The Strong Grip That Fixed My Slice...
And Destroyed Everything Else

Dave Thornton // June 8, 2025

I'd take the slice back in a heartbeat.

At least with the slice, I knew where the ball was going. I could aim left and play for it.

What I've got now? A low, snapping hook that shoots left without warning.

And it all started when I tried to fix my grip.

The "Fix" That Broke My Game

Three years ago, I had a classic weekend-golfer slice. YouTube said strengthen your grip. See three knuckles. Rotate your hands right.

So I did. And at first, it worked.

Slice became fade. Fade became straight. Straight became draw.

Then draw became hook. And hook became disaster.

Here's what those videos don't tell you: a strong grip is a bandaid, not a fix. It closes the clubface to mask the real problem - your swing path.

When your path improves, that closed face stays shut.This causes low, snap hooks you can't control.

The worst part? I can't undo it. I've tried weakening my grip. I've watched videos on neutral grips. Stood at the range thinking "two knuckles, not three." But the moment there's any pressure, my hands go right back to my strong grip.

Three years of reps. Thousands of swings. All training the wrong thing.

What I Actually Needed

I didn't need a stronger grip. I needed a neutral grip - one that lets the clubface stay square at impact.

But knowing that and feeling that are two different things.

I could watch twenty YouTube videos about a neutral grip, but my grip didn't change. I'd spent three years learning a strong grip. I wasn't going to unlearn it from watching a screen.

I needed something that would physically guide my hands back to neutral. Something I could feel.

The Reset Button

A guy at the range, striping it while I was snap-hooking, showed me a training aid called GripFix.

It clips onto any club in seconds. The moulded guide physically places your lead hand in a neutral position.

Not where your muscle memory wants it to go. Where it needs to be.

First swing with it on: a smooth seven iron that flew straight. No hook. No pull.

"Do that a few hundred times," he said, "and your hands will forget they ever learned strong."

He was right.

First week: The neutral grip felt strange. My hands kept wanting to rotate strong. But with GripFix on, they couldn't. Every rep was correct.

After two weeks: The hook weakened to a draw.

After one month: Played a full round without thinking about my grip. No duck hooks. No pulled irons. Just straight, predictable ball flight.

The strong grip that took years to build? Weeks to undo, once I had the right tool.

If You're Stuck in the Same Trap

It's not a willpower problem. It's a muscle memory problem. You can't solve muscle memory with information. You solve it with repetition and feel.

GripFix is the reset button. One physical guide. One neutral position. Clip it on, rep it out, let your hands unlearn what YouTube taught them.

It costs less than a round of golf.

If you've been stuck in the slice-to-hook trap and nothing can undo the damage, maybe it's time to stop watching and start feeling.