When you get new golf clubs, don’t you just love how brand new grips feel? All that tacky feeling makes you think you could never miss a shot. For me I have always loved the feeling of the rubber and cotton material that make up a cord golf grip. To me a new grip on a club feels like I can control the club face better, which makes me have more confidence to hit the ball straighter and further.
When I feel like a grip is starting to lose its tackiness, the grip may move ever so slightly in my hands and it could cause me to hit a shot a chunky or hit it a little thin. Has this ever happened to you? Maybe it happened to you during the hot summer months when your hands are perspiring and you can feel the grips twist during or after your swing.
Golf grips, whether they are a Rubber grips like a Golf Pride, Lamkin, or Super Stroke, or even the grips from Winn, can become slick. Grips can dry rot due to the oils on your hands, UV light, dirt, and other natural elements that wear down the rubber or synthetic rubber and eventually cause the grips to lose their tackiness and traction.
When to Replace Your Grips
A general rule of the thumb is the more you play and practice, the more you will need to replace your grips. Most companies will say to replace your grips every 75 rounds of golf or once a year, depending how much you play. So ask yourself: when is the last time you changed your golf grips? If you’re someone who doesn’t like to change their equipment very often, then re-gripping your clubs needs to become routine maintenance, almost like changing the oil in your vehicle. How can you tell if your grips need to be replaced? It’s easy, if you can look at the grips and see a shiny substance or the grips themselves are starting to crack near the bottom, there’s a good chance that you need to get them replaced.
Get the Best Fit
Did you know that you could be using the incorrect size golf grip? Have you ever had a grip fitting? Why is getting your golf grips properly fitted just as important as getting your clubs custom fitted for your swing? The answer is simple: the grips could be too small or even too big for your hands. What does having the proper sized golf grip do for your golf game? If the grip is too small or to big then you may have too much or not enough tension in your hands which can cause the errant hook or sliced shot. If there is too much or not enough tension in your hands then you could be losing swing speed which can result in less yardage off of a drive or iron shot!
As the weather gets warmer and more rounds of golf are beginning to be played, stop in the golf shop and let’s talk about how the correct golf grip and golf grip maintenance can start saving you strokes on your very next round!
Justin Riker, River Landing Assistant Golf Pro
Interested in finding your swing and perfecting your golf game?
Come to our River Landing Golf Academy. We have eight dates scheduled for 2019, all packed with three days of lessons with our highly qualified golf professionals on our two Top 50 golf courses. Click the link below to find out more and book your River Landing Golf Academy experience.
