Strong vs Weak Golf Grip: What’s the Difference?

One of the cool things about golf is that you can adjust your grip to influence your ball flight. There are multiple types of grips, but today let’s look at the difference between strong and weak golf grips and how they can impact your game.

The main difference between strong and weak golf grips are that a strong grip is when you rotate your hands towards your dominant side, and it can help you fix a slice or get more control in your swing. The opposite type of grip is a weak grip, where your hands are rotated towards where you are aiming, and a weak grip can help fix a hook and open your club face.

This article will help you understand the difference between the two types of grip, including when you should use each one and how to change your grip when you want to use each one.

What’s the Difference Between Types of Golf Grips?

There are three types of golf grips that you can use to affect your swing and try to adjust the direction of the ball: strong, weak, and neutral. 

Using one of these grips does not change how you actually grip the golf club, but where your grip is on the club. 

The neutral golf swing is when you have your wrists facing straight down towards the face of the club. Your thumbs are also on the top of the club shaft. Your two hands and wrists should make a triangle pointing down at the club head. 

Make sure you know how to hold the grip in a neutral position, as it is important in moving to a strong or weak grip.

For more information on a neutral grip, watch this Youtube video from Paul Wilson Golf, which shows you how to use a neutral grip as a lefty and a righty:

Then, you rotate your hands in either direction on the club to get a strong or weak grip. By the way, “links” is a slang for golf course. Now that you know the different types of golf grips and how the neutral grip works, let’s look at the strong and weak grips and the difference between them.

Strong vs. Weak Golf Grips

Similar to the neutral grip, you will not change how you are actually holding the club to have a strong or weak grip. The difference between a strong and weak grip is where your hands, in their grip, are positioned on the club. You will rotate your grip either left or right, depending on which grip you want and if you are left or right-handed. 

Then, thanks to the difference in how you are gripping the club between the strong and weak grip, you will affect the angle at which the club face makes impact with the ball and how the ball flies when you hit it. 

Strong Golf Grips

First, let’s look at strong golf grips and how to use them.

To use a strong grip, your hands will be rotated away from where you are trying to hit the ball and toward your dominant side. You will see more of your non-dominant hand and your grip on the top of the club. 

The major benefit of using a strong grip is that it will help you stop slicing the ball, which is when the ball goes right if you are right-handed and left if you are left-handed.

When you swing with a strong grip, your club face will end up more closed and square with the ball. If your club face is too open when you make impact with the ball, you will slice the ball too far and not end up with a straight shot.

For a visual on how to do a strong golf grip, watch this Youtube video from Golf.com and Johnny Miller:

If you are left-handed, you can still do a strong grip; just do the opposite of what the video tells you to. 

Pros

• More distance
• Fix a slice

Cons

• The ball could go too far left for right-handed players (right for left-handed players)

Weak Golf Grips

The opposite of a strong golf grip is a weak golf grip. Instead of turning your hands to your dominant side, you will turn them the other way. So, if you are left-handed, your hands turn right, and if you are right-handed, you will turn them left. 

With a weak grip, you will see more of your dominant hand when you look down at the club and your grip, and the non-dominant hand will be slightly under the club. 

The benefit of using a weak grip is that you can fix a hook (when the ball flies left for right-handed players and flies to the right for left-handed golfers). 

You force the club face to open up more on your downswing with a weak grip and help the ball go straight instead of hooking. It will also help you bring your swing outwards away from your body, as a tight swing also causes you to hook the ball. 

To see how to do a weak golf grip, watch this Youtube video from Dan Whittaker Golf, where he explains how to play with a weak grip and how you can practice using one:

Pros

• Fix a hook
• More accuracy

Cons

• The ball could go too far right for right-handed players (left for left-handed players)

Which Grip Should You Use?

Now that you know the difference between a strong and weak grip, which one should you use? 

Well, for most shots, you should use a neutral grip. The strong and weak grips should be used when you need the ball to fly from left to right, or vice versa, instead of straight. 

If you need to fix a slice or have a shot where you want to try and get a little more distance but are fine if you are not as accurate with your shot, like on a longer course or a wide par 5, you should use a stronger grip. 

On the other hand, if you are trying to fix a hook or want an accurate shot, like on short courses with a lot of hazards, opt for a weaker grip. 

You should practice hitting with these grips before using them on the course. If you are not used to holding the club with a different grip, you might not get the shot you want and may still slice or hook the ball. Or, worse, you might have a bad shot instead of an ok shot that you were trying to fix with one of these grips. 

Unless you have a golf instructor telling you to only use a strong or weak grip, do not get into the habit of using them for every shot, and try to maintain a neutral grip.

Final Thoughts: Strong vs Weak Golf Grip

Strong grips help fix a slice or get more distance, especially with your longer irons and woods. Weak grips help do the opposite, and by making your club face less closed during impact, they can help you fix a hook. 

If you are hitting the ball straight, do not adjust your swing and keep your grip, whether it is strong, weak, or neutral. As with everything in golf, you will have to practice hitting with these grips if you want to get good at them and reap the benefits of using them.