The Split Grip Drill
Believe it or not, the basic concept of how to square the club face is actually highly debated amongst various golf instructors. Like many people, I found myself quite confused after reading all of the different school’s of thought. However, over the past year or so I have spent a great deal of time studying and breaking down Jimmy Ballard’s concepts and I now have a greater appreciation for how Jimmy explains this concept. Specifically, Ballard talks about the dynamic between the inner force and an outer force and how it is fundamental in squaring the club face.
Perhaps the Ballard concept is easiest to understand by equating the golf swing to a slap shot. Notice when hockey players take a shot, they keep a very short left arm with the butt of the stick near their navel and a longer right arm placed half-way down the shaft. Utilizing this split grip, players are able to rifle slap shots at over 100mph which clearly demonstrates the power of this technique.
Ballard regularly points out that Hogan talked about feeling like he had ‘half a left arm’ once he learned to get his elbow into his chest rather than ‘chicken-winging’ it. Furthermore, Hogan also said that he wished he had ‘three right hands to hit it with.’ In other words, Hogan understood that he could deliver additional power with added right hand force.
You can easily see and feel what Jimmy is talking about by hitting balls utilizing a split grip. To try this drill, simply split your grip by a few inches and take your normal golf swing. Keep in mind, it is important to stay tall during your swing. As I wrote in my earlier post, staying tall is akin to a baseball player hitting a low outside pitch, you don’t have to go down to get it. Instead, let the club go down as you stay tall. Also, try to keep both elbows pointed at the ground like you’re tossing a medicine ball underhanded. As you work on it, you will feel your left elbow just above your navel, and you really want to feel that right hand pass your left as your shoulders uncoil through the impact position. If it feels weird at first, stay with it a bit. Then, watch as you hit balls that go straight and far.
I’ve been working with Wade for just over two months now on a complete tear down and rebuild of my swing. The time and effort that we have put in to making these changes is starting to show some fantastic signs of progress and one of the key drills has been this split hand one.
Recently, at the practice range, I managed to shock the hell out of one of my playing partners when I hit my 7i 155 yards straight as an ruler with a 8″ gap between my hands.
As a training drill I love the way it makes you feel the right side come through the swing. It’s now a drill that I start off every session with and perform every time I switch clubs. I’ll be using it during my rounds, between swings, from now on. It’s that good of a drill!
Thanks Wade!
Yeah, you’ve been working your butt off, Matt. And I’m really glad you mentioned your experience with this drill. I know that the first time I tried it, I thought, ‘This is weird, and I can’t believe 1) it works at all 2) that it would have much benefit for me.’ But we’ve talked about Jimmy’s work that he describes with Curtis Strange, and how Curtis used to make all of his practice swings with a split grip to feel this feeling before he’d hit a shot. I hope it will help other folks square up the club face more regularly and with less effort too.
That’s a interesting way to compare Golf to Hockey, and a grip variation I’ve never heard of..
It’s worth a try out on the practice range
thanks
Thanks for the comment, Max. One thing that will help when you try it on the range, is to make sure that from the top that you work your left elbow down, and into your chest, just above your navel. It will really let you throw with your right hand. Good luck!