Entry 24.6

How many of you remember who Copernicus was? Out of all the random things I could ask, right? How do I even remember who Copernicus was? That answer I can’t give you. But I do. Anyway, in the early 1500s Copernicus began his initial work on heliocentric theory. In layman’s terms, he postulated that the other planets and sun did not revolve around the earth, but rather that all the planets revolved around the sun. It was groundbreaking scientific knowledge at the time, triggering the Copernican Revolution and contributed to the Scientific Revolution. Big stuff. If you have taken a lesson with me this semester, I may have talked to you about my new belief about the body in the golf swing. I’m not going to call it a scientific breakthrough, a breaking of the foundations of the way that the body is seen to move in the golf swing, nor even a new idea. And maybe it is. I haven’t seen anyone directly state that they believe the same thing, but more than likely I am recently discovering a concept that someone has talked about before. Unfortunately for Copernicus and his “discovering” the planets revolving around the sun, eighteen centuries before, Aristarchus of Samos created a similar model. Sorry Copernicus. And even if I end up making this the great discovery of my career and becoming famous for it, I will probably meet the same end. Someone will find out that long ago, a much smarter human being has already been saying the same thing. I just haven’t seen it for myself.

Let’s stop with the history lesson and the rambling and let’s get down to what I keep referring to. Ok, here it is. The hands do not revolve around the body in the golf swing, the body revolves around the hands. Think about it. Mull it over. Decide if I may have bumped my head one too many times (I’d agree with you on that one). Picture a golf swing in your mind. Pick a good golf swing. It doesn’t have been a tour player, just a good solid golf swing. Do you see the same thing that I see? Maybe you see something different. Completely opposite. If so, let’s talk about it. I’d love to hear about what you see and why you see it. For me, I see the hands. I have met coaches who look at the spine, pay attention to the hips, the arms and even the feet. All those things matter. They all must move well. But at the end of the day, they are all just the supporting cast. They aren’t the main star. That title belongs to the hands.

Obviously, I am not talking about the body actually revolving around the hands. Physically, the hands most definitely move around the body. Conceptually, though, the body must move around the hands. The hands are our only connection to the club. To get the club into the proper position for impact and the desired ball flight, the hands must be in the proper place, at the proper time, in the proper alignment. We hear a lot about matchups. I use them all the time when I teach and when I play. It is critical to have the proper matchups for an effective and efficient golf swing. But what gets to decide those matchups? Is it the elbow? The shoulder? In my mind, it is the hands. The way that the hands are on the club determines a whole lot. They are the beginning of the chain. Every other part of the body must move in a way to get the hands to impact in the right place, at the right time, in the right alignments. If one of those things is wrong, that’s when things start to get squirrelly. Wrong place? That could mean hitting the ball off the toe, heel, leading edge or way too high on the face. Wrong time? Loss of power in the line of compression or limited energy transfer out to the clubhead and the golf ball. Wrong alignment? That’s when you start to see the ball go left, right or maybe even get to experience the dreaded hosel rocket. Nobody wants that. Hopefully by now you are beginning to understand why I say the hands should be the center of attention when it comes to our body.

So, when it comes to teaching, I start with the hands. Which means starting with grip. And if there is one thing that players “hate” teachers to mess with, it is the hands. I may have you start out with one grip and then later change it. I have assessments that I do to help determine a good starting point. But inevitably, as we work up the chain players “suddenly” remember injuries, tightness or other conditions that prevent them from moving a certain way. Those abilities then must be reflected in the way the hands go on the club. Do you remember the Four P’s of the golf grip? If not, I’ll help you refresh your memory. The Four P’s of the golf grip are: placement, positioning, pressure and precision. There are many different ways that golf professionals have categorized grips. Strong or weak, open or close faced relationships, cover or under, overlapping or interlocking, single action or double action. The list goes on and on. The Four P’s apply to all of them. Placement is how far up or down the shaft you go. Positioning is the clockwise or counterclockwise orientation. Pressure is how hard you squeeze (I delve into this even deeper and specifically pinpoint how hard each finger should be squeezing). Precision is applying the first three P’s every single time you put your hands on the club. Want to know how important precision is? Just look at the number one player in the world right now.

Scottie Scheffler doesn’t act all willy nilly with the way he grips the club. If you watch him in a tournament, he takes his time to put his hands on the club correctly. Add this to your list of skills to work on. While it depends on which dictionary you look at, the gist is the same for all. The ability to use one’s knowledge effectively in execution because you have practiced it. Scottie was recently seen actively practicing his grip on the range. He spent twenty minutes just putting his hands on the club and then taking them off again and starting the process all over again (he hit one shot in that time span). He was using one of those molded grips that we normally associate with juniors or novice golfers. Now, those molded grips don’t work for everyone because as with everything else in golf, there is no “One Size Fits All”. But you are going to have a hard time convincing me that they don’t work for Scottie. 8 wins in 2024. And none of those are slouch wins. A Major, The Players, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Memorial, The RBC Heritage, the Traveler’s, the Tour Championship and the Olympics. I think he’s on to something. Why don’t his “Happy Feet” matter? Because when he doesn’t use them, his hands don’t get to the right place, at the right time, in the right alignment. Sure, his dance moves are the most visible part of his swing, but they are just the supporting cast. His hands are what matter and Scottie knows it. That’s why he actively works on making sure his grip is the same EVERY SINGLE TIME he puts them on the club.

Hopefully after all that, you understand why I start with the hands. Why I believe the entire swing revolves around the hands and not the body. Groundbreaking stuff? I don’t know. Probably not. But definitely important. My “Swing Philosophy” is what I call a “living and breathing document.” As I continue to learn and grow, stuff gets added and I madly scratch other stuff out. I don’t think any great teacher ever stops that process. This is one thing that has been written down in permanent ink (which can be erased, it’s just a pain to do so). But I will leave you with this quote from one of the best to ever play the game:

“The grip is the most important single consideration in learning to play winning golf.” Byron Nelson