The Perfect Grip

September 17, 2022 by Tim Graves PGA

After watching and learning from Moe over years it is certain that Moe had the best hand action in golf because he had a perfect grip. We also learned that hand position or the grip is a vital part of the golf swing and we wouldn’t be exaggerating if we said that it could be the most important variable. Not because it is the only thing that is important but because the entire swing will often reflect and compensate for where your hands are placed on the club.

So why exactly is hand position important?

Your hands hold the club so that you can move the club, produce speed and square the club face at impact. We call this hand action within the golf swing and your hand action is a direct reflection of the position of your hand placement on the grip. As a matter of fact, we often check a person’s grip at the top of the back swing because you simply cannot hit a golf ball correctly if the club face is not square during the swing movement. And the only way to have a square club face is by having a correct hold and hand action.

Upon discussing the importance of the hands position with Moe as well as how a correct hand position allows for a great address position which leads to a great hand action and swing action that Moe called – “The Feeling of Greatness”. This feeling that Moe described, started in his hands where the lead hand worked together with the trail hand to produce perfect club and club-face movement during the swing. Here are a few details to describe the Hand Position and Hand Action:

Hand Position Basics:

The back of the lead hand faces the target / square with the club face
The club is held in the fingers of the lead hand (pressure points) (The Lead hand is the left hand for a right handed player).
The club is held so that it aligns with the lead arm (from face on view)
The Trail Hand pinky overlaps the lead hand index finger to unify the hands. (The trail hand is the right hand for a right handed player)
The Trail Hand is under or aligned with the club into a “non-rotational” position where it does not rotate during the back swing or downswing allowing for a direct, straight, non-rotational movement into impact.
The club also aligns with the trail arm (down-the-line view)

Below you can see Moe’s hand position from another angle:

This angle shows Moe’s Lead hand and how it aligns with the club face. You can also see how the trail arm is below the lead arm showing that the club is placed through the lead hand under the heel pad. Notice the squareness of the club-face.

The Grip (Hands) position the wrists

With the hands placed on the club correctly, there is another key factor to the hand position – the wrists. If there were one concept that we would want you to fully understand about the grip is that when I talk about your grip, what we are really talking about is your wrists. What we mean by this statement is that your hands are like clamps and your wrists are like hinges. The clamps simply hold the club, the hinges are the things that actually move. To have a proper grip, you must hold the club so that the wrists can move together – hinging and unhinging to maximize both the range of motion and the direction of movement.

There has been much debate between a 10 finger, Overlapping and even Interlocking grip. And my position on all of these different hand positions is still the same, they all work. The problem is that none of them work if they do not place the wrists in the correct position. What needs to be discussed here is which grip promotes the ideal wrist movement – which we believe to be the Overlapping Grip.

Why do we believe the Overlapping Grip provides the best possible wrist movement – the answer is simple. Because it moves the wrists closer together unifying them. By bringing the lower hand up by overlapping the pinky over the index finger, the lower hand wrist is moved closer to the lead hand wrist. Think about breaking a stick between your hands, the more you separate your hands apart, the easier it is to break the stick in between. When you bring the hands closer together, it becomes more difficult to produce pressure between your hands.

This is an important part of understanding the pressure in the hands when you hold a golf club. You want pressure on the ends of the hands, not in between the hands. This allows for you to “use” the shaft to produce speed as opposed to placing stress on the hands.

With the proper pressure points and the hands unified, the hands work together, unified. With unified hands, you can freely move the wrists to their ideal range of motion as well as produce speed on the club shaft propelling the club head quickly to through the golf ball.

Improperly holding the club where the hands are not unified, is the main reason we see golfers lose speed. They simply don’t have the hands working. And since the hands are such one of the main speed producers in the golf swing, without proper hand movement, the club can’t move either. Here are a few samples of improper hand positions that completely inhibit hand unification and speed:

1) Hands in opposite rotations

2) Hands Split or 10 finger (not unified)

3) Lead Thumb too Short

4) Lead Thumb too Long

5) Club in Palm of Lead hand

6) Club in Lifeline of Trail Hand

These are just a few of the improper hand positions that we commonly see. The main issue of course is that these hand positions inhibit wrist movement thus the entire golf swing is negatively affected – mainly club speed and angles of club approach into the ball at impact.

