Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
Recreational golfers often ask about the same thing: spin. They watch the pros put English on the ball around the greens every weekend and can’t wait to get it done themselves. The problem is that they have no idea where to start.
Spin is a great tool if you know how to use it. This allows you to make a wide variety of different shots and gives you a lot of control over your ball. When you can manipulate your ball with spin, you unlock a whole new level in your short game.
Now, it takes a lot of ingredients to make a pitch shot with a lot of spin, and it would take an entire dissertation to explain it all in depth. However, if you’re looking for a quick trick that will help you generate more backspin, you’re in luck. In the video below, GOLF Top 100 teacher Jeff Smith explains how making a small grip adjustment can give you a ton of backspin.
A grip adjustment for big spin
A shot with a lot of spin is a “special” shot, so your setup should include special features. Throw all your “stock” installation tools out the window. For this shot, this means taking a slightly different approach to the way you hold the club.
“For a special shot, you have to use a special grip,” says Smith.
Most golfers use an interlock or overlap grip, but for this shot, Smith suggests using a reverse overlap. That means holding the club with all the fingers of your trail hand on the club and then overlapping the index finger of your lead hand over the little finger of your trail hand.
“What’s going to happen now is you’re going to have a lot more control over this club,” says Smith. “You can control how steep it comes into the ball [and] you can better control how hard you hit.
Because your trail hand is holding the club so prominently, it makes it a lot easier to generate speed through the impact area, which is an important part of generating spin. All you have to do from there is open the club face a little and concentrate on hitting the ball.
If you do, your ball will come out with more spin than you’ve ever seen before.
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