Grip | Relaxation | Head & Eye Movement | Effortless Power
Welcome to Part Two of Learning the Golf Swing from Start to Finish with Julian Mellor – PGA Professional and co-founder of ProperGolfing.com.
In this episode, Julian dives deeper into gripping the club correctly, understanding physical tension, and learning why keeping your head down is one of the most destructive myths in golf.
You’ll discover:
✅ How to hold the club naturally — without tension or restriction.
✅ Why most golfers grip too tightly (and how to fix it instantly).
✅ The truth about eye and head movement during the swing — and why freedom equals better contact.
✅ How to feel relaxed yet powerful from takeaway to finish.
✅ The Proper Golfing principles that make golf easier, more enjoyable, and more consistent — especially for senior golfers.
Whether you’re new to the game or rediscovering your swing, this lesson will help you swing freely, hit more solid shots, and enjoy golf again.
🎯 What makes this lesson different?
Most golf instruction teaches restriction — “keep your head still,” “keep your arm straight,” “don’t move your feet.”
At Proper Golfing, we teach the opposite: natural movement, balance, and flow. The result? Effortless power and accuracy.
💬 Join the movement:
✔ Visit https://propergolfing.com to access our full online library.
✔ Subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications so you never miss a new lesson.
✔ Comment below – tell us what part of your swing causes the most tension. Julian might cover it in a future episode!
🎥 Watch Next:
👉 Learning the Golf Swing – Part 1
👉 The Proper Grip Pressure Lesson
👉 How to Follow the Ball with Your Eyes – The Secret to Freedom in Golf
📚 About Proper Golfing
Proper Golfing is the world’s leading coaching system for senior golfers. Coached by Julian Mellor and Jo Cameron, it’s the home of the Timeless Golf Swing™ — a proven, tension-free approach that’s transforming how people play and feel about golf.
For lessons, online programmes, or simulator hire, visit:
🌐 https://propergolfing.com
[Music] When you’re ready to hit the shot, I want you to close your eyes and hit it. So, let’s just double check the grip now. Yeah. So, we’re going to start with your left hand. Now, whenever we change the grip, it’s always feels it takes the longest and and a fraction feels like a a mile. So on your left hand, we’re just going to make sure that this is correct. So when you were holding it, you were holding it here. Yeah. Right. So if you just put your hands on now, hold your arm out. And what I want you to do is flex your wrist upwards. So I’m not going to hold that. So can you see how little that’s moved? Yeah. So that’s probably your max to there. Yeah. Okay. Without pain. So what? Without pain. Okay. Watch this. So if you just open your hand, there’s a crease here just above your little finger. So, we’re going to go into that one. And then just pop your thumb here now. Try it. Oh, wow. What What feels different? You just got so much more flex with it. More range of motion. Yeah. Completely. So, it feels a little bit weird cuz obviously I’ve not You’ve never done held it like that. Yeah. So, if you just open again. So, all you’ve done is gone here onto this bit. And now try it. And it probably feels quite heavy as well. Yeah, it does. It felt a lot lighter after you moved. So, we’re just dropping it into this little crease here. That’s it. Put your thumb on there. I assume the crease would be the same if you got the golf uh glove on. Yes. Yeah. So, as long as you know it’s just above your little finger. And a lot of people say, “Do you have to wear a glove?” I would say it’s personal preference. I used to get through them like crazy and now I don’t wear one. Oh, really? So, uh it’s just how things have changed. Now, what we’ve actually done, there’s a little meaty pad here that we’ve got the club to go under. Yeah. So, if I start to get that all the way up here, you should have quite a bit of support now. Mhm. Okay. So, if you watch this. So, if I’m going to put this in the wrong place now, do it. Yeah. What feels different? Stuck a lot of tension here. A lot of tension. Yeah. You can almost see something here as well that’s going on. And that potentially is not as powerful. Okay. So, you’re going to lose distance. You’re going to lose accuracy with that. So, that’s all we’ve done. So, if you just open your hand again a second. So, all we’ve done is we’ve just gone from here down to that bit. Okay. That’s all we all we’ve lowered it. So, again, for me to keep note of this is just look for the crease. crease above your little finger and you’re absolutely. So, it’s just that one there. That’s it. And that’s how that sits on on the golf club. Okay. So, what you were doing with this one, what what you put this from ancient times of when I first picked up a golf club. It would have been to try and lock your little finger in here and then follow that same well, not lock it, but like sit it. Yeah. So, that’s what we call an overlap grip, which is absolutely fine. It’s the one that I use. Not that that matters. So, what we’re going to do now is where your two middle fingers join your hand. So on your right hand there’s a crease here. We’re going to make sure that the club sits in that crease and that finger actually comes on. So this is the bit that will feel quite different now. So it’s more it should feel a little bit more into your fingers where where your fingers join your hand. Yeah. Okay. So now if we were to just throw this club over your