Is your clamping pressure too tight? A good teacher shows how to show

When it comes to clamping pressure, Sam Snead has perhaps the most famous playing instruction on the subject, suggesting that players should hold the club like a little bird.

But GOLF Top 100 Teachers Jason Bailey does not agree.

In a video posted on Titleist’s YouTube pageBaile argues that grip pressure itself is not the enemy of the golf swing – rather, it has to do with how and where it is exercised on the club.

“If I were a baseball player hitting a 90 mph fastball, the last thing I’d be doing is holding this bat like a little bird,” Baile says. “We know that power it’s a big part of our game. So I would say (to Snead), it’s more about where you catch him and where you put that pressure.”

The problem, Baile says, is that many players grip the club hard with downward pressure.

“It’s going to send a lot of tension into my forearms, my shoulder and maybe my lower jaw,” he says. “I want to make sure I have all that grip pressure going up.”

When grip pressure is directed this way, Baile says, it allows you to maintain your power and control.

“If I pull on my hand, I can still have soft wrists, elbows and shoulders, but still have really good face control,” he says. “So when I get in there, I want to feel that grip pressure pulling back with my fingers, relaxing my forearms, my shoulders and my jaw. I can take a very deliberate swing and still have control of the clubface.”

To summarize: make sure the grip pressure feels like it’s being pulled up, not pushed down as you move, and you’ll know you’re doing it right.

To watch a video of Baile’s advice in its entirety, click here.

Editor of Golf.com

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural women’s varsity player class, Jessica can blow away anyone in the masthead. She can also drive them in the office, where she is primarily responsible for producing print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her series The original interview, “A Round With,” debuted in November 2015 and appeared in both magazine and video form on GOLF.com.