Greetings, Coaches!
In this article we are going to look into some of the reasons behind the Prayer Grip. To do this let’s look at David Leadbetter’s instructions, discussing each section.
The Grip
The way I recommend gripping the club is different from the standard approach, but it is actually quite natural. It might feel strange at first, but it’s designed to get your hands and wrists working correctly. As the late golf legend Ben Hogan once said, “Good golf begins with a good grip.”
Interpretations of what a good grip is vary. But in our testing, I’ve found the grip I’m about to teach you is very important in order to achieve the final goal––generating maximum clubhead speed and squaring the face of the club at impact so you can routinely hit it long and straight.
Because of the importance of the grip, and the fact it is different from what is considered traditional, I want to initially discuss the way both hands should look on the club. I will then take you through exactly how to get your hands in the desired position.
The grip is what could be described as a neutral-hand position—the left hand mirrors the right. I call it the “prayer grip,” because when you hold your hands up in front of you, the angles, or “cups,” at the base of the right and left wrists are symmetrical as they would be if your hands were together in a praying position.
1. The hand positions mirror each other––the “prayer grip.”
2. The completed “prayer grip” look with symmetrical “cups.”
For right-handed golfers, the position of the left hand is termed “strong” (around to the right on the club). When you look down at it as you address the ball, you should see two to three knuckles and the forefinger in line with your right eye.
When you look down, two to three knuckles should be seen on the left hand
The left forefinger is in line with the right eye.
Conversely, the right-hand is termed “weak” (rotated over to the left side of the golf shaft). The right forefinger should be in line with your left eye. (“Strong” and “weak” have nothing to do with how much pressure you are applying or if it’s tight or loose.)
The right forefinger is in line with the left eye
In the prayer grip, the left hand is in a stronger position than that of the traditional grip, and the right is in a weaker position. A way that many GLE (Golfzon Leadbetter Education) certified instructions explain this is that when you let your hands drop by your side, you will notice (for most) that both hands will be rotated inward. Why would this not be neutral?
Gripping the club in this symmetrical manner, which many students say that they quickly feel comfortable, gives you a softness in the wrists that allows them to set and load correctly. It also gives the hands the ability to square and release the clubhead through the impact zone.
Golfers who have adopted the 'Prayer Grip' often find it remarkably comfortable. This unique comfort is not just a subjective feeling, but it also allows the wrists to set more easily, creating leverage, and keeps the clubface more neutral (Square) during the swing. The result? Increased speed, higher straighter shots, and a more natural squaring up of the clubface. These benefits make the 'Prayer Grip' a technique worth considering for improved performance.
It is important to note that David himself will be the first to explain to his instructors that everyone is different and there is no one size that fits all when it comes to improving a player's grip. He talks at detail about this in our Level 1 instructor certification, but as a baseline, we certainly believe the Prayer Grip is neutral and should become the new traditional grip!
The Effect On The 11 Impact Factors
|
Club Speed |
Can increase |
|
Path |
No direct effect |
|
Face Angle |
Can bring players back to neutral from either closed or open |
|
AOA |
No direct effect |
|
Dynamic Loft |
Can increase or decrease depending in the grip the player had before |
|
Impact Height |
No direct effect |
|
Horizontal impact spot |
No direct effect |
|
Vertical impact spot |
Improved centeredness of strike due to the clubface becoming neutral |
|
Dynamic Lie |
No direct effect |
|
Low Point |
No direct effect |
|
Divot interaction |
No direct effect |
For those wanting to learn more detail on taking the prayer grip, please keep reading below.
1. Grip the club so that the handle lies diagonally across the lower part of the palm and the fingers. The shaft should rest against the crook of the forefinger.
When you close the hand on the grip, the left thumb touches the first knuckle of the forefinger (an important link in a solid grip) and sits fairly straight down the shaft. The first knuckle of the left forefinger juts out a touch, as if it’s resting on a trigger.
- Lay the handle of the club across the fingers and palm.
- The thumb and forefinger together form an important link.
