SPORTS > GOLF TIPS

		Don DeLorenzo

Time and time again, I will see people new to the game grip the club and extend their right thumb straight down the shaft.

I can speak from experience on this one. It doesn't work.

I remember when I first started playing I gripped the club in that fashion. As soon as I switched and moved my right thumb so it gently rested on the front side of the grip and not on the top, my improvement was amazing.

If you have the thumb on top of the club, the first thing you will notice is you get blisters. This is caused by excess pressure on the club by that thumb. The thumb in that position causes a pressure point and you will use that thumb and shaft much like a person would cast a fishing pole.

When you move the thumb off the top of the club, you're unable to push the club -- and that's good. This will allow you to put more control on your left side as you pull the club through the hitting area. It will also cut down on "casting" the club at the top of the back swing on the way down.

See if you use this fishing-pole motion at the start of your downswing; you use the power at the top and don't have anything left at the bottom. When you adjust your thumb position, you will have all that power stored up for impact.

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Don DeLorenzo To schedule a lesson with PGA-certified instructor Don DeLorenzo, call GIlroy GC at 848-0490.

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