If you want to understand club approach into the ball – ask yourself if you take a divot or not. If you don’t take a proper divot with your irons, most likely you have issues with your hand position causing you to improperly use your wrists. In other words, you do not have angle into the ball because your wrists aren’t working.

Here are the hand action basics:

The hands work together during the back swing where:

The lead hand cocks
The trail Hand Hinges (non rotationally)
The lead arm stays straight in the back swing
The trail arm folds in the back swing
The movement of the hands and arms (hand action) planes the club shaft
The movement of the hands and arms also planes the club face
The uncocking and unhinging of the hands produces speed into impact
The uncocking and unhinging of the hands squares the clubface at impact

As you can see, the proper grip allows for the ideal hand action throughout the golf swing including the proper angles of club approach into the ball at impact.

The proper angles of approach result in the golf ball flying straight due to the ideal hand position as the unhinge into impact. And in my opinion playing golf with an improper grip is a waste of time because you are fighting poor fundamentals, improper face aims and angles.

Moe would call this “fighting yourself” because if your hands are on the club incorrectly, you simply cannot swing the club well. You’ve lost the battle before it has begun.

Spend some time perfecting your grip and train your hand action. You will be amazed at how much you can improve from this simple yet critically important fundamental.

To view the Training Grip Club Information / Videos: CLICK HERE

Get in The Arena

August 22, 2022 by Paul Monahan

Failure has made me a better golfer today than I was just a month ago.

Here’s why:

I have truly enjoyed my single plane swing journey the past seven years….my journey to play the game at a higher, and higher level. I love this path of exploration and growth inside the game that I am on. And I suspect you do too.

But I noticed this Summer that I was not testing myself the way I could be.

My idea of competition had been the Saturday morning money games, scramble-format charity events, and match play tournaments at my club. All great experiences, for sure. And ones which helped me to experience what it is like to play through stress and pressure.

This year, however, I decided that I needed to test myself in new ways. So, I signed up for a scratch event at the end of July as part of the Cleveland Metroparks annual championship tournament.

I wanted to see what it would be like to play against a much better tier of golfer…in a 36-hole event in which every single shot counted. No handicaps. Low score wins. Period.

What a great experience.

First, in the context of traditional outcome measurements, my results were mediocre at best. I shot 87, 92 and finished 54^th out of 70.

Second, while it is easy to dwell on the failures: I struggled off the tee at times, and my iron play was not very solid, plus I took too many putts…. what I learned about myself and the current state of my game far outweighs any temporary setback I might be feeling with respect to the results.

I learned this:

My short game was pretty solid.

Todd Graves tells a story about when he shot a particularly high score in a tournament…like a 90 or something. When Tim asked how the heck he hit a 90 Todd said: “I putted great!”

If you asked how I shot an 87 on the first day of the tournament, I might have said: “I chipped pretty well!”

I stayed relaxed through the hitting area…not nervy or jerky, hit my landing spots often, and judged distances well.

If there is one thing that has made the golf so much more fun for me over the past few years it is the development of my short game. Tim Graves’ impact here – and his emphasis on the short game – has been profound for me.

My putting needs to be better.

I noticed that I struggled to dial in pace properly.

The greens were set up VERY fast for this event… faster than I had ever seen them. But no excuses… this will have to change if I am going to shoot lower scores.

Another thing I noticed was that I was not hitting committed putts. I know this, and YOU know this… we must be committing to the putts we are hitting! No vacillating over the ball. Hit the putt you commit to, Paul!

My trail hand gets “rotational” when I am tired.

This was something that surprised me. By the back nine of the second day – I was feeling the physical impacts of being out there. And it showed up as a duck-hooky, early extension kind of a swing off the tee that led to hitting several shots left… or even way left.

While this caused a lot of trouble for me on the course that weekend, it was a very important revelation for me. I am fully aware of something today that I just wasn’t that aware of before. Now I can put a game plan together to stay non-rotational no matter what.

My game needs work.

