[Tommy Williamsen]

I have been using the overlapping grip all my life. Growing up almost all the pros, except J. Nicklaus did as well. Watching pros today it seems most use the interlocking grip. When did things change?

[Greg Tallman]

Tiger likely influenced it a bit but speaking from personal experience it was simply the grip I felt allowed me to control the club more easily.

[Rob Marshall]

Used the Vardon grip my whole life. I decided to change to the interlocking grip at the beginning of the season a few years ago because of a nagging hand issue. It immediately felt great and I never looked back.

[Peter Flory]

I learned to golf with the interlocking grip and have always played that way.  However, I started chipping with the overlap grip a few years ago and will use it for any partial shot- out to about 60 yards.  For some reason, it just feels easier to keep the face open and use the bounce that way. 

[Carl Rogers]

At about age 10, when I began, it was the Interlocking.  As I grew and grew at a lot, I transitioned to the Vardon Overlap.  I have large hands.
Reverse Overlap for putting.

[Michael Whitaker]

Nicklaus used the interlocking grip. Tiger copied him.


https://www.golfchannel.com/video/legendary-grips-nicklaus-player-and-trevino

[John Emerson]

I have been baseball grip since day one.  I’ll never change.  Any other way feels awful.  Feels like the club is going to fly out of my hands and there’s no control.

[Matthew Rose]

I've interlocked since age eight on full shots, but I often go 10 fingers to putt.

[Jon Wiggett]

Greg Norman used an inverted interlocking grip.

[Ben Stephens]

I have used the Vardon grip most of my golfing life. There was a period when I was younger that I reverted to an interlocking grip however it was more restrictive on doing a number of different shots and went back to the Vardon grip for me is the best grip in golf as it allows me to shape the shots better plus not jar my fingers and have been using it ever since. Have tried the baseball or cricket bat grip as we call it here

[Ben Stephens]

Greg Norman used an inverted interlocking grip.

It feels a bit painful when you are not used to it and feels rather strange and see a benefit of restricting your wrists flipping over.

[Thomas Dai]

Queue the old joke about the Vardon Grip being a kind of small suitcase.
Groan!

atb

[Niall C]

I wonder what Jonny Laidlay would have thought if still alive 

Niall

[Kalen Braley]

I've always used the interlocking grip.  The vardon grip feels a bit like its going to slip out of my hands, especially on a full swing.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I wonder what Jonny Laidlay would have thought if still alive 

Niall

He'd be doubly disappointed. Not only didn't he get the credit he deserves but now it's out of vogue.

[Tim Martin]

I started with a baseball and have been a Vardon gripper for close to 40 years.

[Duncan Cheslett]

I use the Laidlay grip.

[Brock Lynch]

I've used the Vardon grip for as long as I can remember. Experimented on the range with the interlocking, but it feels too much in the fingers and right hand when I use the interlocking grip. The Vardon grip feels like I can pull with my left hand/left side better.

[John Crowley]

I've interlocked since age eight on full shots, but I often go 10 fingers to putt.

Yup, interlocking and ten fingers on the putter.

[David Ober]

I started with a baseball and have been a Vardon gripper for close to 40 years.

Same here. Interlocking never felt right.


I bet if you did a survey, you would find that most good golfers who started very young (younger than 10?) interlock, and those who started a older, or as adults, more would use Vardon. Just a theory based on hand-size. Overlapping is more difficult for kids, in general.

[Pat Burke]

Overlap my whole life


When I make practice swing with an interlock without full force, I actually get the club in a better position in the backswing


At full force it feels like I’m going to dislocate my right pinky finger. Never could do it

[Peter Pallotta]

I wonder if the change at the pro level goes hand in hand (no pun intended) with the move away from a neutral grip, even a weak one by modern standards, to a much stronger grip. I use the Vardon grip with the Vs pointing at just about my chin or a little right of it, and it feels like the result is a more handsy swing and one that allows (for better or worse, in my case usually worse) for more club-face manipulation and an easier way to (try to) hit draws and fades. In other words: is the modern approach more of a big muscle/body movement swing, and if so might it have something to do with the increased use of the interlocking grip and 'stronger' hand position?

[Thomas Dai]

Some other variations over the years -
Steve Jones - reverse overlap on all shots (after earlier hand injury).
Russell Claydon - double Vardon, ie two-fingers overlap.
Various - cross handed players.
I'm sure there are or have been others.
atb

[Jon Wiggett]

Peter P,


yes I think you are correct about the change being in part a result of the use of a stronger grip by many. I also think that there is far less need to be able to work the ball and in my opinion the overlap does give you more control over the shot's shape.


Pat,


I used an inverted interlocking from the age of about 7 through to sixteen. I then changed to an overlapping which took me a few months to get used to but did improve my game. About ten years after the change I decided to try the old grip and played 9 holes. It felt really comfortable and I played well. The next morning I could hardly move my righthand little finger and it was painful too. This took a few days to go away and I never tried the interlocking grip again.


Jon

[Tom Bagley]

Besides Nicklaus and Woods, the biggest factor might be that most of today's American PGA Tour pro's have been playing competitive golf since they were in elementary school.  There are very few 6, 7 or 8 year-olds who can hold onto a golf club using the Vardon grip.  When your hands are very small, an interlocking grip or baseball grip is the best option. 

The Vardon was always considered somewhat of an anti-hook grip, reducing the influence of the right hand.  It was less "handsy" than the interlocking or baseball grip.  Older, bigger players - or those who took up the game later in life, after playing baseball or other sports - were often taught the Vardon grip as the grip of better, stronger players.

Nicklaus certainly changed that perception as he was hardly a "handsy" player and Woods furthered the case.  However, other than McIlroy - who also started golf at a very young age - it seems to me that the overlapping grip is still more prevalent among the top Europeans and many of the Korean LPGA stars.

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