Basement Tapes: Wayne D. In the Basement: Improved Grip

By Wayne | Videos: Basement Tapes

I’m now 4 months removed from my 4 -month recovery from elbow surgery, and with my back feeling good enough most of the time to allow for significant practice time (I can hit balls for a couple hours without killing myself) I feel as though I am making some nice progress, although the proof will be in the scores in the upcoming MAPGA Section Championship August 14, 15 and 16. This is the first significant grip change I’ve made in almost 20 years, and by moving my right hand grip more up into the fingers I am feeling an increased ability to cock my wrists and open the face in the backswing. If you haven’t seen it; click here and read this article I wrote for Golfwrx regarding the evolution Ben Hogan’s grip. To stay competitive from 7000 yards I feel like I need to be able to carry the driver further without trying to overstress my pivot, and I can do that by freeing up my wrists in the backswing and transition, producing greater lag and an improved impact when I bend the left wrist down approaching impact. I’ve also been working consistently on loading back into my right hip while increasing pressure into the ground under the inside of my right foot, and I’ve gone to a Mike Weir-like waggle/rehearsal which takes my all the way to left arm parallel, which takes me past the point at which I usually break down in the full swing, especially with the longer clubs and especially even more under pressure. Finally, I am trying to focus on bending the left wrist down approaching impact (Hogan’s “supination” move) and all the way past the strike, as I have found that while I used to do that without thought I have not been doing that for quite some time.