Let’s talk grip & wrist angles!
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My name is Shauheen Nakhjavani, Co-founder of Nakhjavani Golf. I have been a golf coach for 10+ years, I’ve given over 25,000 lessons in-person & online, and I have worked with many professional players; including Kevin Chappell, Stephen Ames, Darren Clarke, Calum Hill, Yannik Paul, Eddie Pepperell, Jeremy Paul & many others!
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When you have a stronger grip, obviously that implies that it’s going to be more likely your club face is going to be closed for most players. It’s very hard when your grip gets stronger to have face be open. The opposite obviously is also true, right? The weaker the grip is, the more likely you are to have the club face be open. Not a guarantee by any means, but more likely. How can a weak grip get control over the club face? What does a weak grip golfer need to do to make sure that the face angle is not open? So, we’re going to simplify it even further. Okay. When I have a grip that is very weak, that implies that my glove hand is going to obviously not be on top of the club, right? I’m going to exaggerate the visual here. Like, it’s obviously very, very weak. I’m underneath. This would be considered a weaker grip. Right? Right hand is on top. Left hand is more to the side or underneath. So the more rotated, this is the way to think about it. The more rotated towards your front side your hands are, the weaker the grip is. The more rotated towards your back side the hands are, the stronger the grip is. This would be considered a very, very strong grip. Your grip is not the only thing that is going to manipulate the club face in your golf swing. Obviously, the body has a lot to do with it. How the arm structure moves has a lot to do with it. The other thing that a lot of people don’t consider is how the wrist angles are moving has a lot to do with your club face. Because I have my hands on the club, my hands can do a lot more. Obviously, once my grip is set on the club, that’s a static change. I can’t really change it mid golf swing. Like, people don’t change their grips in the middle of the golf swing. That’s unrealistic. But I can change how my wrists are moving. So the more I fold my wrists in one direction or another, I’m going to manipulate the club face quite differently. Okay. If I have a weaker grip, that implies that the face angle is going to be more open. So you would see more of like this looking position here where the toe hangs down. This obviously implies that the club face is a little bit stronger. Correct. Okay. I can have a weaker grip. So that position that I showed you before where my hand is not very on top of the club, it’s to the side. Yeah. If I change my wrist angles enough, I can get control over this club face and no longer make it open, even if my grip is weaker. See what I just did there? Yeah. Look at how my grip. So the wrist angles, the more cuped a wrist angle is, the more open that club face is likely to get, the more bowed the wrist angle is. Yes, like that. The more closed my club face is likely to get. And you can show that through the top of the back swing for students. You can also show that in the down swing for students. If I have my knuckles hinged up in a cuped position, my club face is going to look more open. If I change that and I curl my knuckles more underneath, look what I’m doing to my club face. Closing it, moving it down. So, just because my grip is weaker does not automatically mean my club face is going to be open. It makes it more likely. It doesn’t guarantee it. If I do the correct wrist angle movements with the correct grip together, I can actually keep control of the club face right away. So, you could have a golfer, believe it or not, with a very strong grip who struggles with an open club face. But often times, one of those things that’s going to cause that to get open is that the wrist is going to get very, very cuped. The more cupped my wrist is, the more open the face gets. At some point, my grip can only get so strong. If I cup the wrist enough, I might actually open the club face quite a
