GOLF: Why You MUST Use Your Hands In The Golf Swing

Here are links to some of our favorite golf training aids:

_____________________

Seventy five percent of the people I talk to tell me they are using their hands too much. But, there's no such thing as making a golf swing without your hands. When I grip the club in front of me and I hold the club, I hold the club with what? My hands!

Most golfers should probably be using MORE of their hands in the backswing. Look at video of any good golf swing and you will see hinging of the wrist during the backswing, unhinging of the wrist during the downswing. There will for flexion and extension and forearm rotation. If we were to measure my hands and space and wrist angles during a normal swing, there are a lot of movements going on.

The real issue is you are not using your hands correctly in the golf swing. It’s not about using your hands “more” or “less”, it’s about using your hands DIFFERENTLY. It’s ridiculous to believe that you are supposed to make a magical golf swing where your turn back and turn through and everything else just happens.

What you should be doing is learn how to use your hands and arms properly. (We have a lot of videos on this!) Then you should practice enough and do enough repetitions where it starts to become automatic and you don’t have to think about it. Some of you also confuse the fact that not thinking about your hands is the same as not using them. That’s not reality. There is a difference between “thinking” about using your hands and actually using your hands.

Bottom Line:
-It’s okay to use your hands in the golf swing
-You MUST use your hands in the golf swing
-No good golfer has ever swung a club without a lot of hand action
-Using a lot of hands is not incorrect

_____________________

Follow and Like us at:
#ericcogornogolf

**I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services recommended on Eric Cogorno Golf sites. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you free content to help you learn about golf and improve your game. My goal is to help people through my experience so I will not recommend a product or service unless I've

1) Used it personally. (which will be the case the vast majority of the time)

2) Thoroughly researched it and gotten first-hand user feedback from other professionals I trust and that have used the product/service.

[brianmitchell]

Needed this video!! Was playing my best golf watched some videos on why I shouldn’t be using my hands and it completely put my game in a funk to the point that I felt that I didn’t even know how to swing a club anymore. Thanks for all your content!!

[ijkottawa]

Couldn't agree more. I've heard all the "do not have active hands" and "do not use your hands" stuff and trying that made my swing results so much worse. Instead I have focused a ton on my hands this season thanks to your videos on "wrist conditions" and related issues and have made huge improvements in shot quality & consistency. I may never be a scratch golfer but improvement like this makes the game much more enjoyable. Anyone struggling with flipping do yourself a favour and watch Eric's videos on wrist conditions (& related issues). It works if you dedicate time to practicing it. Thanks Eric. Looking forward to your new website next week.

[JC-xkgv]

Hi Eric I discovered your video on using your hands correctly and today I played for the first time in 3/4 months and went around my course which is 7000 yards 8 over par and played some great golf . THANKS ERIC.

[Geep]

Had my best round in awhile sat because of Eric’s golf wisdom. Explaining why we missed a certain way helps us to readjust mid round instead of guessing and makes all the difference! Opened w a 39 going out! With 2 birdies on the day and drove the ball extremely well. Finished on an 86 only 6 shots off my goal and it was doable if I didn’t shank 5 approach shots horribly. Thank You 🙌 won’t be long until your channel blows up 👍

[alvor]

Eric you have just backed up what my golf coach in Portugal has been getting me to understand and teaching me to do - with success I add!. Its a long video but well worth people taking the time to understand.

[tomshanahan]

Eric, this meshes nicely with Bob Toski and Davis Love, Jr's book "How to feel a real golf swing". Following what they say, I have found that visualizing where I want to hit the ball and letting my hands control the swing is very effective but it's hard to let go of traditional "swing thoughts"

[Softouch]

Agree. I was confusing over rotation of the forearms with excessive hand movement. I was literally blocking the ball around the course trying to hit with held off hands. The hand (wrist) action is a huge source of power too. I tried keying on the left hand flattening or bowing but only had modest success, but recently started keying on the right hand, triggered by the old "throw the golf ball at the ground drill." This feeling has done a lot for improving power and strike. I am working on club path consistency now with this feel, but it feels like the way forward. Appreciate your straight talk.

[carlomannino]

I've started using a "feeling" of extension of the Right wrist when starting my backswing, and keeping it throughout. Flattens the Left wrist. Strike has never been better! It's a eureka moment!

