Grip Pressure

Due to having Tendonitis in my hands I have not been playing recently and have gone back to reading about golf technique. Grip pressure seems to be one of things which has a large variation in how it is supposed to be done. I have never been a follower of the "imaging your holding a bird" technique as most of the living people that have recommended it to me have never held a bird, of the feathered variety, in their hands in the first place.
In Tom Watson's "The Timeless Swing" he says "Grip a club and point it straight in the the air in front of you, where it feels lightest. Let the club slide down through your hands. Regrip the the club and point it up in the air again, but this time reduce your grip pressure to just enough to keep it from sliding through your hands. Extend it horizontally in front of you. Thats as much grip pressure as you need to hit the ball." this has been recommended to me before with the exception of holding the club at 45degrees up from the horizontal instead of the horizontal. On the next page of Tom's book he discusses pressure points and says " I apply most of the gripping pressure with the last 3 fingers of my left hand-as much pressure as I can without causing my left arm to tighten-...", doing this does not give me the same grip pressure as his previous method.
A few people seem to go with the following
"You’ll often hear that gripping the club tightly causes tension in the body, which in turn hinders your ability to make a good swing. However, gripping the club with a lot of pressure at the point of impact will help you to better control the strike.

On a scale of 1 to 10, imagine that a level 10 equates to gripping the club as tightly as possible. A level 1 equates to holding the club so loosely it only just stays in your hands.

At address, hold the club with a grip pressure of 4 out of 10.

At impact, your grip pressure should increase to a 9 or even a 10 out of 10. You might want to consciously grasp the club more tightly at impact to see how that effects your ball striking. "
http://www.free-online-golf-tips.com/proper-golf-grip.html

This seems to contradict the idea of maintaining constant grip pressure throughout the swing.
There are a lot of different examples on what should be a straightforward task of holding onto a club while you swing so how do you approach it.

Hi K@S

I don't think it is really possible to maintain a constant pressure throughout the swing, there is obviously a tendency to tense up through impact as you try to exert maximum force into the ball.

Have you considered some of the specialist 'softie' type grips that are designed to help arthritis etc? Not my cup of tea as I feel as if the club is squirming about but they seem quite popular with a lot of players.

Here is a link

http://gamolagolf.co.uk/acatalog/Winn_DSI.html

D4S my question was more of a general enquiry as to how people set up their grip pressure. My Tendonitis was caused by foolishly helping one of my relatives with some building work, which I haven't done for about 10 yrs, and and the constant strain on my hands left me with swollen joints and a loss of feeling in my hands.

At address I'd probably say my grip tightness is about a 5 out of 10. I try to maintain a constant grip pressure (perhaps around 7.5) from the start of the downswing, all the way to the follow through. I doubt whether I actually achieve this though, as it's very easy to tighten up through the impact zone.

It all comes down to person opinion on what constitutes a "5" or a "7.5" though. I know a lot of books say you should grip it very lightly, but for me it doesn't work. It doesn't feel natural, and I don't feel in control of the club. Also, even if you do grip it very lightly, I reckon it's almost impossible to maintain that grip strength through impact. I'd rather grip it a bit tighter, and keep the grip strength relatively constant throughout the swing.

Just grip it 'naturally'. If you feel like you're squeezing the life out of it, that's too tight. Watson's idea with the club vertical in front of you is interesting. I would steer well clear of any advice that says you should consciously fiddle with your grip tension during the swing.

And as for:

K@S wrote:...At impact, your grip pressure should increase to a 9 or even a 10 out of 10. You might want to consciously grasp the club more tightly at impact to see how that effects your ball striking. "
http://www.free-online-golf-tips.com/proper-golf-grip.html

That's a load of nonsense and, dare I suggest it, written by someone who either doesn't play or has no idea about the swing. If you restrict your wrists through impact, as doing the above will undoubtedly lead to, you'll find it difficult to hit the ball well or do anything except block/cut it.

K@S wrote:D4S my question was more of a general enquiry as to how people set up their grip pressure. My Tendonitis was caused by foolishly helping one of my relatives with some building work, which I haven't done for about 10 yrs, and and the constant strain on my hands left me with swollen joints and a loss of feeling in my hands.

I don't pay any attention to my grip pressure, I just hold the club naturally and concentrate on the swing.

And as stated above, one man's 5 is another man's 7.5

Grip pressure when putting is so light you could pull the putter from my hands using no force find it gives me better feel.

With regards to every over club in the bag the only real pressure is with the last 3 fingers of my left hand to ensure the club doesn't twist other than that rest of that hand and my right hand are very light indeed more a case of the club resting in those parts than me actually gripping it

drive4show wrote:And as stated above, one man's 5 is another man's 7.5

That's what my ex said. But she was ultimately disappointed

Davie should have just given it to her twice! After all 2.5 x 2 = 5! Could have measeured up that way

Mav ... I used to like you ....

Davie i'm not cutting 7 inches off for no-one

navyblueshorts wrote:Just grip it 'naturally'. If you feel like you're squeezing the life out of it, that's too tight. Watson's idea with the club vertical in front of you is interesting. I would steer well clear of any advice that says you should consciously fiddle with your grip tension during the swing.

That used to be called "piccolloing" in my time. You would see at the top of the backswing, all the fingers lift and regrip! definite no no.

I used to wring the neck off my clubs, even locking the grip in. While I had a willowy figure that could manage a full turn and whip the clubhead through, this was not an issue. Now however, I am a little more chunky and considerably older and a full turn is a thing of the past. Gripping the club too tight now, just results in a tightening of the shoulders that means a tug left at best.

I have to really force myself to loosen the grip, especially with the flat stick, which allows the swing to flow more naturally.