The grip
Sat, Jul 5, 2008 
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BY SCOTT JANUS
Janus Golf Academy
The game of golf is a wonderful sport that many individuals enjoy for a lifetime.
The grip is the single most important fundamental in golf. If you have the proper grip golf becomes very simple; if your grip is slightly off, your swing will develop according to an improper grip.
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Over the past 15 years and over 10,000 private lessons taught, I've learned the average golfer typically has an improper way of gripping the club. To give a ballpark figure: If 100 golfers tee it up on the course today, roughly 70 to 80 of those golfers will grip the club improperly.
That is why most golfers hit a slice, and why most golfers do not play the game as well as they would like.
When you learn to perfect the grip there is immediate improvement.
The trick to gripping the club properly is to have a specific step-by-step grip routine that you follow regularly.
For right-handed golfers:
Step 1: Grip the club in the fingers of the left hand first. Most golfers grip the club in the palm of the left hand.
Step 2: Allow the "heal pad" of the left palm to rest on top of the grip. Most golfers place their "thumb pad" on top of the grip, which results in a palm grip
Step 3: Make sure the leading edge of the club points towards 11 o'clock, not 12 o'clock. Most golfers grip the club with the toe of the club straight up and down. Most tour professionals use a slightly stronger grip, 11-11:30, and then straighten the clubface at address. This technique is the trick to adding distance and accuracy immediately. For example, this summer, I conducted a clinic with over 50 beginner woman golfers. By the end of the first lesson, every woman in the clinic was hitting a soft draw.
Step 4: Shorten your left thumb by inching the left thumb towards the left palm. This will help to narrow the distance between the tip of the left thumb and the bottom knuckle of left index finger. Most golfers have what is called a "long thumb."
Step 5: Your left thumb should be placed slightly left of center on the actual golf grip, roughly 1-2 centimeters to the right of center.
Step 6: Your clubface should still point toward 11 o'clock while elevating the club head off the ground.
Step 7: Point the left index finger out so that the right pinkie finger may slide in comfortably. Tiger Woods uses this grip and the grip is called the "interlock grip."
Step 8: The middle two fingers of the right hand grip the club so that neither finger touches the left thumb. The right hand is also gripped entirely in the finger tips; not the palm.
Step 9: Roll the right hand on top of the club so that the "lifeline" of the right palm completely covers and hides the left thumb. Note: You should not be able to see your left thumb if you have a solid grip.
Step 10: Your right thumb and index finger should create the letter 'V' and that 'V' should fall directly on top of the grip.
Step 11: Once you place the club on the ground, reposition the club face angle toward 12 o'clock and take time to aim the clubface exactly.
The key to greater enjoyment in the game of golf is to hit better shots more often. Better shots are a direct result of better technique. Proper technique increases quickly through proper PGA Professional coaching. Spend at least one summer working on the fundamentals of golf and enjoy a lifetime of enjoyment.
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Scott Janus is the director of the Janus Golf Academy at Grand Haven Golf Club. Janus and fellow PGA teaching professional Randy White will be submitting articles on ways to improve your golf game each week throughout the summer.
