Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Fun Golf Thing To Do in the Winter


Actually this isn't much fun. I needed a headline that might get someone's attention.

Regardless, this is a necessary and inexpensive step that will actually help your game. I, and some others call it regripping. Most average golfers are unaware when their grips need to be changed. Their grips either wear or become slippery due to body oils from the hands or just flat out dirty. We never think about it while playing a round or the rest of the time when our clubs are in the trunk of our car. You'd be amazed at the difference new grips can add. When grips are worn or slippery you have to grip the club tighter resulting in tension, the killer of average golfer's swings.

First see if yours appear to be worn. If not, just wash them in warm, soapy water, (dish liquid is ideal), and dry. That usually restores the tackiness and saves you a few bucks. If they're worn you have two options. Pay to have them replaced by a competent replacer person or do it yourself. Most golf supply companies will sell you everything needed in kit form. I'd stay away from the discount walk-in stores with generic rubber grips for sale. They're most likely cheap rubber grips that won't last very long. The online suppliers offer virtually every grip made. Winn, Golf Pride, Lamkin, to name a few. The only thing you'll need to provide is a vise to hold the clubs steady and a utility knife to remove the old grips. Here's a link to step-by-step instructions on how to regrip your clubs. Golfsmith Clubmaker. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can. I regrip about once a year which equals about fifty rounds. About every ten or so rounds I wash my grips.

Before you order a kit make sure you are using the correct size grip. If a grip is too small your swing will be "wristy" and too "handsy" making control difficult. If they're too large it will be less "wristy" and make it difficult to fully release the clubhead through impact. Here's a Grip Selection Guide to help you find the correct size. I've fitted people that were using the wrong size grip and when they played with the correct size they were amazed at the difference in their game. Same with regripping. I had one fellow who was ready to sell his entire set of clubs. After I regripped them he was ecstatic with them and his results.

So, boring post? Yes. Necessary? Yes. Do it now. When your local course opens, you'll be focused on playing.

Til' next,

4 comments:

  1. Nice Blog! Just one side note: You don't want clean the Winn Grips with soap and water. It may potentially ruin the grip. Soap and water is fine for rubber grips from the other manufacturers, however, Winn uses polymer for their grips and polymer may not react to fondly with soap and water, you'll lose the tacky feel. Rubbing alcohol or golfsmiths grip cleaner solution work best to clean a Winn grip. Hope this helps!
    www.adventureslogger.com

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  2. Thanks Adrian. I made the correction in a separate post.

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  3. Hello
    I thank you for the info, I checked my grips and sure enough they could use a cleaning. I don’t grip very hard so I find they last me about a year. I do play with a couple of guys that you can see finger marks in their grips. What about the grooves , can they be redone at a fair price?

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  4. Depends on what you consider fair. www.golfworks.com offers regrooving. Keep in mind that if a club has a chrome finish the chrome must be stripped off and then has to be rechromed after regrooving. I can't justify the investment for how little it's requested. Also, USGA groove guidelines must be upheld after the process. They're easily found on the USGA website.

    Keep in mind that many players think their clubs need regrooving, when in fact they just need cleaning. The grooves are filled with years of accumulated flotsam and jetsam.

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