The grip in golf is very important. No less an authority than Ben Hogan even started the first chapter of his classic book with this line:

Good golf starts with a good grip.

If you turn on your TV set each weekend you will see that most of the grips are very similar. Yet you also see a few that are not so conventional, but they still work.

There is much talk about overlapping, ten finger and interlocking when it comes to the golf grip. These options are all about the comfort of the player. You can choose whichever option feels right to you and be assured that someone on the tour is currently using it.

More important is the position of the hands on the golf club. This is where all the talk about V-pointing comes in. A good rule is that the V formed by the thumb and forefinger on each points to the rear shoulder. But that doesn't work for everyone.

Everybody has to find their own best hand position for their individual golf swing. Just like ball position, proper hand position on the club cannot be taught. It is something that has to be learned over time and is different for each person. The important thing about the hand position in the golf grip, and ball position too for that matter, is that it be consistent.

Only when you can put your hands on the club exactly the same way every time can you really tell if your golf grip is working for you. Learn and practice gripping the golf club consistently the same.

What is for the most part overlooked in discussions of the golf grip is where the pressure comes from. What part of your hands should you feel the most control from and why?

The generic, conventionally wise advice is that the pressure in the golf grip should be felt in the last two or three fingers of each hand. Once again, conventional wisdom is illogical and wrong. And it is ruining the golf of millions of people.

In the golf grip, the pressure in the left hand (for right handers) should be firmest in the last two fingers. On this, there is plenty of agreement. The problems start when the same advice is given for the right hand.

Logically, the the action of the right hand is the exact opposite as that of the left. Although both hands are turning the same direction, opposite muscle groups are used to achieve this kind of rotation for each arm.

Extend your arms out and hold your open hands out with the palms perpendicular to the ground. Turn both hands to the outside and you will notice most of the work is being done by the muscles on the bottom half of each forearm.

Now turn palms to the inside. You will notice that the muscles on the top part of the forearm are doing most of the work.

Keep in mind, of course, that all of the muscles are used and pressure is felt throughout both hands and the forearms in the golf grip. It is simply a matter of degree.

As far as the right hand in the golf grip, the pressure should be the firmest in the right thumb and forefinger. There should be enough pressure in the connection between the right thumb and forefinger to where you can fell a little more tension in the muscles of the upper part of the right wrist and forearm.

To sum it, in the golf grip the points of maximum pressure on each hand should be as far away from each other as possible. Anyone who tells you different automatically accepts what they have been told and just hasn't though about it.