Large hands vs Small hands

[pulledabill]

Just watched a clip of Trevino talking about Jack and how a player with small hands is more suited for the game because of their grip on the club. I also just read small hands should interlock, and larger hands should over lap. 

Thoughts?

[Tom the Golf Nut]

11 minutes ago, pulledabill said:

Just watched a clip of Trevino talking about Jack and how a player with small hands is more suited for the game because of their grip on the club. I also just read small hands should interlock, and larger hands should over lap. 

Thoughts?

The key is having the hands working together as one. Interlocking is the easiest way to keep the hands together. Having smaller hands works well with standard grips and interlocking. But myself having long fingers I had a tough time griping the club properly. My finger tips would dig into the palm of my hand and the club did not feel secure in my hand. I use a mid-size grip to allow for a proper grip on the club. All grip manufacturers make different sized grips so you can get the proper fit. Or extra layers of tape under the grip works well if you are in between sizes.  The correct grip size puts everyone back to having the proper grip on the club like Jack did. The larger the grip the more it weighs and will slightly change swing weight. I'm an odd ball I use a baseball grip on my woods but an interlocking grip on my irons.  A person with larger hands or long fingers will probably be more comfortable with the overlap if they do not go up in grip size. 

During a proper fitting all of this is looked at to come up with what works best for that golfer.

[fixyurdivot]

1 hour ago, pulledabill said:

Just watched a clip of Trevino talking about Jack and how a player with small hands is more suited for the game because of their grip on the club. I also just read small hands should interlock, and larger hands should over lap. 

Thoughts?

It would interesting to see some data on this; physical hand size vs. tour career stats.  Might there be certain aspects of the game where hand size performs better or worse?  I wear a large size glove, but wouldn't consider my hands that big - wide palms yes, finger length average.  I changed from an interlock to overlap grip over 30 years ago; one of several things my instructor recommended.  It is the only thing that remains from that not so successful and really maddening period of my golf life.

And @Tom the Golf Nuthas it right.  Wishon speaks to assuring grip size is fitted to hand size; even has a table showing what is recommended.  But I'll bet a healthy number of us don't know what that optimum size is.  Interestingly, my recent TrueSpec fitting did not include that.  The fitter merely asked "how many wraps" on your current clubs?  I had know idea.  He peeled the rubber back a wee bit and said "1"... that's what went in the quote.   To me, subtleties such as this are what really make seperate a club fitting from a club fitting.  It seems like they should check to a standard and at least make sure it's not way off. 

[zrumble]

You’re grip has to match your swing. In my opinion swing plane faults start with grip problems that make the independent arm movements conflict each other. Personally, I have small hands and just use an overlap grip because it’s comfortable. 

[Kenny B]

I used a 10-finger grip when I started playing golf in 1991 because of softball; it felt comfortable.  I don't have large hands, but my fingers are long for their size.  I like midsize grips.  About 3 years ago I changed to an overlap grip.  I was told that my 10-finger grip was not the best grip for optimal clubhead speed because having hands that far separated effectively shortens the club.  I tried interlocking, but it hurt my skinny fingers.  It took me several weeks before it felt comfortable; now I don't even think about my grip anymore.  I honestly don't know for a fact that my speed increased, but I would try anything to gain more speed.

[dlow206]

I have small hands (small to medium glove size), and very skinny fingers. My ring size is about the same as the average woman's ring size.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

It’s interesting. Grip was never done and my tour van fitting. I also think I have slightly bigger hands but I like midsize grips interlocking. I tried overlapping and that never worked after trying for a month. 

[Micah T]

I wear an XL glove and use standard grips, but with 4 wraps. That equals a midsize grip more or less. I also interlock: my breakthrough was realizing that I held the club too deep in my palm as opposed to my fingers: my hands hold each other and my fingers hold the club.
I don’t mind overlap, but I find interlock keeps my hands working together, and that keeps my arms working together.

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[pulledabill]

Id love to see something on pros with their hand size and type of grip. I also started with a baseball grip but went to interlock because of Jack. In the late 90s I went to overlap but changed back a few years ago. I wear xl glove. 

When I was hitting a few new drivers a few months ago, the fitter mentioned he would change my grip which would change my swing in a positive manner to square up the club face. 

[Hickory Chris]

May I ask a supplementary question? Bigger hands means more mass at the grip. Does this confer an advantage in terms of momentum at the grip end of the golf club? Does this have the same effect as adding lead tape under the grip/ having heavier grips?

[TakeDeadAim]

3 hours ago, Hickory Chris said:

May I ask a supplementary question? Bigger hands means more mass at the grip. Does this confer an advantage in terms of momentum at the grip end of the golf club? Does this have the same effect as adding lead tape under the grip/ having heavier grips?

In theory, more mass (hands) applied to the pressure point (grip) would decrease overall club swingweight. How much? Probably not detectable for all practical purposes

[Donn lost in San Diego]

My very first fitter measured my fingers first and put me in midsize.  And he was right on.  Hand size doesn't matter, the range of motion, the liquidity, of your wrist and your feel in your fingers, count.  Paying attention to your finger movement is important.  I can swing a long club with a regular grip but not as well as midsize, and I've occassionallly tried jumbo, and it does not work, it interferes with my wrist roll.

[Donn lost in San Diego]

On 1/4/2023 at 12:30 AM, Hickory Chris said:

May I ask a supplementary question? Bigger hands means more mass at the grip. Does this confer an advantage in terms of momentum at the grip end of the golf club? Does this have the same effect as adding lead tape under the grip/ having heavier grips?

More mass, yes, but, it takes more energy to move more mass.  Large hands might make it harder to roll the wrists.  I doubt that the extra mass of the large hand results in more energy transferred to the club.