How much should your left arm participate?

[rich_allen]

Back to the range last night and this time I limited the balls to one bucket (140);, I noticed right away my left hand is really what's tightening up which in turn is causing my left forearm muscles to get tight.
I don't know how to stop hanging on to the club so tight!!!
I tried to concentrate on using PP#3 and tracing without really clamping onto the club but nothing seems to work.
The good news coming from all of this is how much farther I carry each club using the down and OUT swing method. What took me a 7 iron to reach was only taking a 9 and could have even reached it with a wedge. (totally amazing)
If anyone has any insight how to stop griping the club so hard please let me know.
I appreciate all the replies to my question.

Rich

[EdZ]

What size glove do you wear and what size grip do you have? I'd look to three areas if you are having to grip the club too hard:

1) grip needs to be more 'under the heel pad' of the left hand
2) your grips are too small for your hands
3) your grips are worn and need to be replaced

[rich_allen]

What size glove do you wear and what size grip do you have? I'd look to three areas if you are having to grip the club too hard:

1) grip needs to be more 'under the heel pad' of the left hand
2) your grips are too small for your hands
3) your grips are worn and need to be replaced

Edz, My current clubs are fairly new (purchased 5/06) and the grips are the standard ones that came with my Callaway® X18's and look to be in great shape. Usually I re-grip every new season.
At 6-3" 200lbs I do have fairly large hands but not to the point where it's noticeable.

I will LOOK to make sure I am keeping the club more under the heel pad of my hand and not in the cup.
With my old swing I never had this problem.
Funny, I didn't even know they made grips for larger or smaller
hands, nobody ever asked me that before.

Thanks again.

Rich

[EdZ]

At 6'3 it is a very good bet you need a larger than standard grip. I use a medium large glove and mid-size grips with some extra wrap. Experiment with mid and oversize. You can use Ping's web-fit on their website to get a general idea of what size you need based on a couple hand measurements.

[rich_allen]

Thank you.

Rich

[Burner]

Rich,

Slacken off with the thumb and forefinger and grip only with the remaining three fingers of your left hand - particularly the "pinky".

It is difficult to grip too hard without using the thumb and forefinger.

[rich_allen]

Ok, I tried the web fit from Ping and it says to use white or standard grip sizes ,
I will try the heel pad idea tonight at the range and report back. As for the glove size I use, I prefer a tight glove. A loose to medium fitting glove always gets funky at the finger tips as the golf day wears on. Were you thinking my glove was affecting the hand?
Thanks again for the input.

Burner, thanks for the post, I will give that one a try tonight too. I know there's a quick fix, i just have to find it.
Rich