Reverse Overlap Grip.

[DaleRichards]

I am a left hander who has played for years with an interlocking grip and a tendancy to fade the ball. Recently i decided to try out an overlapping grip but have drifted in to what I call a reverse ovelap i.e. all the fingers on my lower hand are on the grip but the forefinger of my right (top) hand overlaps the small finger of my left hand (lower).
Just wondering whether you felt this might lead to problems because it really has given me much better results i.e. I seem to be able to get my left side through the ball much more effectively and no longer find myself hitting a sort of back hand strike with my dominant right hand, I am right handed at everything other than golf.
Any advice would be a big help thanks.

[elvisload]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

Greg,

You seem to be a right handed person who plays golf left handed. I am just the opposite but I am sure everything I say below applies. It's just the mirror image of you and your swing.

I'm so glad I saw your post. I am left handed but play right handed. For years I have struggled with a fade and really just a poor golf swing. I was not an interlocking gripper but an overlapping gripper. But, today for the first time I reversed my overlap so the index finger of my left (upper) overlaps the little finger of my right (lower) hand. OMG, what a difference. For the first time in my career (30 years) I am releasing the club thru impact. My hands are closer together, my grip is lighter, my left hand actually moved down the shaft slightly, giving me the proper hand position on the grip (I always had my hands way to high, even the pad of my left hand slightly above the butt of the grip, but that's the only way that felt right).

Now I can keep the club head square at take away, naturally, and with out manipulation, AND MY HANDS FOR THE FRIST TIME (IN FACT MY WHOLE RIGHT SIDE) RELEASES NATURALLY THRU THE IMPACT ZONE!

It is an amazing set of bonuses that come from this simple reversal of overlap! I recommend it for every left hander who plays right handed (or vice versa).

Feel free to contact me, I'd like to hear if you are staying with the new grip and anything else that you discover.

Russ Parker

[GoNavy]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

Here is what is happening, by reversing the overlap, you are finally relaxing the trigger finger which in turn deactivates the muscles on the outside of your forearms. Now that you have learned this lesson you could probably go back to a normal grip interlock or traditional overlap (lower hand pinky over upper hand fore finger) and play the same with the added benifit of your hands and wrist working correctly. Many people just don't understand that you can not apply pressure or use the fore finger or thumb of either hand. It is important in the swing to be relaxed in the arms, using the inside muscles of the forearms is good, outside muscles of the forearms bad. Check for your self, you can squeeze quite hard with the last three fingers of both hands, the muscles on the inside of the forearms with tighten, but outside remains very supple. Now squeeze with the fore finger and thumb, see how the entire arm tenses up, especially the outside of the forearms. So my guess is by doing this reverse overlap, since it is new to you, you are relaxing that fore finger, freed up your swing some, but you are also losing some lead hand control, and putting the bad hand (the one that usually causes flipping) in control. It will happen just a matter of time.

[elvisload]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

I agree...mostly... and if I do start "flipping" I will certainly go back to the Vardon grip... but remember... I am LEFT handed... so my left side is in control naturally... too much in control...the reverse overlap has saved me from myself... and for the first time I am releasing the entire right side of my body. In other words, you have focused on the hand action only... I'm saying the whole right side is releasing properly for the first time in 30 years... it is truely amazing.

One other added bonus, I hit a jumbo bucket of balls at the range and then played 18 holes yesterday. Normally that would make me very sore (back, arms, chest), but not today! I released!

Thanks for the reply, keep in touch.
Russ

[jambalaya]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

A great grip for putting and chipping.

[dwinn2001]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

Steve Jones won the US Open with a reverse grip and I agree with the post that it is a good grip for chipping.

As an alternative, if you are a lefty, how about just increasing the grip pressure on your middle, ring and pinky figures on your right hand. Keep your left hand loose and you'll probably get a better release.

[rotator]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

I am a lefty, also using the reverse overlap.

My problem was that I have a large palm area, but my fingers are very short. I've always had trouble with the Vardon, and more so with the interlock. My overlap or interlocking fingers always hurt and my hands often slipped on the grip. I had to install my own grips, because I was then able to find the proper types/sizes and then I would stretch them on, but even then, the fingers did not feel secure.

Then, it's been over thirty years ago, I was fooling around at the range still trying to get my fingers on the club more comfortably when I stumbled onto the reverse overlap grip, and I've stuck with it ever since.

Steve Jones had his motorcycle accident and I read he also had to go with that grip to continue his career. He won the Canadian Open in his hot years as well.

Ted

[PaulS]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

This has been a very interesting post, discovered by accident (well, thanks to Google....)

I'm left handed, but have played right handed since starting 6 years ago, main issues are left side release and a chickenwing that tends to not want to go away completely. This results in a stagnant, handicap at 34...

I tried the reverse overlap grip on the range this evening. I'm amazed... it works really well - the balls were straighter, contact sharper and this is the really amazing thing, the harder I release the club to the ball, the better contact I get, the exact opposite of my experience so far with the normal Vardon grip.

