Stan Utley in 2004.
Getty Photographs
There’s conventional.
And cross-hand.
And claw.
And wrist anchor.
And on and on. Placing grips are bountiful, and every has its benefit.
However Stan Utley needs you to learn about his, too.
Utley? He’s an authority. A GOLF Journal Prime 100 Instructor. One-time professional. Quick-game whisperer. Charles Barkley swing-fixer. That’s a resume. And his grip, he says on a video he posted to social media this week, places a placing stroke on aircraft, which must be the top sport of any grip.
It’s the reverse overlap, and you’ll watch Utley expound on its virtues in his video right here. Beneath are a number of phrases.
Within the video, Utley provided this instruction:
— “I’m attempting to get the lifeline in my left hand to go proper down the left-center of my grip.” (Confused at the place your lifeline is? This web site right here has an image.)
— “The left thumb goes proper on prime of the grip.”
— “My forearm, my wrist and my hand are all on the shaft aircraft.”
Now to the suitable hand.
— “I’m going to place my right-hand lifeline on the final knuckle of my (left) center finger in order that it sits sq. to the face of the membership, but it surely matches up with the left hand.”
— “I put all my fingers on the grip besides my left-index finger.”
The outcome?
“You may see that now my forearms are degree and in keeping with the shaft after I tilt over to the ball,” Utley stated. “That makes it simple to swing on aircraft.”
What’s a reverse overlap placing grip (and the way can it assist your sport)?
Some notes. This reporter, a 14-handicap who putts cross-handed, tried it after watching the video a number of instances, and there was each consolation and stability. It’s price a go.
That stated, when you’re glad along with your present grip, don’t stray from it.
Notably, too, GOLF.com additionally wrote concerning the reverse-overlap in 2019, and that story may be learn right here, or under.
***
I used to be having a dialog with a pal of mine the opposite day when — shocker — the topic of golf got here up. Placing, particularly. We have been speaking about several types of placing grips, and I discussed that I’ve been utilizing a textbook, typical, reverse-overlap grip for mainly my total life.
“What’s that?” he stated.
I used to be bowled over, so I requested a number of others and the response was the identical. I even put the query to Twitter and the outcomes advised an analogous story. Seems I’d developed a little bit of a blind spot. Regardless of it being essentially the most generally used placing grip on Tour, the reverse-overlap grip isn’t one thing that every one too many golfers learn about.
So, what’s the reverse overlap? It’s the conventionally commonplace grip used for placing that’s because it sounds: reversing the overlap grip that so many golfers use on their full swing. Moderately than your pinky finger resting simply on prime of your index finger, it’s your index finger that strikes to overlap your pinky and index fingers.
What’s the purpose of this? Nicely, the idea is that the interlocking and overlapping grips are designed, above all else, to assist the arms work collectively to launch the membership as you swing. The reverse-overlap grip helps stop the potential rolling of the arms and retains the grip extra in every palm for elevated management.
It’s turn out to be the standard commonplace, principally as a result of it’s been round for therefore lengthy, and it’s utilized by execs far and extensive, from Tiger Woods to Rory McIlroy and everybody in between.
In the event you’re studying this and now questioning when you ought to change to a reverse-overlap placing grip, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it — particularly when you’re already putter. There’s plenty of variance in placing approach as a result of it’s a deceptively easy artwork. Relating to choosing a sure grip, abide by David Orr’s golden rule: The primary factor they should resolve is which grip model makes them really feel essentially the most coordinated.
