Jim Furyk Grip

Can I find a way to chip and pitch where I stay relaxed and allow my natural instincts and athletic "touch" to shine through? It is early in the season and I am going to try a new grip to play short shots.

There is constant dialogue and the worry/anxiety when I am faced with particular wedge shots that I do not feel comfortable playing. I never know when I am going to feel this way and go weeks sometimes without any problem.

I have diagnosed my problems and issues to a fare-thee-well and often get worse when I practice because I get locked up in my head thinking. I almost always do better when I am playing to a target.

If you have lost your nerve putting or your hands are no longer soft on the grip in a way which produces a constant "roll" off the face of the putter making it impossible to get the correct distance and make putts, you have different fallbacks to reach for. There's a claw-grip, or left hand low, a long putter or watching the blade and even looking at the hole instead of the ball. But with chipping and pitching there has not been that much exploration other than a guy on tour named Chris Couch who plays short shots around the greens left hand low.

On Friday I tried using a weak and different right hand grip to soften my hands on the club and make my right hand less likely to spoil my short shots. This is not a silver bullet and must be practiced enough to get a feel for the distance but here's what I learned in just one practice session.

1. it was easier to accelerate and turn through

2. how much "power" comes from my right hand because when placed on the grip weaker/more on top and with the Jim Furyk's right hand grip, the ball comes off the clubface softer and the ball does not fly as far and therefore so much of my "power" has been coming from my right hand.

3. I was able to contact the ball first more easily

The double overlap grip take some power away and has the ball coming off softer and encourages me to turn through to face the target when playing short wedge shots. Now I must practice swinging the club off the ball without moving my head with a smooth and rythmic pace.

A Feeling on Sunday

Playing on Sunday I was in the usual early season form and was making my way around the course doing my best to keep my score respectable. We were playing a very long and wet course and I was often left with longer irons or hybrids into the greens. I turned in 37 missing a 10 foot birdie putt at the 9th and then double- bogied 10. My 4 iron shot at 12 hit the bank and went back in the water and I felt like the round could slip away and the only thing I'd be sure of was a long walk. But at the 14th I felt something on my drive and then again on my 3 wood second and this feeling is the essence of what I want to pursue in swinging, in my golf swing.

I felt solid over the ball and set up open or left. The club face seemed slightly open which automatically promotes the club swinging more up and inside. But the dominant feeling was of turning back without swaying off the ball.....so on the front swing there was more time/space to rotate around.

Think of it this way; if you sway back then the start of the downswing is used up moving back into position, but if you do not move off the ball then the time can be used to turn through. The other part of this feeling was my hands/grip felt solid on the club and there was less need to manipulate the face.

This feeling and set up and swing motion is exactly what is called for on shorter pitch shots where there isn't time to turn through and maintain the face position if you've swayed off the ball.