing.

Step 1: Start with a Square Clubface

Before your hands even touch the club, the foundation must be correct. Don’t just grab the club out of your bag and try to build your grip in mid-air. Place the head of the club on the ground behind the ball, just as you would at address.

• Look at the leading edge of the club - that bottom groove. Make sure it's perfectly perpendicular to your target line. It should look like a "T" with your intended line of play.
• Many modern grips have a logo or alignment marking on the top. You can use this as a guide to verify that the face is facing your target and not twisted open (right) or closed (left).

Starting with a square clubface is a simple but powerful first step. It ensures that the neutral grip you’re about to build is actually neutral relative to your target.

Step 2: Placing the Lead Hand (The Control Hand)

For a right-handed golfer, this is your left hand. It's the primary guiding force of the swing. Don't think about "grabbing" the club. Think about "placing" your hand on it.

Get into your athletic golf posture, leaning over from your hips so your arms can hang naturally. As your left hand approaches the grip from the side, your palm will naturally be turned slightly inward. You want to maintain this natural orientation.

• Hold it in the fingers: The most common mistake amateur golfers make is placing the grip in the palm of their hand. A proper golf grip sits primarily in the fingers. Lay the club diagonally across the fingers of your left hand so it runs from the middle joint of your index finger down to the base of your pinky finger.
• Close your hand: Once the grip is positioned in your fingers, simply close your hand. The heel pad of your hand should now be sitting securely on top of the grip, not on the side.

Checkpoint 1: The Two-Knuckle Rule

Now, look down at your left hand. From your perspective, you should be able to clearly see the knuckles of your index finger and your middle finger. Seeing two knuckles is the tell-tale sign of a neutral grip. If you see three or four knuckles, your grip is too strong, which promotes a hook. If you can only see one knuckle or none at all, your grip has become too weak, which is a major cause of the slice.

Checkpoint 2: The "V" Formation

When you close your left hand, a "V" is formed by the space between your thumb and index finger. For a fundamentally sound, neutral grip, this V should point somewhere between your right ear and your right shoulder. If it points to the right of your right shoulder, your grip is too strong. If it points more toward your chin, it’s too weak.

Step 3: Adding the Trail Hand (The Support Hand)

Now for the right hand (for right-handed players). This hand provides stability and some power, but its main job is to support what the lead hand is doing, not to fight against it.

Again approach the grip from the side with your right hand. The lifeline in your right palm should fit snugly over your left thumb. Think of it as the right palm covering and securing the left thumb underneath it.

• Fingers again: Just like the left hand, the right-hand grip is primarily in the fingers. As your right palm connects to the left thumb, let your right-hand fingers wrap naturally around the underside of the grip.

When you're done, the "V" formed by your right thumb and index finger should be parallel to the V on your left hand, or pointing slightly up your chest.

Step 4: Connecting the Hands as One Unit

How you connect your hands is largely a matter of personal comfort, and there is no single "correct" way. The goal is simply to make your hands work together as a single unit. There are three primary styles:

• The Overlap (Vardon Grip): This is the most popular grip among professional golfers. You simply rest the pinky finger of your right hand in the channel created between the index and middle fingers of your left hand.
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Popularized by players like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, this grip involves linking the right pinky with the left index finger. It can provide a very secure feeling, especially for golfers with smaller hands. *

Just as it sounds, all ten fingers are on the club, with the right pinky resting snugly against the left index finger. This is a great starting point for juniors, beginners, or those who lack hand strength or suffer from arthritis.

Experiment with all three. Choose the one that feels the most comfortable, secure, and allows your hands to feel most unified throughout the swing.

Honest Talk: It's Going to Feel Weird (And That's Okay)

Here’s something you must accept: If you have been playing with an incorrect grip for a long time, building a new, technically correct grip will feel absolutely bizarre. Many golfers report that a neutral grip feels incredibly "weak," like they are going to lose control of the club. This feeling is normal.

Think about it. Your brain and muscles have been conditioned to make compensations for your old, flawed grip. Now, you’ve fixed the root of the problem. Your body just needs time to understand that it no longer needs those old compensations. You have to trust the process. The best way to do this is through repetition. Grip and re-grip a club while you’re at home watching TV. Let the new feel become your new normal. Over time, that "weak" feeling will transform into a feeling of effortless control.

Grip Pressure and Final Thoughts

Finally, a word on grip pressure. You should not be strangling the club. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is barely holding on and 10 is a white-knuckle death grip, you want to be at about a 3 or 4 at address. The pressure should be light but secure, coming mainly from the last three fingers of your left hand and the middle two fingers of your right hand.

Periodically check your grip against these checkpoints, especially when your ball starts to curve in an unwanted direction. Following Hank Haney's philosophy of cause and effect, if you see a slice appear, the first thing to check is your grip. Has your left hand gone weak? If you're hooking it, has an overly strong grip crept back in? Master your grip, and you master your clubface. Master your clubface, and you're well on your way to mastering your golf ball.

Final Thoughts

Building a neutral grip based on these checkpoints is the most direct path to controlling your clubface and enjoying more consistent, straight golf shots. It takes patience to overwrite old habits, but holding the club correctly sets the foundation for every good thing that follows in the swing.

Perfecting your grip is an essential step, but we know questions inevitably pop up when a new feel doesn't produce immediate results. For those moments when you're unsure if a bad shot came from your grip or another issue, we designed an application that is your own personal on-demand golf coach. With Caddie AI, you can get instant, judgment-free advice and answers to your questions, right on the course or at home. It’s about having that expert guidance in your pocket, taking the guesswork out of your improvement so you can play with more confidence and enjoy the game more.