The How, When, and Whys of Changing Your Golf Grips

If you are a serious golfer, you probably pay pretty close attention to your equipment.

You read articles about the new gear to hit the market, you visit your local pro for a launch monitor fitting, and you replace your wedges before the grooves become too worn.

Sound a lot like you?  If so, you know that while good gear will never make up for a bad swing, it is no secret that the right equipment can help lead you to lower scores.  

With all of that said, there is still one piece of the equipment puzzle which you are likely ignoring – your grips.

Each club in your bag has a grip on the opposite end from the head, and those grips are important.

Quality grips which remain in good condition can make it easier to produce good shots. Poor grips, on the other hand, or grips which have been worn out, will make the game harder than it needs to be.  

It’s All About Traction 

You don’t want your hands to be slipping on the grip while trying to make a swing. There are already enough variables to worry about within a golf swing, so you don’t want to have to think about how the club might be twisting in your hands.

By using quality grips that have been well cared for, you should be able to plan on maintaining a firm grip from start to finish.  

Rather than replacing worn grips, some golfers just start to hang on tighter in an effort to control the club. Not surprisingly, this is a big mistake.

Adding tension to your hands and wrists during the swing is going to cost you speed, and it will be difficult to maintain your rhythm as well.  

Replace Before It’s Too Late 

When your grips start to wear out, there is only one appropriate action – have them replaced. With new grips, you should have no trouble holding on to the club comfortably throughout your swing.

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Rather than waiting until a club goes flying out of your hands during a swing to do something about your grips, take action as soon as you notice any loss of traction.  

Unfortunately, we can’t tell you exactly how often you will need to change your grips. That is going to depend on a number of factors, including how often you play, where you play, what kind of grips you use, etc. Also, the amount of care that you provide for your grips on an ongoing basis will impact their longevity as well.  

The best thing you can do with regard to replacing your grips in a timely manner is simply to pay attention.

Have you noticed a slight loss in traction lately?

Are you having trouble controlling the club on wet days, or when your hands are sweaty?

As soon as signs of wear and tear start to pop up, it would be a good idea to begin looking for replacements.  

Shop in Person 

You don’t need us to tell you that it is common to buy golf equipment online these days. Many golfers prefer to shop for their gear on the web, so they can quickly compare prices and read reviews – and they can save a trip to the local course or shopping center. However, there are some things that you still need to do in person, even in this high-tech world.

When getting ready to buy a new set of grips, your best bet will be to visit your local pro shop to feel the options for yourself.  

In this case, reviews left by other golfers aren’t going to do you much good. Grips are all about feel, and your own personal feel is going to be different from every other player.

You might be able to use reviews to judge things like overall quality and durability, but the feel of the grip is still going to be a personal matter. By shopping in person, you can hold each grip option for yourself before deciding which will be the winner.  

Another benefit to shopping for grips in person is the fact that many golf shops will install them for free when you purchase the grips right there in the store. If you were to buy grips online and then take them in for installation, you would naturally have to pay a fee. That fee would almost certainly wipe out any savings you could find by shopping digitally.  

Grip Upkeep is Important 

Compared to the rest of the gear in your golf bag, grips aren’t terribly expensive. The driver you use may have cost a few hundred dollars, while each individual grip costs only a few bucks.

However, a little bit of quick math can show you just how fast that cost will add up.

Let’s imagine for a moment that you decide on a new grip which costs $8. If you have that grip installed on all of your clubs other than the putter, you will need to purchase 13 of them. Multiplying the number of grips by the cost of the grip leaves you with a total expense of over $100. That might not break the bank, but it isn’t exactly cheap, either.  

The point here is this – it is in your own best interest to do a good job of maintaining your grips as times moves along. One of the best ways to do that is to simply wipe them down with a damp cloth when you are done playing (if you can use soapy water to wet the cloth, that would be even better).

The oils on your skin will be transferred to the grip as you play, and they will build up over time. A quick wipe down will clean the surface of the grip and leave it feeling slightly tacky for your next round. This maintenance step only takes a few moments, but it can greatly extend the useful life of your grips.  

It is important to have quality grips on your golf clubs. As you know, golf is an extremely hard game already, and it doesn’t need to be made harder by the use of poor or worn-out grips.

Keep up with your grip maintenance tasks and replace the grips as necessary to make sure you always have a firm grasp on the club.  

Cover Image via Flickr