shoulder, does that feel quite Yeah. It feels like it’s a lot control and strong. And if we keep it there, can you see how just your little fingers more it’s almost on top of your index finger, but these two fing Yeah. these two fingers need to go on the grip. Okay. But what you’ve done is this finger and this one had come off the grip. They were on they were on on your fingers here. So we’ve just kind of lowered it down a fraction. Okay. So now we’re starting to get some mobility in the wrist with and supporting this. So, if you um take this hand off, just open your hand. So, I’m going to put this in the wrong place there. Now, it’s all a bit a bit wonky and now it’s all gone a bit and that’s kind of what was happening before. So, because this was loose, you lost control of this. So, it was very difficult for you to direct the golf connection. That was a bit it just it didn’t have enough strength to go straight. It didn’t have control. Okay. So, we we definitely don’t need strength because that’s going to slow things down. We going to keep it nice and relaxed. But, it was in a weak position. Let’s put it that way. So, let’s take this off. Pops in there. There you go. That’s it. The idea is the way I like to coach is is I’ll keep checking it and if it’s right, I tend not to talk about it. If it’s wrong, I’ll keep jumping and get it right. That’s it. So, if you’re silent, I’m good. You’re good to go. Great confidence booster. Okay. So, I don’t know if you know, but that sounded slightly different. Had a bit more of a clicking sound. Did, didn’t it? Yeah. Yeah. Let’s try that again. But it was bunker again. Okay. Things are starting to change. So, what we’re going to do now is take the grip off and then put it back on again. So, if you keep the the hands on the club, within about five shots, you’re everything’s going to start to lock up and it will have probably moved. So I’ve got you. Okay. So you reset. We reset. And I’ll try and do it myself just so I can So is that crease there? Is that right? That’s That’s the one. And just wrap the hand. So this hand just needs to come over a little bit more. That’s all. Okay, that’s it. There you go. There you go. Perfect. Well done. So how does that distance from the ball feel? Arms, hips, knees. So there you go. Perfect. Well done. Well checked. Yeah. Love it. Love it. Soften it here. Don’t bend them. That’s it. still going right. Yeah. So, don’t forget we’ve not spoke anything about the swing yet. The way your body’s moving. We’re just building the foundations which we uh you know on camera we would start to see how your body’s moving but how it how we’re going to evolve it. So, this part is so important not to skip. Yeah. Most people they’ll do it three times and go I’ve got it now. Yeah. They haven’t got it. It will go into bad habits very quickly. And part of the importance of having lessons early on is you’ve got an expert watching you making sure you’re doing it correct. Yeah. So if if they skip this bit, it’s going to be disastrous for the next bit. So that’s why. So that probably felt a little bit loose when you hit that. That actually hurt a little bit. I mustn’t have got this right. So what we need to just do now to finish off the whole setup is for an understanding of physical tension. So if we’re holding this thing too tight, it’s not going to move very well. You’re not going to move very well. So what we’re going to do is what we call create awareness. So awareness cures try and fail. So we’re going to create an awareness of tension and then do something about it. And the best way I found at setup, just before you put the club on the ground, hold the club as tight as you can for two seconds. Just one, two, then relax. Okay. Right. Let it sit on the floor. When you’re relaxed, then we’re ready to play the shot. Okay. Okay. All right. So, so we’ll go through the this these bits first. That’s it. Just making sure that that feels okay. Okay. Good. You’ve actually So, the club’s just If you just relax. That’s it. That’s it. So, now hold everything as tight as you can for two seconds. One, two, tight. And now just let go. Okay. How what changed then physically? What changed? Feel lighter. Feels lighter. Yeah. And I’ll keep it like that. Got to keep it light. Feels comfortable. That’s it. Don’t worry about the shot. Now, ironically, something changed there in the follow through. So, again, the shot the shot is a shot, but something started to change in the follow through. Any idea what I saw different? I think the way it felt looser. Felt looser. Okay. So, if you keep holding too much. No, it’s fine. So, what happened before? When you holding it really tight, it was stopping about here. Yeah. Yeah, that last one started to move up here a bit more. Is that good or bad? Brilliant. Oh, okay. So, already we’re starting to lengthen the golf swing. So, you have quite a short control golf swing, but we’re eventually we’re going to get it to go full full uh full swing and that’s when it’s going to start feeling great. Look at me learning. Get you that. What changed on the follow through then? I I think I was aware of how high I went. So, I went even higher. They went even further. Yeah. So, what what we’ve done here is we’ve taken away some of the restriction, which is what happens when we lock up tight. So, I’ve studied a lot of elite sports people, let’s put it that way. And a person I always go to is Usain Bolt. So, one of the fastest human beings ever on Earth. Before he’s got on the line, he’s dancing, he’s relaxing, and he’s smiling