Golf Grips – Are Yours Costing You Strokes?
Have your golf grips seen better days? Has it been a while since you thought about regripping your clubs? If so, then the answer to the title question is most likely, yes! If you are playing golf with worn, slick grips, you are going to lose strokes out on the course. How is that possible? Let’s take a closer look.
Whenever you hit a golf shot right on the “sweet spot” of the club it’s a great feeling, right? There is no “thud” or vibration and the ball seems to jump off the clubface. To the contrary, off center hits produce both of those feelings plus you get a weakened (bad) shot. In addition, the torque produced by off center hits results in a twisting motion right up the shaft.
If you are trying to keep a solid grasp on a twisting club (that has worn grips), you are in trouble. Golfers know from experience that even a slight twist during a golf shot can mean loss of direction and distance. Instead of your ball ending up on the green, it can squirt off to the right or left and maybe into a bunker. That will cost you strokes. Sure, you could try to hold the club with a “death grip” to try to stop any twisting, but that may make your shot/stroke even worse.
Off center hits are irritating enough. However, there are several other equally common situations out on the course that can introduce the potential for a twisting motion and associated problems. For example:
-Uphill Lies
-Downhill Lies
-Heavy Rough
-Cold Hands
-Wet or Sweaty Hands
-And more
How many times during a round of golf will you find yourself in a place like some of those above? If you are like me, that could be a big number. So how many strokes would you lose? Would it be two, three, or maybe four in a round?
If you are not in the ideal “middle of the fairway” position there is usually some potential for worn grips to be a problem. The odds are going to catch up with you and lost strokes will be the result. Golf is fun, but losing strokes is not. What if a couple of stokes cost you a match with your buddy? That is painful!
For some reason, lots of us amateur golfers play with grips that have seen better days. We all know that our grips get worn, slick and deteriorate over time. However, we delay regripping our clubs way, way too long. We have thought about taking our clubs out or learning how to regrip clubs ourselves, but just have not done it. Maybe the reason is cost. Or, maybe it’s the hassle of dropping off and picking clubs up at a shop somewhere. Whatever the reason, sadly, the result will be lost strokes.
It doesn’t have to be that way. The simple answer is to clean and/or regrip your clubs from time to time. There is no better way to keep your clubs in A-1 shape. Fresh grips will allow you to have your full potential in each swing. Take them out or regrip them yourself. Either way, it’s the best way to keep strokes from getting away from you.