Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-07-20
GOLFER WHO GRIPS CLUB
RARELY EVER PLAYS WELL
BY CHARLES ,CHICK) EVANS, JR.

BY CHARLES tCHICK) EVANS, JR.
THIS seems a good time for me to re-
i new the emphasis / have laid on
proper gripping of the club. In observ-
ing many different players around the
country where have been on Red Cross
matches have been impressed with the
number Of players who still display
tendency to grip a golf club as though it
were ball bat which is, of course. en-
phatically wrong TO hold golf CLUB
with the palms against the grip and
Shaft with thumbs around the grip, as Is
the tendency Of too many players, can
only mean lifetime OF poor golf. l
must in fairness admit that there have
been palm grippers who have attained a
fair degree of success but their success
was usually attributable to superlative
golf qualities in other directions.
know of no palm gripper who has
changed to the finger grip without I'M
proving his game. The finger grip u
| undoubtedly the correct one. II goli
| were a game of brute strength, pain
Rrippng might be necessary, but golf Is
a game Of touch and above all rhythm
Force is entirely secondary TO thest
qualities. The big idea in golf is not
so much how far the ball can be driven
but rather where it can be placed. Ioucn
and thereby, control. lies in the fingers
and not in the palm. Another draw
back to the palm grip Is that there IL
too much play to the club.
Another thing about the finger grip II
that it favors what ] may call relaxed
firmness of the muscles. The golfel
whose muscles become tense ana tign,
ia a golfer who almost certainly vii
have no rhythm in his stroke, and With
out rythm good golf is Impossible.
From my own experience / know tha'
every golfer dislikes to endure the penal
ties which 20 with changing the style
of his play in any important particular
| To such a man I say practice these
chanbes in private until you are con.
WINGED of their effectiveness, then adopt
them Immediately in every stroke OF
golf YOU make Their value to your
game will become apparent IN a com,
paratively short time. But ABOVE ai
things, have only one grip.
There was a time in my play some
years ago when l was passing IRON
the palm grip to the finger grip, that
would begin my tee shot with the fingers
and change to the palm grip from then
on. This spelt disaster, and was one
OF the most discouraging periods or my
golfiuy life. When I finally had tine
courage to adopt resolutely the hnger
grin and stick to it, l improved steadily,
and at the end of the season began to
have a feel for wooden clubs just
as / did for the iron, With that feeling
came a control of placement In wooden
club shots. From then on my game
was simplified and improved
l believe that details of gripping are
a matter of individual taste, so long
as the general idea of the finger grip
is maintained. The thumbs must be a
little to the side of the shaft, To one
irving 1t for the first time the thumb
of the left hand lying on the righthand
side of the shaft feels strange rubbing
against the right palm. but you will find
that quickly wears Off l have care
fully observed the workings Of the in
,erlocking and overlapping grips !
know that they are good grips for
many players because the farther. the
hands are apart the more likely they
are to work against each other. Person.
ally, l use just tha plain finger grip.
have all fingers on the shaft. And !