Gorilla Grip Golf Myth

Published: March 3, 2026

Golf Grip Instruction Myth - Video Transcript
Here's a golf instruction myth about the golf grip that can't die soon enough. The myth states that you should grip the golf club based on however your hands naturally hang when standing normally. Let's take a look at what that actually looks like — and why following this advice leads to a fundamentally flawed grip position.

If I'm standing upright in neutral joint alignment with my shoulders retracted, or "in the box" as we call it, the hands will hang down to my sides with the palms facing my thighs. This is normal anatomy. If you took all muscles off my body and hung me up by my skeleton, this is the position the hands would fall in to.

golf grip

From the side view, you can see this more clearly. That's how your body is designed to set naturally at address position.

Now, what a lot of golfers do is they let their shoulder blades protract into a slumped posture with the shoulders rolled forward. From this collapsed position, the arms will be naturally internally rotated and the palms will then face the front of the thighs instead of the sides. Many golf instructors take this to mean that this is the golfer's normal, natural posture and therefore, that's how they should grip the golf club.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth — this is simply bad golf posture! Out of laziness, the golfer has allowed his shoulders to fall into this poor position and it can then wreak havoc throughout the entire golf swing. A compromised grip position creates a cascade of compensations: altered swing plane, reduced power, inconsistent clubface control, and increased injury risk.

Therefore, it is critical that you not only understand what good golf posture is, but also how to maintain it as you setup to the golf ball. As you hinge forward to take your setup position, gravity wants to pull your arms down toward the ground, causing this slumped posture. You must engage the muscles in the back that retract the shoulder blades in order to counteract the force of gravity. Doing so will give you a nice feeling of connectedness between your arms and body — a connected address position — that makes it easier to control the arms during the golf swing and transmit power during the downswing.

So again, NOBODY's arms naturally hang this way! If your golf instructor tells you that you should grip the golf club however your arms naturally hang at address, RUN! A proper understanding of golf biomechanics and neutral joint alignment is the foundation of every other fundamental in the game. Want to see how your setup mechanics are scoring? Try our AI swing analyzer to get objective feedback on your address position and overall swing mechanics instantly.

Want to feel this in YOUR swing? Try a free AI-powered golf lesson → — GOATY gives you real-time voice coaching, pose tracking, and instant feedback on every rep.

Checkpoints for Practice

  • Many instructors teach golfers to grip the club based on how hands naturally hang — this is a dangerous myth rooted in poor posture, not proper biomechanics
  • In proper neutral joint alignment, the palms always face the thighs when the shoulders are correctly retracted
  • However, when bending into address posture, many golfers allow gravity to pull the shoulders forward, disconnecting from the core and forcing an internally rotated arm position
  • To maintain proper setup posture and correct hand position, keep shoulder blades down and retracted at address — this is the foundation of a connected, powerful golf swing
  • Use the GOAT Drill system to build the body awareness and muscle memory needed to maintain this neutral joint alignment consistently throughout your practice sessions

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