when he passes the finishing line and everybody’s left behind him. What state is his body in? Is it locked up or is it relaxed? Yeah, it’s very relaxed. Very relaxed. At the end to go quick, relaxation’s better than being locked up. Okay. So, the tighter you hold it, the harder it is. So, I only want you to do this once. And sometimes we have to experience things to learn from them. I want you to hit this with full tension. Okay. So, no dancing. No, no dancing. No dancing. Hold it tight. Everything feels locked up. You might hit a great shot. We don’t know. But I want you to tell me how it physically feels. That’s tight. Yeah, you got it. What? It hurt. It hurt here on this side. Straight in the back. Yeah. Yeah. Now, a lot of people think that for 18 holes like that’s that’s a lot of buildup of how. So, if you got 20 balls, 40 balls, 50 balls on a range. Yeah. With that amount of tension, how do you think you’d feel at the end of those? Bit battered. Bit battered. Yeah. So, we shouldn’t feel tired when we’ve hit loads of golf shots. Yeah. Okay. Uh the t the tire tightness can come from the muscles just locking up too tight. They don’t move very well. And I’ve actually surprisingly had that before because I wouldn’t put golf down as a super well it’s a long walk. It’s a lot of hours. But it it shouldn’t feel as how I have done when I come off like bloody hell that hurts. I’m battered. Yeah. I’m knackered. But not in a walking way. In a physical physical way. Yeah. So a lot of the way golf is taught is a lot of people really struggle with injuries. So lower back, knees, hips, arms, shoulders. So golfer’s elbow, golf, shoulders, neck, that shouldn’t happen. Okay. You should be able to move very naturally without creating injury. Uh so I think there’s an issue with the way that golf’s taught at the moment because it’s creating a lot of injuries. Now if we think why do people play golf? Sometimes they just want to play with their friends for a long time. Yeah. Yeah. And if you have to stop at the age of 36, 37, 40, that’s not right. Yeah. So there’s something fundamentally wrong with the way that golf is. So this method is stepping away from a general way from from what I call the PJ tour player template type swing, which is what everybody sees on the telly. All the uh the commentators talk about it how brilliant it is. But these guys are elite athletes. You know, they’re in the gym all the time. They’ve got people helping them all the time. Most people can’t do that. They’re in, you know, they’re at home. They they hopefully go and play once a weekend and then they try to do all this athletic stuff and it causes injuries. So, you’ve got to have this a way of playing golf without injury, but doesn’t lose performance. And that’s kind of what I So, for someone like me as a beginner, this is this is the best way. This has got to be the best way by far. Yeah. And we’re going to start to see improvement through this series. Yeah, no question about it. So, obviously I’m just keep checking things. The width of stance now looks normal. Hopefully not having to think about that too much. Okay, great. Whoa. So, what we’re going to do now, we’re going to challenge some things that are said and taught in golf just to see whether they’re true or not. Okay. Um, so I’m seeing something that you’re doing that potentially is causing some issues. But if I was to ask you a question, um, if I put the ball there, what should I what should you do? What do you think you should do with your head and your eyes? Oh, yeah. Well, always been told, keep your don’t lift your head until afterwards. Yeah. So, you’re keep your head down. Keep your head down. Um, eyes, keep them open. Keep them open. Um, I don’t think I’ve been told specifically anything about wires, but obviously you keep your eye on the ball. So So there you are. You just stay there. Yeah. So you’ve just said keep your eye on the ball. Yeah, that’s that’s what we’ve all been told to do. Okay. You up for a challenge? Yes, please. Cool. I want you to make your new setup. When you’re ready to hit the shot, I want you to close your eyes and hit it. Here we go. No cheating. Oh, he did it. Look at that. What was going through what was going through your mind? Don’t mess it up. Um I was expecting to miss it. Okay. Yeah. Can we try it again? One more. Nice. Close again. Okay. Cool. Here we go. Good. So, all we’re seeing is can you hit a golf ball with your eyes shot? And you clearly have been able to hit a golf ball with your eye shot. Um can I hit a shot for you now? If you just stand this way for me. Similar subject of keeping our eye on the ball, but eyes open this time. Okay. When I make contact with the golf ball, can you tell me where I’m looking? Okay. Okay. So, I’m still going into that same routine as you’ve done. So, when I So, I’m only going to tap this one, but where am I looking when I hit the golf ball? That is a delicious shot. Um, you looked up before you actually hit the ball. Looked forward. Sorry. Look forward. Okay. So, if I said to you fractionally before you make contact with the golf ball, could you look towards the screen? Just before you hit it. Too soon? No, not at all. So, most people would say you can’t hit the golf ball if you look up and yet you still hit it. Okay. Okay. So, if we just do that once more. So, did anything feel any different in terms of mobility? Yeah, it was a lot smoother and where kind of the motion like from there through it felt it felt more how I would see it if I was watching golf. Yeah. If if that