How to Grip a Golf Club with Rick Shiels

The way you hold the golf club is the single biggest influence on where the ball goes - it’s the steering wheel for every shot you hit. Get it right, and you have a chance to swing with power and consistency, get it wrong, and you'll spend your time on the course making compensations just to hit the ball straight. Drawing directly from the simple, effective teachings of renowned golf coach Rick Shiels, this guide will walk you through exactly how to build a neutral and powerful golf grip, step-by-step, so you can stop fighting your swing and start controlling the clubface.

Your Grip: The Steering Wheel of Your Golf Shots

Before we touch the club, let’s get one thing straight. Your grip, or as Rick calls it, your "hold," is unbelievably important. Why? Because it has an enormous influence on where the clubface points at impact. Think about it: if your grip naturally causes the clubface to be slightly open (pointing right for a right-hander) or closed (pointing left), your brain and body have to perform some last-second acrobatics during the swing to correct it. That’s a recipe for inconsistency.

Rick Shiels puts it perfectly: the hold is "one hundred percent the steering wheel." A correct, neutral grip allows the clubface to return to a square position at impact without any extra manipulation. This frees you up to make a simple, powerful, rotational swing. A flawed grip, on the other hand, puts you on the defensive from the start, forcing you to invent mid-swing fixes that are almost impossible to repeat. This guide is about building a grip that works with your swing, not against it.

Getting Started: The Pre-Grip Checklist

A great grip starts before your hands even touch the club. The first step is to correctly align the tool you're about to use.

Clubface Alignment: Your Foundation

Take your club and place the head on the ground behind where the ball would be. Your goal is to get the leading edge - the bottom line of the clubface - pointing perfectly straight at your target. Many modern grips have a manufacturer's logo printed on the top. If yours does, you can use that as a guide to ensure it’s aligned perfectly with the center of the straight clubface. If you have a blank grip, you’ll have to rely on eyeballing that leading edge.

Don't rush this part. If the face is slightly twisted inward (closed) or angled outward (open) before you even start, you're already making things harder on yourself. Get it super, super straight.

(Note: These instructions are for a right-handed golfer. If you're a lefty, simply mirror the hand positions.)

Building the Grip: The Lead Hand (Left Hand)

With the clubface square, you can begin placing your lead hand. According to Rick, this hand should go on in the most neutral manner possible.

1. Find a Natural Position

As you bring your left hand toward the side of the grip, let it hang naturally. You’ll notice your palm is slightly faced inwards, not perfectly flat or turned dramatically one way or the other. You want to replicate this natural orientation when you take your hold. You a an inch or so of space between the top of your hand and the butt end of the club.

2. Hold it in the Fingers

This is a major point for many golfers. Rick emphasizes holding the club in the fingers, not the palm. The pressure should run diagonally from the middle of your index finger down to the base of your little finger. Holding it here gives you more leverage and control. When you close your hand, the fleshy part of your palm will then sit on top of the grip, securing it in place.

3. The Critical Checkpoints

Once your hand is on, look down. You should be able to see two knuckles on your left hand - the ones on your index and middle fingers. This is a sign of a neutral grip.

Next, look at the “V” shape created between your thumb and index finger. That “V” should point up towards your right shoulder. These two checkpoints, the knuckles and the “V”, are your litmus test for a solid, neutral lead hand position.

A Note on Common Faults:

• A “Strong” Grip: If you can see three or more knuckles, your hand is twisted too far over the top. This is a strong grip, and it will tend to make you close the clubface through impact, often leading to a shot that goes left (a hook). The "V" will point outside your right shoulder.
• A “Weak” Grip: If you can only see one knuckle or none, your hand is too far underneath the club. This is a weak grip, which promotes an open clubface and often results in a shot that goes right (a slice). The "V" will point more toward in front of you.

Adding the Trail Hand (Right Hand)

Now, let’s add your right hand. The process is similar: we’re looking for a neutral position that complements the left hand.

1. Replicate a Natural Hang

Just like with the left hand, approach the grip from the side. Your right palm will be facing slightly inwards, towards the target. You don’t want it too far under the grip or too far over the top, as both will negatively influence the clubface direction.

2. The Palm-on-Thumb Connection

Here’s a fantastic, specific tip from Rick: As you bring your right hand in, aim for the middle section of your right palm - the lifeline area - to sit directly on the side of your left thumb. This seats the hand perfectly. Once that connection is made, simply wrap your fingers around the grip and let the top of your hand cover your left thumb so it's not exposed. When set, that "V" on your right hand will probably also point roughly toward your right shoulder.

3. Interlock, Overlap, or Ten-Finger?

Golfers often get overly concerned with how the hands connect at the back. You have three main options:

• Interlock: The pinky of your right hand hooks into the gap between the index and middle fingers of your left hand.
• Overlap (Vardon): The right pinky rests on top of the left hand, in that same gap.
• Ten-Finger (Baseball): All ten fingers are on the club with no connection.

Which one is best? Rick’s take is refreshing: “I have absolutely no care whatever you do with those three… Whatever feels more comfortable, as long as the hands aren't moving." He personally interlocks, but it’s entirely about your comfort and what allows you to feel like your hands are a single, stable unit.

Embrace the "Weird" Feeling

Rick makes an incredible point that every golfer needs to hear: a correct golf grip feels bizarre. He’s right. It’s "unlike anything else we hold in the world."

If you're changing your grip from an old habit, or just starting out, this new position will feel incredibly strange. Every part of your brain will scream that it’s wrong. Trust the process. The reason it feels odd is the same reason a correct golf setup - bottom out, chest forward - feels odd. It’s a structured, athletic position that’s new to your body.

Stick with it. Hit balls at the range with the new grip. The initial discomfort will fade, and you'll be left with a fundamentally sound connection to the club that you don’t have to think about mid-swing.

Rick’s Final Disclaimer: Should You Actually Change Your Grip?

This is arguably the most important piece of advice in the whole guide. Making a change is a big deal, and it's not always necessary.

Rick's one disclaimer is this: “I would only ever change the grip if direction is a fault.”

Read that again. If you already hit the ball relatively straight but your grip doesn’t look like the pictures in this guide, think twice before changing it. The ultimate goal is to get the ball to the target, not to have a pretty grip. If your "unorthodox" hold is working for you, messing with it could cause more harm than good.

However, if directional control is a consistent issue - if you’re always battling a slice or a hook - then your grip is the first place you should look. It is the steering wheel, and if your car constantly pulls to one side, you check the alignment first.

Final Thoughts

Building a solid golf grip based on Rick Shiels's principles comes down to controlling the clubface so you don't have to make mid-swing corrections. By focusing on a neutral, finger-oriented hold with checkpoints like two-knuckle visibility and "V's" pointing to your right shoulder, you establish the foundation for a more consistent and powerful golf shot. Trust the process, even if it feels strange at first, and remember that the goal is always better ball flight.

Once you have the fundamentals down, the next step is diagnosing issues on the course, and that's where having an expert opinion can really help. Our philosophy behind Caddie AI is to give you that support, right in your pocket. If you’re struggling with a slice and aren’t sure if it’s your new grip or your swing path, you can get instant feedback. It's like having a 24/7 coach to help you understand cause and effect, take the guesswork out of your game, and build confidence in every swing.