It’s pretty clear: I must hit more fairways and more greens. It’s that simple. The numbers don’t lie. And there is nothing better than an event like this to be a giant metaphorical mirror to show you exactly where your game needs work. It sounds elementary – but this was a HUGE ah-ha for me.

I need to manage my physical energy better. (I think I over-did the prep in the days leading up to the tournament.)

And I need to manage my mental energy better. Great pre-shot routines, and great post-shot thinking (ie… neutral or celebrate), but too much thinking in the play box ( Go Zone). Need to be prepared more to be a better athlete in the Go Zone – and not a thinker. (Anybody know a good mental game guy?)

The real competitor is the course.

I managed to keep a healthy perspective on who my true competitor was that weekend. It was the course. Not the guys who happened to be playing in my group.

Golf is funny – we normally think of our competitors in terms of WHO we are playing against. But the real competitor is always the course. (I believe that is true, even in a match play event… even if the other person’s play is part of the dynamic.)

The way this showed up for me was in my course management. Understanding what my next move would be, independent of what anyone else was doing…and not being intimidated by their longer drives or other productive play.

I can play the game on the same playing field as really good players.

How do I know that? Because I did. And I routinely put together lots of good shots. And I also went toe-to-toe on several holes with my playing partners who were low single-digit-handicap guys.

For example, the first hole was the number 2 handicap hole with a landing area that was only 25 yards wide. I was the only one in my group in the fairway. I gave myself permission to celebrate that one!

None of this means that I expect to shoot better than a +2 in an event like this. But I do believe that it is possible to play my best golf in an event like this – even if I didn’t exactly do that this time around.

One of the guys in my group shot 54-39 on day one. He made such a mess of the first 6 holes…and kept saying “Hey guys… I’m better than this…really.” (Irrelevant, btw.) Turns out he is a 3-handicap and just had a tough day. He shot 78 on day two.

Say what you will – about his play or mine – the key is that we were in the arena. That’s what matters. That’s what will make us better players.

Teddy Roosevelt famously said:

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,…”

And if you’ve not seen it, the full quote is:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Read that again. Slowly. And think about it.

It’s easy to do a lot of talking. It’s harder to do the doing. But by doing the doing…by daring greatly…you set yourself up not just for the admiration of others, (which – in the grand scheme is nice but not worth that much) but for growth and mastery that come from the experience. And that is what makes it totally worth it.

What’s your next-level arena as you move along your own Single Plane Swing journey? What competitive challenge is next for you…to test and expose the strengths and the shortcomings of your current game?

Whatever that challenge is for you…get in that arena! You may experience victory on some level. You may experience failure. But either way, you will be a better golfer because of it.

Hit ‘em straight!

-Paul

Who Are You Being?

July 7, 2022 by Paul Monahan

In early May, I had the pleasure of attending the 5-Day Alumni Camp in Orlando and spending some time with some great Single Plane Swing students, including Bill and Debbie Miller.

The Millers have been attending GGA schools for a while… so you may have run into them. (I hope so – because they are awesome to be around! ) And they are no strangers to performing at a high level since they spent many years at the highest levels of the sport fishing world on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

On Thursday of Alumni Camp week, we had an on-course experience – a sort of Big Break Orlando at the Eagle Creek course. (The GGA team likes to call this event “Clay’s Revenge” because veteran GGA instructor Clay Farnsworth is in charge of setting up the challenges on each hole.)

It’s a fun event for the attendees – a chance to hit real shots on a great golf course, and an opportunity to take what they have been working on all week and see what it looks like in a simulated game-setting.

My role there that day was to help the players to get out of their heads. To inspire them to STOP thinking so much and to start PLAYING the game. Even though it feels like it sometimes, hitting a golf ball is not a cognitive endeavor, it’s an athletic one.

A couple holes into the Big Break event, I caught up with Bill. His game was off a little – and he wasn’t hitting the ball very cleanly (..to be charitable). And he knew it… but he just couldn’t quite get his technical thinking and swing mechanics out of his head.

The result was that he was in a bit of struggle.

