Your hands are the only connection you have to your driver, so your driver grip must be effective and comfortable.
You need to be able to repeat it time and time again if you hope to hit more fairways and make more birdies.
Your driver is the longest club in the bag and therefore causes people discomfort. This translates to your grip and promotes more errant tee shots. Getting comfortable with your big dog starts with a confident grip.
Use this guide to finally find the grip that highlights your strengths and limits your weaknesses. With the correct grip, other aspects of the swing can fall into place naturally, and you’ll turn your tee shots into one of your best assets.
In this article, we will cover:
- Instruction On How To Grip Your Driver
- 6 Benefits Of A Good Golf Driver Grip
- 3 Types of Driver Grips
- 5 Tips to Improve Your Golf Driving Grip
- Best Grips For Your Driver
- 4 Tour Pros With Great Driver Grips To Study
Let’s get a grip on this!
How To Grip Your Driver
Your golf driver grip should be neutral by ensuring your palms face each other with comfortable pressure and your thumbs point down.
You should hold your driver tight enough that you won’t let go but loose enough that your forearms and shoulders remain relaxed. It should resemble holding a bird (tight enough that it doesn’t fly away but not so tight that you hurt it).
6 Benefits of A Good Golf Driver Grip
- Keeps The Face Square
- Relieves Pressure
- Encourage Smooth Tempo
- Reduces Margin Of Error
- Allows For Shot Shaping In Both Directions
- Produces More Distance
3 Types of Golf Driver Grips
Three techniques allow you to reap the benefits of a good golf grip on a driver.
1. Overlap
This is the most popular grip for golfers who have average to small-sized hands. It allows you to secure the club while keeping your hands together, working as a single unit.
To successfully execute this grip, first, ensure your top hand is in a neutral position so the back of your hand is facing the target with your thumb directly on top pointing down. Next, apply your bottom hand with the palm facing your target and the thumb also pointing down.
On the underside, overlap your bottom-hand pinky finger with your top-hand index finger. Find a friendly, comfortable spot for your pinky in between the index and middle finger. This connects your hands and encourages them to act as one unit.
2. Interlock
This starts the same way as the overlap with the back of your top hand facing the target and your bottom hand palm facing the same direction. The difference happens in the fingers.
On the underside, interlock your bottom hand pinky with your top hand index finger. This grip works excellent for people who have larger hands or longer fingers.
3. Baseball/10-Finger
This is a grip that many beginners start with, as it comes most naturally. You will see a lot of juniors adopt this grip as well since it provides the most stability.
I do not recommend this grip, but if you cannot find harmony with one of the other grips above, this will do the trick.
It follows the core values of palms facing each other and thumbs on top of the shaft pointed downward, but all fingers are wrapped around the grip on the underside. This is more akin to gripping a baseball bat, which is where it gets the name.
Golf Driver Grip Strength
Your grip directly influences the trajectory of your ball, which means if you are in control of your grip, you have a better chance of controlling your ball flight.
Strong Grip—This promotes more draws and hooks. A strong grip means your bottom hand sits under the grip with your palm facing more toward the sky. It encourages this hand to turn over more quickly and thus close the face at impact.
Weak Grip—The opposite is true for weak grips, which promote fades and slices. The bottom hand is more on top of the grip, with your palm facing the ground. This position can be unnatural, which causes the bottom hand to rotate back and, in turn, opens the club face at impact.
5 Tips to Improve Your Driving Grip
Study these tips to get the most out of your driver grip;
1. Focus On Your Top Hand First
Use your top hand as the benchmark for your bottom hand and entire grip. If you ensure this hand is positioned properly, then your bottom hand will fit perfectly like a correct puzzle piece. Many pros do this during their pre-shot routine to confirm their alignment.
2. Monitor Your Pressure
Many amateurs don’t realize how tightly they grip the club right before they’re about to pull the trigger. This tenses the forearms, shoulders, and even the torso. Tight muscles restrict movement and will reduce distance and accuracy.
Relax your hands at the last second to allow your muscles to flex optimally and produce booming drives.
3. Counter Your Miss
If you tend to slice the ball as your Achilles’ heel, then consider strengthening your grip by adjusting your bottom palm to face down your target line or even towards the sky. This encourages that hand to turn over at impact instead of opening up.
4. Custom Sized Grip
Before you ask, no, this is not expensive. When you replace your grip, you can add layers of grip tape underneath to increase its circumference (make it wider). This is great for golfers whose hands turn over too fast. Thickening the grip will slow the hand rotation and create a square club face at impact.
5. Make It Your Own
Use these guidelines as a building block to find a perfect driver grip for you. Everyone’s hands are built differently, so we all have to find our own effective and repeatable way of controlling the club. Stick to the fundamentals and let them guide you to your ‘forever’ driver grip.
Driver Grip vs. Iron Grip
The golf driver grip should be the same as your iron grip. Keeping this consistent will be one less thing you have to think about for each shot. Your 7-iron grip should feel just as comfortable and confident as your driver grip.
Best Golf Driver Grips To Buy
Regarding the position of your hands, your driver grip should not change from club to club. However, you have some leeway in terms of the physical rubber wraps that you choose to adorn each club. Having a grip with maximum traction will allow your hands to relax and grip the club with less tension. Try one of these;
- Multi-Compound
- Cord
- DriTac
When changing your driver grip, don’t forget to ask your club fitter to add layers of grip tape to thicken your grip (if needed); this is the time to do so. However, don’t go too wide; that will hinder your ability to turn your hands over too much and leave the club face open. Less is more when it comes to adding girth to your grip.
Players With The Best Driver Grips
Next time you’re watching golf, closely examine how these players grip their drivers. Be sure to note what kind of shot they produced afterward and see if you can make a connection.
Adam Scott—This is a perfect example of “quiet tension.” You can tell he’s holding the club firmly, but you can see his fingers are still relaxed and just hugging the club. Adam’s top hand points slightly to the sky, but this helps him produce the powerful, penetrating draw he has in his arsenal.
Rory McIlroy—Rory can hit it in any direction he likes, but he has committed to playing a fade with his driver for the past couple of years. To help him do this, he adjusts his bottom hand so the palm is slightly more on top of the shaft. Notice his top hand is still in a perfectly neutral position.
Jon Rahm—With one of the most consistent and compact swings on tour, he also demonstrates one of the most neutral grips on tour. Since his club does not go back as far, his hands don’t travel as far either; this creates extreme consistency and allows him to use a simple and reliable neutral grip with both hands.
Arnold Palmer—Arguably the most famous grip in golf. Someday, I want someone to hold me the way Mr. Palmer holds a driver. This is a textbook overlap grip combined with decades of practice on the driving range. Palms are perfectly aligned, which allows for a comfortable rotation when he swings at full throttle.
Driver Golf Grip: Key Takeaways
Having a good golf grip on your driver is the first step to improving your drive and hitting more fairways. While it doesn’t guarantee success, having a lousy grip certainly sets you up for disaster.
Focus on the fundamentals like having your palms facing each other, choosing interlock or overlap, and always having your thumbs on top facing down.
With these as your checklist, you can develop a long-lasting grip that suits your driver perfectly!
