New grips - Advice please

milltown

I'd like people's opinions on getting new grips fitted to my irons. There's nothing wrong with the grips on them at the moment but I was thinking of going for a slightly oversize grip. Not the Gulliver's Travels job you see on some putters, just slightly fatter than what's on them now.

Reason being, I have big hands and find that after a round some of my knuckles are a bit sore, particularly the left index finger. I use an overlapping grip and I know a large part of the problem is me gripping too tight, to the extent that when I make an effort to relax my grip I can hit it longer and straighter. So I was thinking if I had thicker grips the club would feel more secure in my fingers and I would be less inclined to grip so tight.

Any thoughts?

Also, if there's a choice of oversize grips, what should I go for? I was thinking of going for corded grips as I play through the winter in all weathers.

FlutterinBantam

Lampkin FTW.

TBH if your knuckles are sore after playing you are gripping too tight... like an open tube of toothpaste:D

Adiaga 2

Those golf pride new decade multi something look pretty snazzy. Sergio uses them.. :cool:

Mid size would be your best bet I'd say. And if your grip size is too small, this could cause you to grip too tight. I use standard grips myself but on holidays last year played with a hire set with midsize grips fitted. They felt great and promoted a lighter grip I thought also. I still have changed mine though..

stringy

any of the golf pride mid size grips should do the trick. I've big hands and use 'em

ShriekingSheet

Most decent pro-shops have grip measurers which actually tell you the recommended grip size for your hands. Sizes are numberd from 1 to I think 7 but anything over 5 is pretty silly. I'm 6 ft 4 and am a size three which is slightly larger than average. I find mine very comfortable. I'd highly recommend ringing round the pro-shops or retailers in your area and just checking if they've any way of measuring the size of a grip for an individual. They'll most likely have an example on a club so you can hold it before deciding. Going on your own instinct or on what a sales guy thinks by looking at you is risky and possibly costly. If you can't find somewhere that'll measure you up go to a pro shop and talk to a pro about a few different examples of sizes which you can hold there and then.

I got mine off Brendan MacDaid in Rathsallagh if that's anywhere near you.

As for grip style, this is entirely personal. Yes chord grips can be slightly better in the rain but these can be harsh on some people's hands. There's the option of half chord which might suit better but chordless Tour Velvet are very decent in the rain. Touch and hold EVERYTHING before you decide. Whatever you pick, there's a lot to be said for covering your bag and having enough towels to hand in the rain. If you do this succesfully you can use any grips in any weather.

Oh one more thing, I'd definitely advise against thicker grips on your SW and LW. You'll lose feel by thickening the grips and this can take away from your short game.

TheDoc

i jsut ordered a set of golf pride multicompound orange grips.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130139696949&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=003

This grips are rare in ireland and must be ordered in, total price costing over 130 euros.

I bought the grips myself for 60 and will have my friend apply them and drop him a few euros.

Its definatly worth buying your grips online and then going to have them fitted...works out cheaper.

Usually getting clubs gripped are ten euro a club, with generic grips, thats 90 euro usually.

But you can get nice grips and get them fitted for much cheaper.

milltown

Thanks for the advice. I work with my hands so they wouldn't be the softest to begin with. I'm not a club member so Golf Works in Lucan would be the handiest. I seem to recall them having a fairly decent range of grips when I got my last set regripped.

I'd probably just be looking at doing 4 to 9 irons anyway. The 3 iron is only in the bag to make up the set, and occasionally knock a ball out from under trees. I'd be leaving the wedges well enough alone as I agree with the feel comment and it'd be rare enough that I'd be making a full enough swing with them that I'd be gripping as tight as on another full iron shot.

Mister Sifter

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

i jsut ordered a set of golf pride multicompound orange grips.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130139696949&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=003

This grips are rare in ireland and must be ordered in, total price costing over 130 euros.

I bought the grips myself for 60 and will have my friend apply them and drop him a few euros.

Its definatly worth buying your grips online and then going to have them fitted...works out cheaper.

Usually getting clubs gripped are ten euro a club, with generic grips, thats 90 euro usually.

But you can get nice grips and get them fitted for much cheaper.

buying them yourself is definitely the way to go. I also fit all my own grips too. Easy enough to do.

milltown

Cheers guys.
Popped into Golfworks today and, as I suspected, the range of oversize grips was poor enough. On the positive side, they had enough samples there for me to conclude that midsize is big enough. So I ordered a set of Golf pride new decade grips and some grip tape off Ebay to have a go myself. Looks handy enough to fit them but I'll start with the afforementioned 3 iron just in case.

Quick question for anyone who has gripped clubs before; is there any reason that Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) shouldn't work as a solvent for fitting? I ask because it's abundant in work, where I'll be fitting them with the aid of a sturdy soft jaw vice.