The good news is that the prior day, Bill and the rest of the group heard Todd Graves talking about the concept of the Alter Ego… the notion that we can – in a way – take on any identity we want to at any time in order to solve for a performance challenge. So, if you want to putt better on the course for example, take on the identity of Jordan Spieth. Or if you want to hit long straight drives, pretend you are Moe Norman. You get the idea.

There is some pretty compelling research that shows the performance value of this approach.

In fact, here is a great place to start – one of our favorite resources on the concept of The Alter Ego: Click Here.

It was also the case that in the moments prior to the Big Break round that morning, I challenged the group to ask themselves: “Who am I being?”…and “Who does this moment call for?” – both of which are designed to inspire the players to think about an IDENTITY that they could take on that would help them perform better on the course.

So, when I caught up with Bill, and he was in struggle, all I had to say was: “WHO does this moment call for?”… and immediately Bill’s eyes lit up. There WAS someone he was thinking about. There WAS someone who he could call upon – an identity – that was a great model for high performance on the course. In fact, it was his FORMER SELF!

It turns out that Bill at one point was a low single-digit handicap golfer. Over time, his fishing and his family and other pursuits got in the way of playing as much golf – and so it had been a little while since he had connected with that version of himself. But the important thing was that he could conceive of an identity (It actually didn’t matter that it was his former self) that he could channel during the Big Break event… one that would help him to get out of his thinking and back into an athletic game-playing mode.

With a big smile on his face, and some fresh perspective, Bill stepped back into the game he once knew with an identity that could help him perform a lot better than he had been playing so far that day. He had a plan.

A couple holes later I watched as he had completely turned his on-course experience around. He was playing the game, not over-thinking, being creative, hitting great shots, and having fun too.

Later as we reflected on what had happened, I was telling Bill how much fun it was to watch him take on that new identity.

Bill said:

You came up and I asked you what was going on with my swing. I wanted to know what the quick fix was… what I could do to play better. You gave me the “…channel your 6-handicap former self.” pep talk. And then you said, “You’re an athlete, play like one.” I tried to visualize that and stopped thinking mechanical and just played. I got much better and we used my shots a number of times including a clutch drive on 18.

So…think about your next round. As you get ready to give yourself a little pep talk of your own, remember that you have a choice about who will you show up as.

Will it be that weekend golfer who just can’t buy a break? … who always hit’s it into the woods off #7 tee? …who never pars #12?…who will never master this “flexed lead knee” thing?

Or will you take on a more powerful identity – as a player with a pro-level attitude who understands and appreciates the variability inherent in the game, who accepts every bounce, and who is ready for his next shot to be his best shot – no matter what?

I think I know the answer.

Hit ‘em straight!

-Paul

What Makes A Good Teacher

May 14, 2022 by Tim Graves PGA

Have you tried to teach yourself?

Have you tried to teach someone else golf – like your child, your wife, your husband?

Have you ever taken a lesson from a professional?

Have you ever attended a golf clinic/school/camp?

Golf Teacher’s Motto:

“If you’re going to teach golf, accept the responsibility of having an impact on people’s lives and work every day to be help your student obtain their goals.”

Last Year, I (Tim) was honored to be awarded the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) South Central Section’s Teacher of the Year.

Part of the selection process (which lead to the award) includes answering questions about my teaching philosophy, discussing what I have done in the past year and finally, what I consider a good teacher. This and reading a few recent blogs got me thinking….

What Makes a Good Teacher?

Whether teaching yourself, working with others, or being a student, what should you look for in a good teacher?

What does the Graves Golf Academy strive to attain with every one of our students?

Here is my “Top Ten” points I think everyone should look for in a good teacher.

1. There is a program for improvement, not just a single lesson. A single lesson is like putting a “bandage” on the swing/golf issue. It doesn’t “cure” the problem, only covers it up until it “falls off”. When working with a student, the teacher MUST teach the student how to “self-teach” or become their own best teacher. 99% of a golfers practice occurs by him/herself – to improve, the student must be able to “self-teach”.

