Vol. III – Little Red Blog Series: ‘If you have a bad grip, you don’t want a good swing’

People sometimes look at me sideways when I pull the ruler out of my golf bag.

Sometimes it’s from my back pocket, or straight off the ground like I’m about to measure something sacred. In a way, I am. I swing it slowly, quietly, between shots—feeling the angles, checking the pressure. And then I hit my next shot: high, clean, dead at the flag.

It’s not magic. It’s grip.

It’s structure.

It’s feel.

All I’ve done is remind myself what my grip is supposed to feel like. It’s not crazy—it’s intentional.

And it works.

📕 Penick’s Gospel

Harvey Penick opens his chapter on the grip with a line that gets truer the longer you play:

“If you have a bad grip, you don’t want a good swing.”

Because even a beautiful swing won’t work if the hands don’t start right. It’s like tightening the wrong strings on a violin—it’ll never make music.

Penick didn’t care how athletic your swing looked. If your hands weren’t joined as one unit, you were playing defense from the start. You’d have to manipulate the club to square it. Fight it. Fix it mid-swing. And the ball? It would never lie.

📐 Why the Ruler?

Penick’s solution was brilliantly simple:

“Just pick up a yardstick and fit your hands to it and swing it. Then put the same grip on a golf club.”

It’s not about V’s or finger count. It’s about feel.

When I grip the ruler, my fingers feel long and languid—wrapping fluidly but firmly around the handle. I mirror the right edge of my left thumb with the lifeline of my right palm, joining the hands together like a musical bridge.

Suddenly, the hands are one.

They’re soft, but unified.

And when the hands move as one, the mind gets quiet.

As Penick said:

“If the hands are joined as one unit, you’d be surprised the amount of relaxation attained.”

🧠 The Rule of the Thumb

Most people ignore the thumb. Penick didn’t. Byron Nelson told him it was the most important thing he taught.

“I don’t want the left thumb straight down the shaft. I want it a little to the right.”

Why? Because at the top of the backswing, that thumb becomes the fulcrum. The stabilizer. The control center for the transition.

Move it right, and you can feel the club float.

Stack it dead center, and the club wobbles.

🧱 BBFA’s Grip System: Press. Lock. Cinch.

We teach a repeatable method at BBFA—whether you’re 9 years old or playing in your ninth decade:

1. Press – Feel your palms face each other. Let your left thumb angle slightly right. Press it down and wrap your right palm over the top.

2. Lock – Let the hands melt together. Feel your fingertips press the grip into your palms. One piece. One tool. One feel.

3. Cinch – For right-handed players, interlock or overlap your right pinky with your left index finger to complete the connection.

Hold the club like it’s a fine instrument.

You’re not strangling it. You’re sculpting it.

🔄 Grip Variations, Same Foundation

One grip doesn’t fit all. Penick made that clear:

• Interlock – For short fingers, like Jack Nicklaus or Tom Kite.

• Overlap – The most common for pros and amateurs alike.

• Ten-Finger – Great for juniors, older players, or anyone needing more leverage and simplicity.

But across all grips, the fundamentals don’t change:

• Hands must be joined.

• Grip pressure must be light.

• Thumb must be right of center.

• And the feel must never be forced.

🎯 The Ball Never Lies

Here’s the test:

If your ball is flying well, your grip is probably fine.

If your grip feels awkward or tight, and your ball is running away from you, don’t look at your swing. Start with your hands.

Penick wrote it, lived it, and passed it down.

We’ve just added a ruler to the mix.

🏁 Final Thought: The Quiet Truth

If I could teach only one thing, it would be grip.

Because once you feel a great grip, everything else... clicks.

You’re not thinking about takeaway.

You’re not trying to “fix” your downswing.

You’re just holding the club like you were born to—and the club returns the favor.

📼 Watch the Little Red Reel: “The Grip” — now playing on @BradleysBallFlight

📖 Read Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book (Chapter: The Grip)

🎯 Train it with The Ruler. Feel it for real.

#TheGrip #PenickWisdom #BBFA #LittleRedBlog #FundamentalsMatter #OnePieceFeel