Golf Club

Over the years I have put together a small but useful coaching guide to help the ordinary club player improve his game. It cant pretend to match the heavyweight volumes that grace the library shelves of the committed golfer, but for those who want to master the rudimentary skills it has a good deal to recommend it.


Let us start with the grip. The basic answer is to employ the grip that is most natural to your way of playing. Never mind what the so-called experts say, there is no perfect grip, and their notion that by contorting your fingers to their most unnatural state you can achieve anything other than permanent rheumatism is beyond me.

There are several grips that I have seen used to good effect, and with which I suggest you experiment in the privacy of your own bathroom.

The stance

This is the all-important aspect of the golfer's game. Too far from the ball and you will hit thin air. Too near to the ball and you will probably still hit thin air. Which just go to show you how difficult getting the right stance can be.

Again the rule is that there is no rule. The one aim is to get that ball down the fairway as far and as fast as possible. If you can do that standing on your head with your feet in a bowl of jelly then that should be your stance. Of course, if that already is your stance then you should consider seriously whether your talents are wasted on the golf course.

Try out few positions. Which seems the most comfortable? Which causes you the least risk of falling over and turning an ankle? Try to avoid anything that actually involves you sitting down or drinking a pint of beer. These may be the most comfortable position available to you but are sadly inconsistent with the spirit of the game.

The swing

The swing is the final part of our equation. By this means the grip and the stance come together in the act of striking the ball.

The swing should be the most natural, relaxed action know to man. In fact it is the most panic-ridden, fear-infested, terror-striking act this side of tight-rope walking over Niagara Fall with a tarantula spider crawling up your back. If you have a video camera available then why not video your own swing? It wont actually help with your game but might be your one chance to star in a video nasty.