2. Goals for improvement should be discussed along with a “realistic” time frame. Nothing in golf is an “overnight” fix – NOTHING! Every golfer can improve – the pace of improvement depends on his/her practice time and quality of practice. Practice DOES NOT have to be “range time” – in fact, the most effective practice can be done inside, without hitting golf balls, etc…

3. There should be an equal emphasis on short game and long game. Never forget: 70% + of the scoring occurs in the short game.

4. The entire game of golf should be taught – NOT just the golf swing. Meaning, a good instructor will teach short game, long game, course management, mental game, rules of golf, club fitting, flexibility/fitness, etc…

5. Concepts should be explained, demonstrated and shown in an UNDERSTANDABLE manner in “bite-size” pieces. Too many look at the golf swing as an “elephant” …. What is the saying… “When eating an elephant take one bit at a time.” If the student understands WHY a change is needed, there is a much better chance the change will occur. In other words, a good teacher will explain WHY changes are being taught.

6. Information “overload” must be avoided.

7. The student should be given drills and or training aids that will turn new concepts into habits. It is impossible to break old habits, the key is to create new habits. Making the new habits “stronger” than the old habits. Drills and training aids will greatly enhanced learning these new habits.

8. The instructor should use VIDEO ANALYSIS as a feedback tool. Video is the BEST way to bridge the gap between perception and reality and fact and feel. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, a video is worth a million????

9. The instructor must understand everyone “learns” a little different, and he/she should be able to teach the student in a way the student “learns” the best. Some learn by feel, some learn by what they see, some learn by what they hear, many learn by combinations of the three. A great instructor will quickly figure out how their student learns and will teach in that manner.

10. The instructor should have a “passion” for the game of golf and for the student’s improvement.

My recommendation for you, whether teaching yourself, working with others, or taking a lesson, is to follow these 10 points.

Use them as a guide, and you won’t go wrong.

This is our philosophy at the Graves Golf Academy which is set up to aid you in playing your BEST GOLF EVER!!!!

Scottie’s Secret

May 3, 2022 by Paul Monahan

Whenever a PGA Tour golfer wins four tournaments in 57 days – including The Masters – it seems that everyone who writes or commentates on golf in any way has a theory about the reason for such explosive success.

We start to hear things like:

“That guy is so solid through the hitting area.”

“His secret is that he keeps his feet so quiet during the shot.”

“The key is his footwork… he gets so much leverage from the ground.”

“He gets amazing extension… and it lets him set the club in the slot.”

…and so on.

And that’s fine. People who are looking at his mechanics to find the solution – or the secret – to why he is playing so well. Totally get that. We are all searching for the secret, aren’t we?

But I have learned this about great mechanics: while incredibly important (non-negotiables, in fact) – they will only take you so far.

Hear me out.

To be sure: in order to play the game at a high level, you must have a strong outside game. The game of swing mechanics. The game of technique and movement and minding what is happening in the physical realm.

But there is more to excelling at golf than just having a swing dialed-in. You need to have something more.

So, it seems to me that there is another game you must play that is arguably even more important than the outside game of swing mechanics: the game that is played between your ears: the inside game. What I refer to as The Most Important Game.

It’s the game of processing and interpreting what is happening moment to moment. It’s the game of inner dialogue and story that supports solid swing mechanics. (…or doesn’t) It’s the game that determines whether – or how quickly – you can make sense of your world and what is going on in it. It’s the game that challenges your capacity to quiet the chatter in your head, and to contextualize and put into perspective the reality that is occurring in front of you right now. No matter the stakes. No matter the circumstances.

The Most Important Game – the inside game – is the game of anchoring to productive thought patterns, so that staying connected to your full potential moment-to-moment (and accessing all your outside game talents) is possible.

When we play The Most Important Game well, we:

Anchor to productive thought patterns.
See challenges in new ways.
Accept setbacks more readily.
Quiet the chatter, reset and get back to playing the game in line with our skill potential…and sometimes even higher.
What that looks like in a performance realm like golf is:

Anchoring to positive thinking about the course we are playing, as well as the humans we are playing with.
Seeing challenges on the course as the gateway to new experiences, improved skills, and growth as a golfer – and as a human being.
Accepting the bounces that don’t go our way – as readily as the ones that do – as part of the game that we don’t always have control over.
Bringing intentionality and focus to the shot in front of us right now – and shutting out all the other noise and chatter.
Rebounding from poor shots or outcomes – and reconnecting to ideas and thoughts that inspire your best shot-making.
Being your best coach on the course – even when you don’t have your best today.
It turns out that the key (the secret?) to Scottie Scheffler’s amazing run the past eight weeks just might be in the changes in how he played The Most Important Game… his own inside game.

