Manual Dexterity in Golf

Many years ago, when I was an assistant professional at The Shropshire Golf Club in Telford, England under the guidance of one of my first mentors Rob Grier. Someone asked me if there was a secret to this game. Well Barry, if you’re reading this I may have changed my mind.

Back then I was merely a young nerdy assistant golf pro. “Of course there isn’t a secret barry” I said. It’s all about hard work and the right information. I kinda got the answer right but it was in the wrong order. Obtaining the right information should always come before the hard work.

In golf, manual dexterity relates to the training or educating of our hands. If there is a secret in golf, this could well be it, as there’s not enough tuition and coaching on this relatively untapped subject in the game.

Our hands are what makes it possible to ‘connect the dots’ so to speak in the swing. And just like every other part of the swing they have to be ‘educated’ so they can reproduce the correct positions and feelings.

I, like other golf pros out there call this process “educated hands”. Without educating your hands you can spend hours and hours on the range and not really feel like you’re making any difference.

Most golfers don’t understand the tasks the hands should go through to hit the ball correctly. The answer therefore, is to educate our hands so they know exactly their role throughout the swing.

So how do I educate my hands I hear you ask? through the feelings, movements, positions and pressure points in the wrists, palms and fingers from setup to finish. It goes without saying that the hands should be attached to the club correctly at the start to be able to perform the swing effectively.

The best drill whilst you’re educating your hands is to do so with your eyes closed. Once you lose one of your senses, the others are heightened. When you drop something on the floor, you use your eyes to pick it up. Your focus is on the object you dropped. If you close your eyes to pick it up you become conscious of how your hand moves down to the ground and feels around to find and pick up the object. Your hands operate the same way in the swing so lots of slow motion moves with your eyes closed is extremely beneficial.

When you start to adopt ‘educated hands’ training in to your practice you’ll soon start to think differently about your swing. As with every other part of your swing, through time and repetition you’ll break your old habits that have been holding you back.

click here to learn more about educating your hands

Sincerely,

James Parker, PGA
Professional Golfer