i cant believe it

as a few on here no doubt know ive been struggling for any sort of decent distance since i started playing properly a year ago. since last year id managed to get my driving distance up from 170 yard average to 200 yard average to recently 215 yard average.

well there was me thinking it was gonna be a slow painful process when for some reason whilst watching the open on friday night i decided i was gonna change my grip. i have smallish hands and always used the baseball grip as i didnt feel i had control of the club using the overlapping grip or interlocking one. ive always struggled against a fade/slice so i thought "to hell with it im going down to the practice area at my local course with a shag bag and im gonna practice till i can master one of these other grips" so i did and at first i tried the overlap but found it very uncomfortable for the little finger on my right hand so i gave the interlock a go. after a few shots getting used to it i started to feel good with it and then i noticed my shots had suddenly become mostly straight but if not then they were a draw or a hook on the bad ones and suddenly i felt as if i was hitting the ball with a lot more power also.

i thought no more of it until i went out on the course later and on the first tee i hit my first 2 drives about 20 feet into bushes and my mate was laughing about me changing my grip when id been plying better recently than ever before. he wasnt laughing long however, on the next hole i caught my drive ok it had a fade and i didnt get all of it as i was holding back a bit due to my probs off the first tee but it flew down the fairway and right down into the valley id never been able to reach before suddenly i found myself playing a pw approach on a hole that sometimes was a 3 wood approach for me and i overhit the pw by 15 yards. this continued for the entire round so i decided to check google earth on my local couse against where i was landing to get an idea of distances as i do regular. the difference was amazing. that drive i was talking about was 265 yards and my average on the rest of the holes was 250 even though i was holding back on them all. i went out practicing today with just my 5 iron and a couple of alignment rods to keep practising on that grip and to my amazment i was hitting my 5 iron past the length of the practise area i use with is 175 yards uphill. before i could only hit 5 iron 140 yards on the flat. when i went up to get my balls to go home i hit a cheeky 5 iron from up there down towards the 8th green as there was nobody about and it landed just before it and skipped onto the green to my amazment when i got home and checked the distance it was 215 yards which was admittedly down the hill that i was hitting 175 yards up. i cant believe ive been killing myself all this time and all the while it was my grip that was killing my distance. my new grip is even helping me to feel more confident making the full backswing and full turn through to finish.

anyway sorry for the long waffle but im dead chuffed and wanted to tell somebody. lol

Congratulations David,

Your new grip will serve you in good stead once you are used to it and will be much more consistent for you.  The added distance is a bonus and I wager it won't be long before your playing partners are cursing your new grip rather than ridiculing you for making the change

The reason you have gained length with the interlocking grip is because this grip ties the hands together as one and you are now hitting the ball with both hands at the same time.

The baseball grip you previously used becomes right hand orientated only and is therefore weaker, unless you have the ability to prevent this happening.

The reason the better players us the Vardon grip (little finger overlap) is so that it weakens the right hand to make the left hand stronger and therefore easier to resist the natural power of the right hand.

No, Jon, I am not saying that at all, as the Vardon grip is the most widely used, but for it to be effective, both hands have to work together, and I suspect that your lack of length is possibly due to trying to hit it right handed without using the left hand as a resistance.