How a simple grip adjustment fixed this LPGA winner’s worst mistake

My season preparation with Maya Stark started a little later this year. And while we made some solid gains and good adjustmentsthere was still one shot that bothered him with the scoring irons: a high, floating kind of shot that went a little to the right. He lacked authority and made raising birds consistently a challenge.

When I watched her warm up in Orlando during the week of the LPGA Tournament of Champions, something caught my eye. She continued to fiddle with the grip of her left hand, trying to get it comfortable on the club. Of course, this affects everything – the food taken began to feel weak and the impact was not what she wanted on a consistent basis. When those parts aren’t right, her self-confidence begins to plummet.

Then the light bulb went on.

Between shots, Maja chatted and randomly made a few half-swings with her left hand alone on the club. And every time she did, the control seemed perfect. So I kept watching, and it kept happening. (I may have extended our conversations a little longer to catch him in those moments when the check went right on.)

After a while, Maja asked if I had ever heard of cross-catch. I told her that a guy named Jack Nicklaus did really well with it.

She smiled and said, “I’ll try a few shots with this.”

From the first swing, her left grip was fixed. I saw her left hand set on the club just right – turned slightly to the right of center, with the butt end of the club under the heel pad of her left hand, not to her side. As she started shooting, I knew we had solved that pesky bug on the right.

In Maja’s words: “The putt looked a lot easier. The impact was strong and the clubface felt more under control.”

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Of course, there was a quick conversation about whether this was really the right time this season make a change of control, but Maya said yes. And once I saw her left hand clubbing properly and consistently, without all the anxiety and adjustments, I became a believer.

Funnily enough, a grip change is usually reserved as a last resort for professionals. But in this case, it was just what the doctor ordered. This allowed Maja to get her left hand on the club properly with little to no fuss. Sometimes the simplest change makes the biggest difference.

Even when it comes to swinging a large champion.

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