By Ken Martin, PGA, Director of Instruction

My introduction to Natural Golf was in 1994.  At that time, Natural Golf outlined their philosophy with 4 Fundamentals; they were The Palm Grip, Single Plane Setup, Wide Stance and Face the Ball at Impact. In June of 2006, I accepted the position of Director of Instruction for Natural Golf and my first directive was to revise these Fundamentals.  The reason was to simplify our concepts in a way that would clearly lead golfers of all ability directly to the true advantage of Natural Golf, and that is swinging the club on a single plane, as so aptly demonstrated by Moe Norman.  We now tout 3 Fundamentals; they are The Natural Hold, Single Plane Setup and Drive the Ball to Your Target!

Beginning here and following in the next few etips, I will outline one Fundamental at a time and clearly explain the reasons for the revisions.

Today we will look at the 1st Fundamental, previously called The Palm Grip, now called The Natural Hold.  When first taught, The Palm Grip was described as holding the club through the lifeline of the trail hand (right hand for right-handers) as shown in the picture below.  Because this club placement fills the palm of the hand it leaves no room for the lead (left) thumb.  Therefore the hands become separated on the handle as pictured.  When comparing this Palm hold with the hold of Moe Norman, we can see a definite difference.  Moe clearly has his hands close together and his left thumb is clearly in the lifeline of his right hand.  If his left thumb is against the lifeline of the right palm, it follows that the handle must be in a different location.

To rectify this discrepancy, Natural Golf changed the position of the handle to across the heel pad of the trail hand.  This change was clearly demonstrated in our video package titled The Natural Golf Swing System, released late fall of 2002.  This position of the handle gave more room for the lead thumb to fit comfortably in the lifeline of the trail palm and allowed Natural Golfers to unify their hand action during the swing, reflecting more of what we see when watching Moe.

 Continued experimentation brought to light another revelation in 2005.  The handle could be held toward the top of the palm and at the base of the fingers in the trail hand, giving even more variance to our hold on the club without sacrificing our primary advantage, the Single Plane alignment of the clubshaft with the trail forearm, as viewed from downline.

            
So what does all this mean? It could be surmised that the reason Moe held the club the way he did was to be certain he could align his arms on plane with the clubshaft.  Starting in this alignment gave him the advantage of starting at setup where he would naturally return during the swing at impact, with his arms aligned with the clubshaft.  Starting on plane allows us to swing on plane, it's that simple.

Where you hold the club in your trail hand is not as important as what it produces and that is the Single Plane alignment of the trail forearm with the club shaft.  This is the true departure we make from the conventional setup and it is the KEY to what allows us to swing on a single plane.

By experimenting with these different holds on the club, you will soon find which provides you with the most comfort and repeatability as well as the best shot result.  We have found through thousands of lessons that golfers who hold the club in the lifeline of the trail hand limit wrist mobility and may sacrifice distance because leverage is compromised.  While this is not always the case, it proves an accurate assessment for most that hold the club 'palmed in the lifeline'.

If you hold the club across the heel pad of the trail hand, you will gain a bit more wrist mobility, increasing the leverage you can produce, simply adding the potential for more speed in the swing.

If you hold the club at the top of the palm at the base of the fingers, you will optimize your wrist mobility and maximize your leverage and therefore speed potential.  It is this position that Moe used throughout his illustrious playing career.  This position also allowed Moe to use an overlapping grip on the club without sacrificing his Single Plane alignment at setup.  Is this position for everyone?  Probably not, it depends on hand size, grip size, comfort and wrist mobility.  Is the overlapping grip option for everyone, probably not, in fact, we have found most golfers are very comfortable with all the fingers on the club, the 'ten finger' variation. This was the way Moe held the club toward the end of his career.

At Natural Golf we recognize each golfer is an individual.  My experience has proven that variation on a theme is what provides success and enjoyment to the great majority of the golfers we teach. Our method is founded on swinging the club on a Single Plane, this is truly the only definitive we can draw and still be effective with all the golfers we instruct.  Individual traits such as hand size, palm width, finger length and wrist mobility require variation on where the club is held in the hand in order to produce the most effective on plane swing per individual.  This is why we call our 1st Fundamental The Natural Hold, Palm Grip was too definitive and simply does not work for everyone.  The word palm also led many to hold the club in the lifeline of their lead hand also.  This was never intended and provided another justification for changing the name of this fundamental.

My advice to those of you who question "where should I hold the club in my trail hand" is to experiment with the three versions outlined in this article.  As long as you don't sacrifice the Single Plane alignment of the clubshaft with the trail forearm (when viewed from downline) you will be starting ON PLANE and enjoying the benefits of the Natural Golf swing!

Thanks for your support and Happy Golfing!

Ken

Ken Martin was certified in February 1995 and is a PGA member.  Ken teaches in West Palm Beach, Florida. Ken's personal motto on the golf course is: "Experience and Enjoy".  Send comments to kmartin@naturalgolf.com