makes sense. Totally. So, I guess when I’ve been playing before, it’s quite rigid. Um, but that obviously I can’t see how it looks, but I can imagine it would look more like what a golf swing should look like. Yeah. Yeah. So, what you what you’ve done just by those two little exercises is we’ve taken away restriction. Yeah. So, when we keep our head down and our eye on the ball, we can’t move very well. Okay. So, what you’ve done is as you hit it, then you’ve started to move and the whole body was already moving better. So, it’s just something that is very rarely challenged and yet we can do it in those two simple ways. Eyes closed, eyes open, looking towards your target. Just shows how much the body is able to move more naturally without focusing on that golf ball. How easy is this to coach someone who isn’t a blank canvas like me? So, if someone who has had lessons and been playing quite a while and then you say, “Right, close your eyes.” So, what what I never tell people is I never say you shouldn’t keep your head down. The first thing to do is challenge it. It’s like, okay, well, let’s hit some shots with the eye shot. So, I’m not telling you to do it. And already you, you know, you hit the golf ball and then when you start to look towards the target or the screen in this case, it’s amazing how things start to move. And then we question, you know, how did it feel? What was happening? And and already I’m they’re changing their mind without me even telling them because they see and feel things quite differently, which is quite cool. And a guy that I coach who’s completely blind is amazing. You coach a blind person? Yeah. Yeah, it’s awesome. And he plays golf. Yeah, he’s brilliant. He’s off 18. Really good golfer. 18 handicap. Yeah. How how blind? Completely. What? Yeah. Yeah. So, um so all you do as a as a as a guide or a coach, you put the club behind the ball and you let him get on with it. Uh but the thing with Barry, so you have a guide who walks, you hold on to the guide, walk around. Amazing. Wow. Absolutely amazing. Yeah. And he uses your method. Uh yeah. Yeah. That should just be a tagline. I coach blind people. Yeah. And they’re on 18 handicap. Yeah. This is what I always see on the golf courses as well. So I’m there trudging along, straining and doing all the things that I know shouldn’t be done. And then you got a 75 year old whizzing past me, gets off his golf cart, swings it, off it goes. I’m like, there’s a difference in age and athleticism here surely, but he’s consistently flying past me. I’m letting them through type of thing. So, I guess they’ve nailed their golf swing and they’re still able to play cuz I want to be like that guy. I want to be 75 playing golf retired every day of the week. Um, but I guess they’re using things that you’re that they do. So, they’ve not fallen down the rabbit hole of of um athletic golf swings that puts the body under too much strain. Yeah. So, I think it’s very good for an amount of time then I think the body starts to fail and there’s a lot of evidence to prove that that’s the case. So you’re not going to have that issue, which is cool. Great. So what we’ve done today is really started the foundations of your golf swing. See? So we’ve built solid foundations that we can put the swing on top of. Yeah. Okay. If we’ skipped this bit, we’d have forever been falling apart. So that’s why it was important to do it in the way that we’ve done. Yeah, I understand. So what have you just learned from the session we’ve had together? There’s been quite a lot. There’s been a lot to take. I mean, in the first 10 minutes, I was like, Jesus Christ, there’s a lot. There’s a lot here that I didn’t know or can do to implement. So, um, the whole setup, so the width of my feet, taking the club down, softening my knees, not squatting, and the fact that I can hit the ball with my eyes closed, teaching me that I can lift my head. That’s that’s a bit of a myth from what I’ve been told. And how about the the way you’re holding the club now? Yeah. Changed a little bit. Yeah, definitely. So, the way that you told me to follow the crease in my hand and um slightly adjust it and then to soften it like really relax. Yeah. Using a Usain B kind of example, that’ll probably stick with me as well. You haven’t really said anything about why my shots keep going into the bunkers. So, I know that will probably get So, we’re going to do that in the next session because again, like I said before, we’ve built the foundations, then we can start to put the swing on top of it. But if I skip that bit, this bit gets it goes wrong. So we don’t want that to happen. So we’re going to in the next session, what we’ll do is we’ll quickly cover the setup again, make sure that you’re happy with that because we want that to become a routine rather than conscious thought. So my job is to watch to see that you’re doing the routine correctly, which you, you know, you’re placing it in there. Before you know it, you’ll be doing that really quickly. Your arms will be relaxed, hips, knees, and you’ll be straight into it. Yeah. Uh but what you’re not doing is you’re not skipping anything by this lovely routine that you’re creating. So you there’s no guesswork now. We’re starting to take that away. And that’s one of the arts of doing this well is if you get correct coaching, you haven’t got these faults. Yeah. Let’s bring it on because uh yeah, there’s a lot I learned and I want to learn more. Cool. Looking forward to the next one. [Music] Don’t go in. Don’t go in. I’m done. Finished.
