When choosing the best golf grip for your driver, you need to look at three characteristics: size, construction material, and weight.

It's all about the grip.

Grip Size

Grip size is extremely important in controlling the club. A grip that is too large may make the club feel loose and can limit a player’s ability to release the wrists through impact, creating a fade or slice. A grip that is too small can cause the club to twist in your hands as a result of unconsciously squeezing the club at the bottom of the swing. This action creates an early wrist release and a closed clubface at impact, resulting in a pull, draw or hook. A properly fitted grip size allows the player to return the clubface to the square position at impact and hit the ball straight. Generally a larger grip (midsize or jumbo) would benefit:

• A player with large hands
• A player who consistently draws or hooks the ball
• A player with arthritis who struggles to hold a smaller grip
• A player whose fingers wrap round the grip and dig into their palm

A smaller grip (ladies or undersized) would benefit:

• A player with small hands
• A player who consistently slices or fades the ball
• A player who requires more club head ‘feel’
• A player whose fingers do not fully encircle the grip

A quick rule of thumb test for gripe size is to wrap your top hand around the grip as if you were preparing to make a swing. The grip size is correct if your middle and ring fingers are lightly touching the pad of your palm near your thumb. If there is space between your fingers and palm then the grip size is too large. If your fingers are digging into your palm then the grip size is too small. To obtain an exact grip fitting, you need to measure your hands in two spots.

1. Measure the distance between your hand’s most prominent wrist crease and the tip of your longest finger. We’ll call this measurement #1.
2. Next measure the length of the longest figure from the web (area between the figures) to the tip. We’ll call this measurement #2

You can determine your recommended grip size using the following chart. Start with measurement one in the first column, then move to measurement 2 in the second column. The final column to the right, column three, shows the recommended grip size.

Grip Material

Most grips are slip-on and come in many different styles and materials. They can be made of wrapped leather, polyurethane, or foam rubber composite. They can be hard, soft, or in between. Hard grips are often built with cord made of cotton. Grips can also be round or be designed with a reminder, which is a line or rib on the underside of the grip that reminds the golfer where the hand should be placed. Different patterns of raised or lower areas can offer varying amounts of traction and improve the firmness of your grip. With such variety, it’s important to find a grip that you feel comfortable with.

Rubber Golf Grip

Rubber

Rubber grips are a blend of liquid rubber and granulated cork, pressure molded and then sanded and painted. They are easy to install, have reminder marks for hand placement and are light and inexpensive.

Polymer Golf Grip

Polymer

EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) is popular material that offers excellent frictional properties and doesn’t wear down as quickly. Royal and Winn are soft grips made of polymer materials.

Leather Golf Grip

Leather

These spiral wrapped grips are made of cowhide or calfskin and have a soft feel to them. However, they are difficult to install, somewhat expensive and are difficult to handle in wet conditions.

Corded Golf Grip

Corded

Rubber grips can also be corded with strands of thread, which creates a rough, non-slip grip that is highly useful in the rain. However, they do tend to wear out gloves quickly. Half-corded grips are also available, with the cording wrapped around the top of the grip where the thumbs are placed. Corded grips also tend to be heavier.  

Grip Weight

Grips range in weight from 20 grams to 70 grams, with the majority available in the 40-55 gram range. Most popular grips weigh around 50 grams. Grip weight is important because it affects the balance of your club which in turn affects your swing weight. It sounds counterintuitive, but decreasing the weight of your grip from 50 grams to 40 grams will actually increase your swing weight up to 2-3 percent depending on the shaft length, club weight, and balance point.

Swing weight and the actual weight of the club are different things. Swing weight is a balance measurement and is the degree to which the club balances toward the club head. Essentially when swing weight increases the club head end of your club feels heavier. This happens when weight is removed from the grip end or added to the club head end using lead tape or other weighted material. This is extremely important because increasing swing weight can slow your swing down, which results in less distance.

So why not just go for the max 70 gram weighted grip? Well, the heavier grip is also going to be larger and adding weight to the grip end will increase the overall weight of the club, which may make it too heavy for many players. So, the best option is to try out a variety of weighted grips within your appropriate grip size range. Try out one that is a bit heavier than normal, and see how it feels. As always, you will need to test various grips to see what is most comfortable for you.

Replacing grips is easy and inexpensive and having the right grips can greatly improve your golf game and give you more distance and accuracy off the tee. You need to make sure you change your grips often enough because over time they will wear out and you will no longer be able to grip the club correctly. On average, grips should be changed every 10 to 15 rounds, or once a season for the average golfer. The more play, the more often you should change your grips. Many pros will even change their grips every round to ensure they have the best feel.

At the end of this article you’ll find two quality retailers who offer grips at very economical prices.  There are many choices and prices range from $1.99 to $19.99 for a single grip.  You can also get packs of 3-13 grips if you’re changing the grips on several clubs or if you’re just hitting the hell out of your driver.  You can save a few bucks on the per unit price by purchasing the packs.

In The Hole! Golf – Feel Golf Full Release Grips (13 Grip Set)
Austad’s Golf – Golf Pride Decade Multi-compound Grips

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