Best Way to Hold the Putter with the Reverse Overlap Grip

There are several ways of holding a putter and most golf players have, at some time in their golfing lives, tried some of them in an attempt to improve their putting. We show the reverse overlap grip here. This is the most usual grip. Hold the putter mainly with the last three fingers of each hand, with the left hand nearer the top of the shaft.

The forefinger of the left hand is placed outside the last three fingers of the right hand. Three things should then point straight at the target: the back of the left hand, the face of the club head, and the palm of the right hand. This position helps to reduce wrist movement while allowing the arms to control the amount and direction of the movement. If your putting is causing you problems, it may be because your wrists are still hingeing; counteract this by turning the hands away from one another a little.

The reverse overlap grip instructions:

• Hold the very top of the putter in your right hand with the full area of its sole in contact with the ground and the shaft upright or even forward
• Place the left hand so that its lifeline is along the leading edge of the shaft. The back of the left hand should then point in the same direction as the club face.
• Put your left thumb perpendicularly along the flattened top of the shaft and fold your fingers round it, holding the shaft against the palm of your hand with the pressure coming mostly from the last three fingers.
• Place your right hand on the shaft, holding the club at the junction of the fingers and the hand, with all four fingers on the shaft. The palm of the right hand should be facing in the same direction as the club face too.
• Place the right thumb on the shaft, snugly over the top of the left thumb. Both thumbs are placed on the flattened part of the grip and are arched (not stretched). Keep the pressure in the right hand light, and coming mostly from the last three fingers.

• Remove your left forefinger from the shaft and place it outside the fingers of the right hand, to stabilise the back of your left wrist. It may lie pointing absolutely straight down or it may be slightly curled,