Palm Springs Golf Lessons Putting Grip 2, Neutral Hands

Often we see golfers come to our Palm Springs golf lessons that have putting consistency issues.  One day they putt great and the next day they are missing 4 foot putts.  If the alignment is good this is usually cause by a player that opens and closes the face during the stroke.  During the golf lesson we check the grip to see if one hand is able take control more than other hand.  This is normally caused by the hands not being neutral on the club.  This article and video will describe how we accomplish neutral hands during our Palm Springs golf lessons. This is video 2 of 3 on the putting grip,please check out putting grip video 1 and putting grip video 3.

Here the thumbs fit together correctly on the front of the putter grip.

Why Use A Neutral Putting Grip? Palm Springs Golf Lessons

During the putting stroke the clubface needs to remain square to the putter plane and the path of the putter.  This means that hands need to stay silent as we don’t want any extra movement of the putter face during the stroke.  If the hands are in a neutral position it makes it more difficult for the hands to produce unwanted rotation. If during our Palm Springs golf lessons the right or the left hand is too hook or too slice oriented the clubface will have a tendency open or close during the stroke.

You can test this theory out by placing your right hand on the putter with the top of your hand fully visible when looking down.  This is would be considered a strong or hook position.  Now attempt to close the face with your left hand.  It should be extremely easy.  Now put the same hand on the putter in a neutral position, you should see only the left thumb and not the top of the hand.  Try to close the face.  It will be much more difficult.  Neutral hands make the opening and closing of the face during the stroke more difficult, making the stroke more consistent.  We can show this more in depth during a series of Palm Springs golf lessons.

Her the Left hand is placed incorrectly on the putter. The grip is too strong or too hooked.

Here the hand is placed correctly on the putting grip in a neutral position.

How To Achieve A Neutral Putting Grip? Palm Springs Golf Lessons

At our Palm Springs golf lessons we teach that during a neutral left hand position we should see the left thumb going down the top or flat part of the putter grip and we should see the same in the right hand.  This means that the neither the left hand nor the right hand is further on one side of the grip than the other, or in other words unbalanced.

Once the hands are placed in a neutral position on the club with the thumbs going down the flat part of the putter grip they should connected.  To connect the hands we should see the thumbs fit together like puzzle pieces.  The base knuckle on the dominant hand should fit between the base knuckle and the middle knuckle on the non-dominant hand.  For one on one instruction take a series of Palm Springs golf lessons from us at Cimarron Golf Resort.

Please look at our third video on the putting grip, putting grip video 3.