Grip & Setup Golf Tips - Instruction Videos

The grip and setup are the only parts of the golf swing you can control completely before the club starts moving. A grip that is too weak makes it difficult to square the face and tends to produce fades and slices. A grip that is too strong makes the face want to close and tends to produce draws and hooks. Golf stance and setup fundamentals (width, ball position, posture, and alignment) establish the geometric conditions for a consistent swing plane and reliable contact. Get these right and many problems downstream solve themselves.

StackingBirdies has curated grip and setup instruction from coaches who understand why these fundamentals are foundational rather than elementary. For the reasoning underneath all of it, why your hands aim the clubface and set your speed, read the grip, explained. If you are working through swing issues after addressing grip and setup, Swing Basics covers the mechanical chain that follows.

Quick Reference

Grip Style Comparison

Strong, neutral, and weak grips each produce predictable ball flights. Pick the one that matches the shot you want to hit.

Grip style	Best for	Typical ball flight	Common mistake
Strong (V's point to right shoulder)	Slicers, players who fight an open face	Draw or right-to-left shape	Going so strong the face shuts and produces a hook
Neutral (V's point between chin and right shoulder)	Players with a square clubface at impact	Straight or gentle fade	Drifting weak under pressure as hands tense
Weak (V's point toward chin or left shoulder)	Players who hook the ball or have very active hands	Fade or left-to-right shape	Going too weak; the face stays open and produces a slice
Interlock vs overlap vs ten-finger	Hand size and feel preference; all three are PGA Tour proven	Negligible effect on ball flight	Switching styles searching for a fix when the issue is grip strength, not connection

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Grip & Setup

Common Questions

Frequently Asked

How do I know if my golf grip is too strong or too weak?

At address, look down at your left hand (for a right-handed golfer). A neutral grip shows two to two-and-a-half knuckles. Seeing one knuckle or fewer is a weak grip. Seeing three or more is a strong grip. Neither is automatically wrong: many good players use a strong grip deliberately. But a weak grip is the most common contributor to a slice, and an extremely strong grip tends to cause blocks and hooks.

What is the correct golf stance width?

For most full-swing shots, stance width should match shoulder width, measured from the insides of the feet to the outsides of the shoulders. Wider than this restricts hip rotation. Narrower creates instability. For short irons and chips, a slightly narrower stance is appropriate. For driver, many golfers benefit from a stance a touch wider than shoulder width to provide a stable base for the longer, faster swing.

How far should I stand from the golf ball at address?

The correct distance is determined by posture, not measurement. Stand upright, hold the club out in front of you, then bend from the hips until the sole of the club rests naturally on the ground. Your arms should hang almost directly below your shoulders, with the hands roughly a fist's width away from the thighs. Too far from the body produces toe shots. Too close produces heel shots.

Grip & Setup

Grip Style Comparison

Grip & Setup

Frequently Asked

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