New golf grips can help improve distance, accuracy and comfort.
Ryan Barath/GOLF
Upgrading your golf equipment can be expensive. But fret not, if you like your clubs and aren’t in the market for anything new, there still are ways to get that new club feeling and better performance by changing one thing — your grips!
In the world of golf equipment, the grip is quite possibly the most important yet overlooked part of a club, so we’re here to ensure that when it comes to your game, your grips stay top of mind because studies have shown that new grips can add distance and increase accuracy.
A big reason grips get forgotten is because they wear down slowly. But by the time you realize it’s time for a change, they already are a detriment to your performance. In a way, they’re like a pair of shoes, if you’ve had the same pair for a long time, you kinda just get used to how they feel on your feet, but once you try on a new pair, it’s hard to believe you didn’t replace them sooner.
Your grips are the only connection you have between you and your clubs, and having the right ones offer improved traction in all weather conditions; improved comfort by having proper hand pressure; and, in the case of grips like those offered by the Golf Pride Align series, more consistent alignment, too.
How to choose your grip size
When it comes to finding the best grip size for you, the focus should be on comfort. It’s way more important to find a size that allows you to grip the club comfortably rather than defaulting to a size based strictly on glove size or what you have used in the past.
Plus, beyond the traditional size categories of undersized, standard, midsized and jumbo, you can create in-between sizes by altering the number of wraps of tape between the shaft and the grip before installation to make it bigger or even to change the rate of taper, too.
So get out there, test some grips and make your clubs feel new again!
Ryan Barath is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s senior editor for equipment. He has an extensive club-fitting and -building background with more than 20 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. Before joining the staff, he was the lead content strategist for Tour Experience Golf, in Toronto, Canada.