The thing is... 50 balls and I can feel my right pinkie... it's not used to being in contact with the club, and is a bit raw. Should I wear a glove rather on my right hand now, rather than on the left ? or on both hands ?

Thanks for any advice

[rotator]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

Hi Paul,

Like any other grip, any part of the hands or fingers, which are first put in contact with the grip of a golf club may be tender. Do you remember the first buckets of balls you hit? It's possible you had blisters or rawness then. Anyways, I believe that after a while, you will not have the rawness.

The skin on my hands are so toughened from playing golf over the years, they are like a labourers' hands.

In my case, I have always abided with the idea that the main pressure points are in the two middle fingers of each hand applied against the palm pads, with the baby fingers, thumbs and forefingers more lightly applied. In the reverse overlap, because the forefinger of the left hand is thus lightly resting on the baby finger of the right hand, there should not be much pressure on the grip.

Ted

[cordjones]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

I agree with much of written in the postings on using the reverse overlap grip. However, as a natural lefty who plays right-handed, I really appreciate the fact that the reverse overlap helps me to have a better feeling on the take away about pushing the club away with my left hand; I also have an improved feeling, once I reach the top of the back swing, about starting my down swing sequence by pulling with my left hand in control, than by pushing with my right hand, which frequently caused me to come over the top.

Overall, I find it easier to direct the club head when I want to hit a draw; it also is easier, by applying pressure with my left index finger to hold off the release and hit a fade.

I played for years with a Vardon grip, but could never get below a 10 handicap; with a reverse overlap grip, I now play off a four (and expect that to go lower as I develop more consistency in ball striking).

[bigbill46]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

I'm glad this thread got revived, since I was previously unaware of the reverse overlapping grip. I'm a lefty who plays right handed and have always had trouble getting a consistent release using an interlocking grip. After reading the comments from other "lefty-righties" here, I was anxious to try it.

Unfortunately the weather here in the American midwest has not been cooperative lately. But it finally got above freezing today, so I went to the range to try it for myself. It felt odd at first and seemed like I needed to play the ball a little farther back in my stance than normal to avoid hitting it fat. It did seem like I was getting a better release of the club though, and hit some nice, solid shots. The only drawback I found was a tendency to pull the ball more. I only had time to hit one large pail, so maybe I just need to experiment with my setup to straighten that out. At this point I feel optimistic about this grip and hope the weather holds long enough for me to give it a good try.

[Fshriner]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

I think the grip is all about feel and preference. There certainly are some sound fundamentals for the grip which have been agreed upon over the years....holding the club with the fingers instead of the palms, maintaining both hands in a complementary position so the wrists can break in the sane direction. But, in the end you can achieve the fundamentals of a good grip in a number of different ways...Interlocking...Vardon Overlapping....Ten Finger...and reverse overlapping. If this feels better to you and you are hitting better shots, stick with it!

[cordjones]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

To bigbill46: I'm not saying that it is the easiest grip to work with; however, because the reverse overlap does require some getting used to, I think you will find, as you work through solving issues such as pulling, that you will be rewarded with a better ball flight--and better scores. A suggestion: if you cannot get outside (the weather is miserable all over the country, except for Naples, FL), find yourself a local pro shop that has a Trackman ball flight simulator; the shop owners often will let you book time on the simulator which, in turn, translates to good constructive swing work during the winter.

In my case, like you, I also suffered from an initial bout of the pulls, as my left side is stronger than my right side during my golf swing. I eventually worked out two resolutions to my pulls--a slightly open club face (I hit what might be called an 'open-faced draw') and a slightly closed stance. Your results will, of course, be different; however, if you stick with it you will be rewarded.

[bigbill46]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

In my case, like you, I also suffered from an initial bout of the pulls, as my left side is stronger than my right side during my golf swing. I eventually worked out two resolutions to my pulls--a slightly open club face (I hit what might be called an 'open-faced draw') and a slightly closed stance. Your results will, of course, be different; however, if you stick with it you will be rewarded.

I was able to get to the range today and try the reverse overlap with my driver. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with it now, and it didn't take long to see positive results. Most of my drives had a good trajectory with a little draw. I had a few pulls, but not severe, and none my drives were hanging way out to the right. Overall, my driving was more consistent and would take the right rough completely out of play if I could hit it like that on the course. What seemed to help me with the pulling was making my swing path a little more in to out (both with irons as well as the driver). I know from past experience that trying to change my swing path leads to period of inconsistent ball striking and a tendency to revert to old habits when I lose my concentration, so I my try your approach the next time I have a chance.

I don't have an indoor practice facility nearby, but as long as it gets above freezing and there's not too much snow, I can handle 45 mins. to hit a pail of balls on the range. I am planning to spend a few weeks in Florida in February, so I would like to get used to the new grip before I get on the course and hit off of real lies. To that end, I am also using it to practice putting on the carpet. Seems to work as well or better for that too.

[cordjones]

Re: Reverse Overlap Grip.

to bigbill46: good luck during your winter practice sessions; I hope you have a wondewrful and productive Florida vacation.