- The first knuckle on the left forefinger juts out as if resting on a trigger
Now for the right hand. The lifeline must sit on top of the left thumb like a tongue-and groove joint. Make sure the base of the palm is covering the left thumb, with both your thumbs almost in a parallel position and stacked on top of one another. Wrap the hand around the grip and let the right index finger separate itself slightly from the middle finger as if it’s also resting on a trigger.
The palm of the right hand rests on top of the left hand’s thumb.
The right hand’s index finger rests on a trigger.
Once you’ve got the hands in the correct positions, you have to choose a way to link them together so they work as a unit. There are three choices and it’s really a matter of personal preference. First there is the overlapping Vardon style, made popular in the early part of the 20th century by the great Harry Vardon.
When using this grip, the pinky finger of the right hand rests on top of the crease between the middle and index fingers of the left hand. This is the grip the golfer shown in this book uses and the one that the majority of pros adopt. Another way you can grip the club is termed the baseball grip, where the right hand is simply placed below the left.
This method can be helpful for golfers with small or weak hands, or those who suffer from arthritis or anyone trying to generate more clubhead speed. The third option is the interlocking style, used by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Using this grip, the pinky finger of the right hand and the index finger of the left hand are coupled.
Although all three will work well with the A Swing, I personally prefer the interlocking method. I like how it enables the hands to sit softly on the club and I think it makes the prayer grip feel the most comfortable. The key to this grip is that the two linked fingers—the pinky and index—are relaxed and protruding slightly and not resting fully on the club, thus reducing pressure in the middle of the grip. The problem with most interlocking grips is that golfers who use it tend to jam their pinky and index fingers too far in, squeezing them together, which creates far too much tension. Removing the tension from these two fingers really allows the wrists to set easily.
- The overlapping grip
- The baseball grip
- The interlocking grip
As far as overall grip pressure is concerned, you want to sense a little extra on the club with the last two fingers of the left hand, and the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, but with virtually no pressure in the middle of the grip. These pressure patterns help you maintain control of the club; aid in cocking and loading the wrists on the backswing for more leverage; and help retain wrist cock (lag) well into the downswing, which adds more power to your shots.
Regardless of the style you use, you want your grip pressure overall to feel light, certainly not loose, but only firm enough so that if you were to raise the club off the ground, you sense the weight of it in your hands. If you could put a number on overall grip 10 being the tightest—your goal is to be a 3 or a 4. Employing this soft grip keeps the tension out of your arms and shoulders, which is so important for a fluid swing.
The Completed Prayer Grip
GRIP NUGGETS
Grip the club with a strong left-hand position and weak right-hand position (prayer look).
Lay the club diagonally across the lower palm and fingers of the left hand.
Keep overall grip pressure light (about 3 or 4 out of 10).
COMMON GRIP FAULT
Gripping the club in the palm of the left hand. Without a doubt, I believe this is the single biggest fault in golf. In my estimation, probably 80 percent of golfers have this problem. Wherever I go in the world, it’s a real epidemic. Many right-handed players grip the club high in the palm of their left hand as opposed to down toward the fingers.
A telltale sign you’re gripping the club incorrectly is wear and tear in the heel pad area of your golf glove, or, in extreme cases a hole in the leather. This comes from the friction produced between the club and the glove during the swing.
Gripping the club high in the palm, and not down toward the fingers, creates tension and unnecessary wear and tear on the heel pad of the glove.
Most golfers grab hold of the club and position it in the palm simply because they don’t know any better, and it feels secure this way. It’s a case of what feels natural here is wrong! For a lot of golfers, the actual grip on the club is the wrong size for them––it’s either too
thick or too thin, forcing the club into the palm (I recommend having the thickness checked by your pro or a clubfitter). Whatever the reason, palming the grip creates tremendous tension and the hands and arms get overly active very early in the backswing.
The palmy grip also restricts the natural cocking action of the left wrist––an important power factor in the swing. A very common look we see associated with this palmy grip is what is termed a “weak” left hand, meaning the hand is positioned too far around to the left side of the club’s handle where you may see just one knuckle as opposed to two or three.
Meanwhile, the right hand has a tendency to get into a “strong,” grabby position. It’s almost rolled underneath the handle. This poor grip is just a bad way to start the swing and leads to a whole host of faults.
A typical bad grip––A “weak” left-hand position and a “strong” right-hand position.