[invest7manager]

I started playing around early to mid-summer last year, so just over a year and a half. I have never been comfortable using anything other than the two hand (baseball) grip when swinging. I don't think I've seen another golfer use this grip and am pretty sure that no pro golfers use it, so I figured there was something to using the overlap or interlock. Well I tried using these other two every once in a while at the range and liked the overlap more, but just couldn't get comfortable enough with it. When I worked at the pro shop at Dick's this summer, I would hit in the simulator when business was slow and use nothing but the overlap grip. It was a slow progression but I became more accustomed to the new grip.

Well today was the first time I've played on a course in about 3-4 weeks and decided it was time to try the overlap grip. My buddy and I only played 9 holes, but there was a major difference in my game today. I usually hit a slight fade with my driver that goes about 250 yards with roll. Today was nothing but straight drives, with multiple ending in the 260-270 range. But the biggest difference was with my irons. Again, I usually hit a slight fade but was hitting them straight and sometimes with a little draw. And I was getting more yardage with my irons than I'm used to, which I'm a fan of. But unfortunately, I was flying greens a lot. I consider my 7 iron to be my 150 yard club. On a 428 yard par 4, I lasered 158 yards to the pin in the middle of the green. So naturally, I pulled out my 7 iron hoping to make it to the front of the green and bounce up towards the hole. So I hit my approach shot and saw a nice little draw form, but watched it land and stick about 5 feet off the back of the green. I have never hit a 7 iron that far in my life!

I don't know if I was seeing distance gains because of confidence or just making more solid contact consistently, but I really hope these distances and ball flights become the norm instead of the exception. But thank you to those who took the time to read my "epiphany" from today's round. And out of curiousity, which grip do you guys and gals use?