Golf Accessories
When it comes to golf accessories, golf grips aren’t usually the most sought after item, nor do they get much consideration. Think about the last time you bought a club – did the salesperson mention the grips to you, beyond a sentence or two in passing? Did you think about whether they were the right ones for your hands and style of play, or did you just focus on the technical elements of the head and the shaft? If so, you are certainly like the vast majority of golfers and, like them, you could be missing out on a simple and cheap way to improve your game.
The first thing you have to make sure of is that the grip size is correct for your hand size. Grips more or less equate to your glove size, so you’ve got a men’s small (which is also the same as ladies), regular, midsize and large or jumbo. If you haven’t got the right size golf grips, then one that is too small might make the club twist in your hands before impact, leading to a closed clubface and a hooked shot. This occurs because the natural tendency is to tighten grip in the last stages of a swing, causing the twist. If your grips are too large for you, then the opposite happens. You might not be able to grip the club tightly enough, leading to an open clubface and a sliced shot.
There is another, very important, thing to be aware of when measuring up for the right size golf grips, though. You ought to know that grips have an internal core which is different between the different sizes of grip, so one will have a thick inner core and another a thinner core. This makes a difference because it affects how it sits on the shaft – if the shaft is big, i.e. it has a large circumference, then a thin core will be stretched tight around it and compressed, effectively giving you a smaller size grip. A small shaft, with a small circumference, will be the opposite and the core will remain thick and unstretched, resulting in a bigger grip than you expect. Either way, your fingers may end up in the wrong place and while you may feel like you are executing the perfect swing, in reality you end up hooking or slicing the ball.
The relationship between the grip size and the diameter of the club shaft is therefore important, and if you’ve ever wondered why a grip that is apparently the right size for you just doesn’t seem to work, that might just be your answer. Match your grip to your club as much as your hand, and eureka, you’ll have a grip that both fits and works. Next time you are buying golf grips (and you do replace them regularly, don’t you?) make sure your supplier isn’t just selling you one that fits your hands – it has to fit the club as well.
The first thing you have to make sure of is that the grip size is correct for your hand size. Grips more or less equate to your glove size, so you’ve got a men’s small (which is also the same as ladies), regular, midsize and large or jumbo. If you haven’t got the right size golf grips, then one that is too small might make the club twist in your hands before impact, leading to a closed clubface and a hooked shot. This occurs because the natural tendency is to tighten grip in the last stages of a swing, causing the twist. If your grips are too large for you, then the opposite happens. You might not be able to grip the club tightly enough, leading to an open clubface and a sliced shot.
There is another, very important, thing to be aware of when measuring up for the right size golf grips, though. You ought to know that grips have an internal core which is different between the different sizes of grip, so one will have a thick inner core and another a thinner core. This makes a difference because it affects how it sits on the shaft – if the shaft is big, i.e. it has a large circumference, then a thin core will be stretched tight around it and compressed, effectively giving you a smaller size grip. A small shaft, with a small circumference, will be the opposite and the core will remain thick and unstretched, resulting in a bigger grip than you expect. Either way, your fingers may end up in the wrong place and while you may feel like you are executing the perfect swing, in reality you end up hooking or slicing the ball.
The relationship between the grip size and the diameter of the club shaft is therefore important, and if you’ve ever wondered why a grip that is apparently the right size for you just doesn’t seem to work, that might just be your answer. Match your grip to your club as much as your hand, and eureka, you’ll have a grip that both fits and works. Next time you are buying golf grips (and you do replace them regularly, don’t you?) make sure your supplier isn’t just selling you one that fits your hands – it has to fit the club as well.
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