This simple grip-pressure test will tell you if you’re leaking swing speed

On a scale of 1-10, how tight is your grip pressure in the golf swing? The tricky part about measuring it is that it’s highly subjective. One golfer’s “loose” grip might feel like another player’s death hold. But, regardless, does grip pressure even matter?

Dr. Sasho MacKenzie, one of golf’s leading biomechanists, says grip pressure is crucial to generating clubhead speed, and if you have it wrong, you’re costing yourself yards. MacKenzie was a recent guest on the Golf Digest Happy Hour, our live webinar series with golf experts offered exclusively for Golf Digest+ members, when he explained:

"I’m a big fan of lighter grip pressure. I used to do this drill when I had piles of old clubs, and I was getting people to throw clubs. You realize that if you relax your grip pressure, you can really throw the club much farther than if you hang onto it. In fact, the clubhead speed at release generally goes up."

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A lighter grip pressure often translates to higher clubhead speed because it allows you to transfer the speed you’ve generated in your body and hands to the clubhead. If you hold the grip really tight, the speed you’ve created never reaches the clubhead. It’s the full release of the clubhead at the proper time that creates speed, MacKenzie says.

Editor's Note: Golf Digest+ members can watch the complete one-hour webinar with MacKenzie here. Not a member yet? Sign up here to receive access to recordings of all past webinars and invites to our future Happy Hours.

But what about the people who argue that you need to hold the club tightly, otherwise it’ll fly out of your hands? MacKenzie points to Vijay Singh and Fred Couples, who both “had higher than average clubhead speeds with their driver, and their trail hand isn’t even on the club through impact, when the forces on the grip should be the highest.”

Back to the scale. MacKenzie likes a grip pressure of five or six, where 10 is the tightest you can possibly squeeze. But again, that’s subjective, which is why MacKenzie does a test with clients to measure if they’re gripping too tightly, and you can do it at home, too.

The test

The first step is to find a place where you can throw a golf ball. This could either be a net or outside. With that, take a golf ball and throw it as far or as hard as you can. What did you do with your wrist and grip pressure to throw it hard?

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MacKenzie says nearly everyone who does the test will notice how loose they get in the wrist as they throw the ball. Pay close attention to how this feels, and repeat this a few times if needed.

Next, grab a golf ball and put the same level of pressure on the ball that you do on your grip in the golf swing. Now throw the ball. If this grip pressure is any tighter or tension in your wrist any higher than when you threw the ball as hard as you could, then your golf grip is too tight.

Most people will notice that gripping the golf ball just as tight as they do a grip impedes their ability to get the speed to the ball, MacKenzie says. With stiffer wrists, you’re not able to throw the golf ball as far.

The proper grip pressure in the swing, then, is about the same pressure that you applied to the golf ball when you threw it for distance. Just enough to maintain contact with the ball, but loose enough to where your wrist can move freely to transfer all of the arm and body speed to the ball.

The golf swing is no different.

Once again, Golf Digest+ members can watch the complete one-hour webinar with MacKenzie here. Not a member yet? Sign up here to receive access to recordings of all past webinars and invites to our future Happy Hours.