June13puttinggrips

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Change your putting grip

If you’re struggling on the greens then a change of putting grip could be just what the doctor ordered. Try one of these popular styles – we’ve even included a few quirky ones that some Tour pros are testing too!

GETTING STARTED
The first thing you need to learn is how to hold the putter correctly in the palm of your hands. This applies to all the putting grips, so you must get it right. Lie the putter flat and diagonally across the fleshy pads of the palm. The key is to make sure the putter shaft runs in a straight line with your forearm, so that it appears to be an extension of the forearm.

 TRADITIONAL OVERLAP
This is the most popular and the most traditional of our putting grips. Apply your left hand to the putter grip and then rest your right hand around the putter grip, just below. Link the two hands by lifting the index finger of your left hand and wrapping it over the fingers of the right.

 

TWO FINGERS DOWN
This is a simple adaptation of the traditional putting grip. Start by wrapping both hands around the putter grip so that it rests in the palms again. This time lift both index fingers and place them so that they point straight down the side of the putter grip.		 LEFT BELOW RIGHT
This grip has been a popular choice on Tour in recent years. It is basically the traditional putting grip reversed. Place your right hand at the top of the putter grip, and your left hand at the bottom. You can link both hands by wrapping the index finger of the right hand across the fingers of the left.

 

THE CLAW
One of the most unusual putting grips you’ll see! The claw has saved many a golfer stuck in a putting crisis. It forces the left hand (leading hand) to take control of the putter and helps erradicate the feeling of the wrists breaking down in the stroke. Start by placing your left hand on the putter grip in the traditional way, then place your right hand on top of the putter grip so that the fingers rest flat. Hook your hand in place by wrapping your right thumb around and underneath the grip.

BERNHARD LANGER’S GRIP
Named after its most popular exponent, Tour pro Bernhard Langer, this grip has saved the German from several bouts of the ‘yips’. Each time he’s bounced back from a bad period on the putting green by changing his technique. To form the Langer grip place your left hand at the lowest point on the putting grip and point your index finger down the shaft. Now add your right hand at the top of the grip so that the fingers touch the back of your left arm and your thumb rests just above the wrist joint of the left arm.

 

PHILLIP PRICE’S GRIP
European Tour pro Phillip Price has been using this unusual-looking grip for several seasons with great success. It is basically just a slight variation on the claw grip. Place your left hand at the top of the putter grip and then add your right hand so that the fingers rest diagonally across the side of the grip and the thumb supports the hand by pinching the opposite side of the grip.

BOX GRIP
This is one of the new style putting grips that has only appeared in the last couple of years. The idea is to have both hands sat side by side, level with each other on the grip, so that the shoulders are level. Simply place your left hand at the top of the grip with the index finger running down the side of the grip, and your right hand alongside it, sat just an inch below. Again run your right index finger down the side of the grip. The hands should form a box-shape.

 

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