How can we know that?

In a February 15, 2022 article in Golf Week, columnist Adam Schupak wrote about Scheffler’s reflections since teaming up with caddy Ted Scott.

“I always viewed it as I had to play kind of this perfect version of golf,” said Scheffler, who made four bogeys on Sunday, including three in a four-hole stretch on the front nine at TPC Scottsdale. “If you would have told me a year ago that I would be making those kinds of mistakes and been able to still win the golf tournament, I would have been pretty surprised, but I guess I proved a little bit to myself that it doesn’t take perfect golf and it’s more about coming back from the mistakes than it is just kind of cruising the entire time.”

Scheffler also said:

“I didn’t really let those bogeys bother me as much as I would have in the past,”

So, as much as Scheffler has honed his swing mechanics over the years, it seems that the secret to his recent success might be rooted in how he THINKS about his game. It might be rooted in how he is playing The Most Important Game – the one between his ears. The inside game.

He has grown in his capacity to see challenges in new ways, and to accept imperfection – and not have it derail a round. And likely because of that, he is able to bounce back quickly from the setbacks he is experiencing on the course.

How are you thinking about the game right now? (Your practice, your play, your development along the Single Plane Swing journey…etc.)

How well are you playing The Most Important Game?

Are you able to:

Anchor to positive thinking about the course you are playing, as well as the humans you are playing with.
See the challenges on the course as the gateway to new experiences, improved play, and growth as a golfer – and as a human being.
Accept the bounces that don’t go your way – as readily as the ones that do.
Bring intentionality and focus to the shot in front of you right now – and shut out all the other noise and chatter.
Questions that might be worth revisiting!

-Paul

Paul Monahan is an International Coach Federation (ICF) – credentialed coach working in the arena of human potential. Paul’s clients are leaders, executives, athletes and musicians who are serious about transforming how they perform in critical moments. His experiences in leadership and development over a highly-successful 25-year corporate career have created powerful context and understanding for the leaders and executives he coaches. Additionally, his passions and experiences in sports and music have uniquely positioned Paul to profoundly impact his clients in those areas as well.

Moe Norman’s Natural Swing Plane – The Single Plane

March 9, 2022 by Todd Graves

If I asked you to swing a club with your lead hand only, you will move the club exactly on plane. You will do the same thing with your trial hand only. Swing Plane is a natural phenomenon.

The problem tends to occur when you put both hands on the club. For various reasons including body position, wrist hinge and rotations, swinging the club on plane with both hands becomes increasingly difficult.

My mentor Moe Norman was known as the greatest ball-striker to ever play the game. Tiger Woods said that Moe was one of the only players to “Own his swing”.

Why was his swing so great? It came down to a very simple concept: Swing Plane.

Moe’s instructions were to “Hit your positions”. He discussed this with me ad nauseum. Why was Moe so adamant? Because your positions determine your natural ability to move the body correctly – in order to move the club correctly on plane. Here are a few photos taken by Howie Alter.

Notice how the butt of the club is pointing at the ball. Also notice the tilt of his body. Pay attention to the trail arm folding and how the hands are hinging to support the club on the plane.

You can see in this picture how the club looks like an extension of the trail arm. The club face is parallel to the plane. Again, pay attention to the spine tilt particularly the right shoulder extension.

When a line is drawn from the backswing plane toward the ball, you can see how the club is referencing this plane throughout the motion. This is is the natural movement of the club “through space”. “Like a pendulum” was Moe’s description of this feeling.

Moe swung the club on one plane we call The Single Plane where he started and impacted in the same club “plane” position. This is why he was the greatest ball-striker to ever play – he kept it simple.

I can hear his voice every time I play “Keep it Simple Stupid”.