[drmcooke]

Love the video and agree 100%. I feel that the proof of how much hand action pros have VS ams is in the rehinge (post impact) and finish. Most pros have a lot more rehinge VS ams. Also, using the hands correctly makes swinging the golf club and hitting good golf shots so much easier. Good hand action is part of what makes a good swing look effortless.

[shvetasohrab]

Hey Eric, big fan fan of yours all the way from India. I completely lost my swing because coach told me not to use my hands, today you've reiterated what I ve always believed in. Eric will it be too much to ask whether in the swing is it necessary to have a lateral movement towards the ball, Earlier with a lateral movement I could hit the ball straight but it turned into a slice, finally the coaches told me that I have to be behind the ball before hitting the shot and post hitting move forward. Just wanted to ask you what should be done here. Thanks and sorry Im asking you this on a different subject. Cheers and Thanks

[paulbradbury]

Eric, I am 57 and relatively new to the game. I played other ball sports before . My best results are with a ten finger grip ( only 2 fingers on the bottom hand ) and with a very relaxed swing. My hands pivot the club and I concentrate on swinging rather than hitting. It is the only way I can consistently collect the ball before the divot. A good compressed 9 iron goes 150 metres and straight. Yet I am told this is incorrect? What do you think?

[gssong]

Speaking of hands...could you do a video on grip pressure and how it relates throughout the swing? It seems that not a lot of people speak on this. After attempting some fixes on my path with some of your drills that I had to practice very slow, I became much more aware of my grip pressure and therefore the clubface and down swing path. This produced monumental results as far as distance, shot shape, and trajectory. It also felt like my swing was about at half the speed as usual. it would be great to hear some of your insights on this topic because as a former "death gripper", especially on the downswing, this seems to be a revelation! I am a decent player but it's taken an awfully long time to think about my hands and the pressure I use. Thanks for these great videos, Eric!

[shvetasohrab]

Eric also If I use a weak grip I find it much easier to rotate the hands and much tougher to rotate if I have a strong grip, Is it ok to play and rotate with the weak grip rather than having a strong grip and then rotating, what would you advice, thanks

[creamabdul-jabbar]

My hands almost work backward at times I’ll hit a bad shot and always narrow it down to something happens that makes my trail hand go under the grip like a trail wrist bow and I have a super strong grip

[kofblz]

We are in sync, Eric. Just thinking today about the paradox of "the hands" in the swing. So much hand control required to keep them from over-working, but still loose, at least with me. And the GRIP! -- a little tweak in the right thumb and first finger frees the club to release better. I think I over gripped it with the right thumb and first finger for decades, and no one ever picked up on it because it basically looked orthodox.

[aidanmcgale]

Do you recommend large grips if you have large hands 5 inch palm size and 3 1/2 inch fingers length

I grip a lot in the fingers and my palms don't touch the club which makes me think sometime I should have thinner grips

when I try to grip in the palm of my hands more it never feels secure enough any suggestion for size of grip I should play with. Thanks for you help and great video

[MrSniffwiff]

My miss is typically left with the odd block right. I do have a strong grip, very much of the ilk of Zach Johnson.

I hit long irons irons the most consistent when it comes to avoiding my miss. The driver is the worst, duck hook, over draw and the odd block. GW through to 9i it cripples my confidence when I hit them 10/20 yards straight left and usually 10/20 yards long too.

I am yet to have a coach or find a video online that has really taught me why my plane and release pattern don’t marry up consistently. Mike Bender talks a lot of sense, but I’ve still not found a penny drop moment yet 😕

[rajgill]

i am left handed with a right handed club. I wrist a lot of wrists to increase club speed. Now which hand do i use to hit before impact. Advice

[deplorabledes]

Thanks Eric, can you talk more about feels for matching the pivot and hands? Obviously impact is different from address, so some ideas/feels would be useful.
Good to see my home girl Lyds Ko in your vid's! I love her swing.

[dirtyd]

In general less you rotate your body the more your hands (wrists) will become involved in "timing" the squaring of the club face. If you can open your body more before impact the face will stay square longer through and after impact. Therefore, some people would say they are not as "handsy" as say someone who does not rotate well and thus their arms catch up to their body faster and the hands flip over earlier making timing and thus consistency less reliable in my humble opinion.