I have a question about a problem that I'm sure a few of you have run into. The question is, 'The swing helped me with the accuracy of my irons, but I have developed a glitch where my last two fingers come off the club. I am left handed with a 10 finger grip due to problems with the right thumb. What causes this and how do I correct it? Please note, it is not a consistent habit, but I would like to know what causes it. Thanks, Al.'
O.K., Al. There are a number of things that could be causing it. Let's just start with probably the most obvious. When you swing a golf club and you go to the top of the backswing,, once you go past 3/4s, which, as you know the Peak Performance Golf Swing is a 3/4, limited turn swing, and you get up to the top, especially of you're trying to cock your wrists, or as you go past 3/4 to parallel or, God Forbid, beyond, it reaches a point where the muscles from your fingers to your palm and up through your wrists and through your forearms start tp really get stretched. The club is being pulled down by gravity and it's stretching those muscles.
When you reach a point where the muscles are pretty much stretched out as far as they can go, the brain is recognizing that. It's monitoring the body because you have a system in you that's called 'survival.' It helps you not get hurt. Just like a tree that sways in the breeze so it won't break, it can bend a little, but not break. So when your wrists are starting to bend and are being stretched by that club being affected by going to parallel, and the muscles are just about at their maximum length where, anymore, if you don't allow flexibility to happen here, i.e., cupping your wrists, hinging your wrists and, last but not least, the brain finally says, O.K., I really got to help here and save the day, it lets your fingers open up.
It's basically a response to gravity pulling the club down because you've swung too far. So if you're not 3/4s, and you're anywhere near parallel, and especially beyond, that's the major cause of why that happens. So you might be working on the 3/4 swing and are only occasionally going longer, especially to parallel or beyond. That's #1.
Another good one would be, I'm holding a golf club right here with a Golf Pride grip. The cap, which is the bottom of the grip, has, about a 1/4 inch below the cap, a white line around it that has the word Golf Pride in between. The butt of your hand should not be anywhere past that white line.
When you grip the golf club you should have the bottom of your hand at or slightly below that white line. If you have your pinkie finger all the way to the very end of the golf club, which means your pinkie finger is level to the cap, your grip is well inside the pad of your hand, then you are holding the club incorrectly. The bottom of the pad of your hand should be at that white line, which means that a little bit of the club is extended beyond the pad of your hand.
So if you're pinkie finger is all the way to the end, when you get to the top of the backswing, especially if you're going past 3/4 or getting anywhere near parallel, the fingers are having maximum stress put on them. The weight of the golf club going downward, pulled by gravity, and is going to try to tear those fingers open.
I think it's one of those two issues. You're gripping to high on the club or you're swinging too far, too long in the backswing. So check out those two issues. If it's the finger issue, just getting the right grip will help you get more control of the club to make sure it stays at 3/4 and doesn't go any farther.
The Surge!