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In trying to follow lessons or book instructions to the letter, many golfers may labor with the impression that there is only one proper place for the hands to grip the club. This does hold up for all your nice shots that are situated right in the middle of the fairway.

However, you should not be afraid to go up and down the handle of the club if you feel that the required shot calls for it. Let your innate grasp of the conditions at hand, rather than strict adherence to form, be your guide. Then the grip will feel natural to you and the shot will have a better chance of succeeding than if an unnatural or uncomfortable position is causing you to tense up.

By way of example, taking your 3-iron shot with a lower grip, decreases the distance and lowers the ball’s trajectory. Increased grip firmness comes from choking up on the club leading to better confidence and a more accurate placement as you hit onto the green.

On a sunny morning not too long ago, my opposing golfer took a valuable lesson from watching my efforts. It was on a sweet, gently curving 220-yard eleventh hole. There was a little bit of wind that I was hitting into, and I knocked a 3-iron barely onto the green. Noticing how that played out, my cagey pponent adjusted by choking up on a two-iron and hitting the ball all the way to the flag.

A good principle to guide you if you are hitting against the wind is: Take one or two clubs more than the shot would require under normal conditions, choke up and hit away. The amount you should choke up would range from three-quarters of an inch to one and three quarter inches, depending on length of the shot and wind conditions. Another thing you might find helpful along these lines is: If you are undecided as to what club to use, in general it helps to choke up and hit the longer club. You’ll find this better than taking the shorter club and straining for distance.

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