Putting Grip Pressure Points

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This putting video is exploring the pressure points of your grip.

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So I get a lot of questions about grip and as it relates to putting and

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basically the

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most common phrase is, "How's my grip?

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Is this a good grip?"

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So I'm going to talk a little bit about how I approach assessing a grip and

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what I think

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the big goals are for the grip.

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So with the inputting, there are three general skills, reading a green, we're

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going to throw

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that out.

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Now we're talking about making a stroke, we're looking at controlling the ball

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start line,

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we're starting the ball online and controlling the speed.

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I think of the grip as one of the big influences for controlling the start line

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.

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So in order to control the start line, I want to control where this putter face

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is pointing.

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And so there's two main things that can influence it.

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One is the rotation of my wrist and forearms and then two is going to be the

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rotation of

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my shoulders.

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So I'm basically trying to take a grip where I'm going to minimize some of

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these rotations.

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In order to do that, I'll talk about equal and opposite pressure points.

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So with beginners, I typically have them take like a prayer position kind of

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like this and

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then point the thumbs away from them a little bit like that and apply even

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pressure through

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the whole hand, fingers, thumbs, palms, and then just rotate hopefully on

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planes so a

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little bit more of a rocking or vertical shoulder action, but just bringing the

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hands back and

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forth like this.

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And I'll ask them what do you feel in your arms and hands and usually they'll

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say nothing.

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And what I'll say is, okay, now when you do it, can you feel that there is even

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pressure

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between the hands?

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I'll say yes, okay.

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Now I pull out the yoga block to highlight one of the problems or challenges

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for golf.

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So it's easy to have the hands applying even pressure when the hands are

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matched like this,

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but we're typically going to be gripping the club in more fashion where the

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right hand

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is low or the left hand is low, but usually the hands are not dead symmetric on

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the putting

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grip.

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And so now I have to try to create that same synergy of pressure points.

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So essentially what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to create at least two

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different equal

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and opposing forces.

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So I'll show you how this works with the typical golf grip.

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So I've got these equal and opposing forces kind of like this, even though my

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hands are

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in an asymmetric position.

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So when I take my grip, the equal and opposite pressure points typically happen

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through the

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middle finger of the left hand going into the heel of the right hand.

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So this pressure point right there, and then the second one would be in the

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classic Varden

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or a reverse overlap, you're going to take the index finger of the left hand

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and place

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it up against either the ring finger or the middle finger, but basically

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against here.

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So I have pressure number one there, pressure number two there.

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If I take the rest of the fingers out, I can feel that I'm pushing a little bit

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this way

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just like I was pushing my palms that way.

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So I'm pushing a little bit like this, and then I'm simply rocking my shoulders

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on plane.

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This will help eliminate some of the face rotation.

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To test it, I'll usually come in, have a golfer take their grip and then try

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and rotate the

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face and we'll feel like where in your hands do you feel the gaps?

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Where do you feel like the putter wants the twist?

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So if you don't do it in the fashion I'm describing of this being the common

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one, this being the

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common two, I could have it where I have this hand opposing this hand.

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So there's a pressure point as long as I can make that nice and even, and then

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this hand

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opposing the opposite palm or the same palm kind of like this.

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There I would have my two pressure points as well, but it's a little bit harder

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to control

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it from twisting in that sense compared to if I have each hand resisting each

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other.

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So whether you take a reverse grip where I typically see this palm against this

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index

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finger and then usually the right hand fingers against palm that creates my

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four pressure

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points or if I do more of the paint brush where I have or the claw where I have

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these

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fingers opposing this palm and then this hand opposing this knuckle here.

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So those two are pretty close together or this knuckle opposing that knuckle I

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should

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have said.

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So those two knuckles opposing each other creates a nice couple whether it's

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the paint

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brush or the claw, okay that breaks a little bit or the classic one so there's

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pressure

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one there's pressure two and then I simply rock the shoulders more or less on

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plane.

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Oh just not enough speed this thing turns hard at the end.

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So pressure there no twist of the hands there I hit it a little firmer and it

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goes in.

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If I was to do the lead hand low I can experiment with finding a grip where I

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can feel no twisting

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and even pressure so that feels pretty good I've got kind of a steady pressure

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here against

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that palm and then I've got a little pressure here against the fingers of the

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right hand.

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So we've got that going.

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As long as I can develop a grip where I have equal pressure so that the putter

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doesn't

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twist I'm going to have good putter control and then it's a matter of

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developing a stroke

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where I use some of the bigger muscles on my shoulder in order to smoothly

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create a tempo

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and length of backswing that's how I'll control both putter face and distance

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and then it all

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comes down to reading greens.

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So hopefully this gives you a way to experiment at home with your grip find a

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really solid

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feeling pressure points and do little tweaks until you feel like you have 100%

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control

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of the putter face.