Adiaga 2

You should be fine to regrip yourself. The hardest part is removing the old ones. If you haven't checked it out already, there's a short video on the golf pride website demonstating the process. I used household white spirits. A tip: Be sure not to stretch/pull the new grip on too far down the shaft when fitting it - this will reduce the size. Also before you remove the old ones put a piece of tape on the shaft and mark where the centre line should be - it will help lining up the new grips.

clog

the new decade grips are a bit trickier to fit than normal grips as the bottom half of the grip is much softer than the top, for that reason i would advise you not to use IPA as it will evaporate much quicker than white spirits giving you less time to fix if you have a problem. Just remember to really soak the inside of the grip and the tape with the solvent, too much is not a problem too little and it's a stuck and ruined grip

ShriekingSheet

I can't disagree more with this idea of gripping your clubs yourself without having tried it before or gotten proper guidance. I worked in a shop in my late teens and gripped loads of sets of clubs but it was only after a few weeks when I'd done 20 sets or more (apologies if anyone here was one of those first ten people!) would I have gone anywhere near my own.

Ah, I wasn't just let at it only with the disaster-preventing supervision of an experienced person did I get away with a passable job on the first few sets.

If you're strapped for cash and really not that serious about golf then I wouldn't bother getting new grips in the first place. But for the sake of the few quid and the hassle it could cause if one goes arse ways... it's just not worth it.

Dollars to donuts, on your first try you'll end up with set of slightly misalligned irons, some closed, some open. Disatser if you ask me.

colm-ccfc84

I think I am going to regrip my irons and two of my wedges. If I buy the grips online will a golf shop fit them for me? ( tried it before with my putter and made a balls of it). Any idea how much a shop would charge say per club?

colm-ccfc84

colm-ccfc84 wrote:

If I buy the grips online will a golf shop fit them for me? ( tried it before with my putter and made a balls of it). Any idea how much a shop would charge say per club?

Anyone?

ShriekingSheet

colm-ccfc84 wrote:

( tried it before with my putter and made a balls of it). Any idea how much a shop would charge say per club?

I highly doubt a shop will fit grips purchased online.

most people make a balls of grips the first few times they try and fit them

clog

colm, Id say a shop would fit the grips for you especially as its only your wedges and putter. Make some remarks about possibly having them re-grip the rest of your set and I doubt you would have a problem. Its an easy job for them and they know that if they keep you happy you will probably return with more business for them.
as for cost about 5 euro each

colm-ccfc84

clog wrote:

colm, Id say a shop would fit the grips for you especially as its only your wedges and putter. Make some remarks about possibly having them re-grip the rest of your set and I doubt you would have a problem. Its an easy job for them and they know that if they keep you happy you will probably return with more business for them.
as for cost about 5 euro each

I rang Golf Works in Wilton before I bought them and they said they would fit them (9) for about 20euro, reasonable I think. I ordered from the same seller as the other poster did and got the new decades also.

TheDoc

i brought my putter grip into ashbourne golf club and Mark O Mahony did it in 5 minutes perfect for free, hes a mate and all but hes very very very reasonable priced doing grips.

Hes going to do my set for me 2moro.

milltown

Sorry to all the naysayers but I just re-gripped my clubs tonight and was amazed at how easy it was, with a bit of preparation and forethought. Probably the single most important thing to have is a good vice and a set of soft jaws for it.

As I said at first, I was just going to do the 3 iron and see how that went. Five minutes later I was back out at the car for the rest of them and had the whole lot done in about 30 minutes.

Many thanks to the DOC for suggesting buying the grips on Ebay. Aside from the selection, I think the cheapest grip option in GolfWorks was €11 a pop. I now have a spanky new set of new decade multi compound gripped clubs for half what it would have cost for a semi decent set from GolfWorks, and half an hour of my time (that work were kindly paying me for anyway).

Shrieking Sheet's advice may be sound in general re: the alignment but when I first take a hold of the club, yes it's the grip I'm looking at, but before I take a swing I'll be looking at the head of the club behind the ball and adjusting my grip and stance to get the head sitting how I want it.

My €0.02. If you have the facilities, half a brain in your head and you're happy working with your hands, don't be afraid.

Adiaga 2

milltown wrote:

Sorry to all the naysayers but I just re-gripped my clubs tonight and was amazed at how easy it was, with a bit of preparation and forethought.

Not surprised at all. Glad it worked out for ya.

Golf Ninja

Sounds like you need a set of winn grips they are soft spongy kind of feel to them there are also thicker than the normal so good option for you.
I would goto a golf shop and ask them to have a look at what grip thickness you need.
There is away of checking

stockdam

I've regripped my own clubs and am surprised that anyone would say that it's tricky to get right. Just don't try to force them on or stretch them - use enough solvent.

As somebody also said - put a bit of masking tape on your irons before you remove the old grips and mark the centre line - use this to align the new grips.