- 3 years ago
From oversized SuperStroke grips to traditional tapered models, the choice of putter grips has never been greater. Learn about the latest technology and what to look for when selecting a new grip to gain more confidence and hole more putts.
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00:00 Hi guys, Neil Tappan and Joel Tappan here from Golf Monthly and in this video we are
00:07 looking at putter grips, both the grip that you have on the club and the way in which
00:11 you hold it.
00:12 Now, over the last five or ten years we've seen a lot of players out on tour holding
00:17 their putter in slightly different ways, from claw grips to left below right, right below
00:22 left, even two thumb grips you see are being used regularly out on tour.
00:25 So there are lots of different methods that people are using and I think that has led
00:30 to a whole host of different grips being launched into the putter market.
00:34 So your choice of putter grips is bigger now than it's ever been and it's a really important
00:39 decision to make because the choice of grip you put on your putter will largely depend
00:45 on the technique that you use.
00:47 Talk us through the options that people have.
00:49 Definitely yeah, I mean we've got a load of grips in front of us here, they come in a
00:52 whole host of different shapes, sizes and textures so it's important you try different
00:57 ones to see which ones feel right for you.
01:00 I'm just talking through how they vary.
01:04 Traditional putter grips, this is kind of similar to a traditional putter grip where
01:07 it's larger at the top, so wider at the top and then it tapers towards the bottom.
01:12 So what that essentially does is it means that you're gripping the putter grip with
01:17 different pressures in each hand which means if it's narrow at the bottom your right hand
01:21 will be holding it a bit tighter which means it might be a bit more active in the stroke
01:25 which is why Superstroke, a common putter brand, there are obviously a lot of different
01:29 putter grip brands out there, but Superstroke kind of pioneered that no taper design so
01:34 you can see it's the same width at the top as it is at the bottom and that means that
01:37 you're applying equal pressure to the grip from both hands which means they should be
01:42 less active or equally imparting force on the putter so your stroke should be a little
01:48 bit more consistent.
01:49 One quick thing Joel, so the tapered version that you've got there, what sort of player
01:54 should be looking out for that because there is a benefit to having a slightly firmer grip
01:59 pressure in your lower hand isn't there?
02:00 Yes, so if you're struggling to release the putter, if you need a more active right hand
02:04 so perhaps you miss putts to the right a little bit more.
02:07 Or maybe your distance control isn't very good so you feel like you need that flow through
02:11 the ball a bit better.
02:12 Yes, if you're more of a field player rather than a mechanical player you might want to
02:16 feel like your right hand is a little bit more active through stroke.
02:19 Another way you can do that is by running the right finger down the bottom of the grip
02:22 during your stroke.
02:23 We saw Ian Poulter do that on tour, he won on tour recently by changing his putter grip
02:27 to having that finger running down the back of the grip there and that's because he felt
02:31 like he needed a little bit more help releasing the putter so that's another way you can do
02:35 it.
02:36 Ok, so from there and that Superstroke grip that's even all the way through, there are
02:41 strangely, you might think ok that's fine, those are two good options, but there's a
02:45 lot more to talk about besides these two right?
02:47 Yes of course, we've got a load of different grips here, we talked about the taper in this
02:50 direction so the width, the top and bottom, but you'll notice a lot of putter grips are
02:54 wider at the top in this direction so from the side on view and that's designed to fit
02:59 more between the pads of your top hand a little bit more easily so you get a bit more stability
03:05 in the grip, better control in that top hand which is really important.
03:08 Yes, that's certainly what I've got in my Scotty Cameron here and as Joel said the putter
03:14 really is designed to sit in between those two pads isn't it?
03:16 Yes, you don't want the wrist to be involved here so you really want the angle of the shaft
03:20 as close to your forearm as you can when you're addressing the ball, you don't want to have
03:24 a big angle between your arm and your putter shaft because that means your wrist is going
03:29 to be more involved so the more you can use your shoulders during the stroke rather than
03:33 your wrist, so keeping this all in one line and just rocking the shoulders you should
03:36 be a more consistent putter that way.
03:39 So what are the other options that we've got to show people?
03:41 So we've got a wider super stroke here, so this is the slim 3.0, I think they do do much
03:46 bigger ones as well but this is essentially for people who like the feel of a larger putter
03:52 grip, so you've got larger hands potentially or your grip that you choose, i.e. the way
03:57 you hold the putter is more leaning towards this style of grip so for example if you have
04:02 a two thumb, if you want to go for the two thumb style so having your hands together
04:06 with your thumbs together like that, a larger grip is obviously important to do that.
04:10 They come in a lot of different shapes as well in terms of the leading edge, you can
04:14 get ones that have a narrow front edge or a wide front edge depending on, it's all down
04:18 to personal preference, at the end of the day it needs to feel comfortable in your hands
04:21 so it's really important to try a load of different ones, just going back to that two
04:25 thumb grip, sorry Tavis, the one thing that's really good about that two thumb grip, obviously
04:29 it gets your shoulders level but it also, because your hands are facing each other it
04:34 means that your alignment should be pretty square, you know you haven't got one arm climbing
04:38 on top of the putter this way or underneath the other way because they're level, your
04:42 shoulders should be square to the target or parallel left to the target with your putter.
04:47 Yeah, it should be a really very solid technical putting stroke right and then also by having
04:52 your hands like that, I guess it encourages you to have a little bit less wrist hinge,
04:57 keeps the putter more stable.
04:59 Yeah, definitely which might help on short putts, some people struggle with long putts
05:02 when they have that type of grip but for most golfers it might be a way to be more consistent
05:07 for sure.
05:08 Yeah, as I say it's one of those that you will see players using out on tour, I've got
05:11 a feeling that Bernd Wiesberger uses that at the moment to keep an eye out for him.
05:14 Matt Wallace as well I think, Matt Wallace uses it as well.
05:18 Right, what else have we got?
05:19 Well this is an interesting one from Superstroke, again like I said there are other brands,
05:23 we've got a golf pipe one down here which is really good but this is the counter core
05:27 technology so there's actually a weight here that kind of, you can pull it out and adjust
05:31 the weight on the top to adjust the feel of the putter, feel is really important obviously
05:36 with controlling distance and accuracy and all those sorts of things so by adjusting
05:40 the weight of the putter you can kind of tweak the way it feels and suits your putting stroke.
05:46 So Joel you can change the feel of the putter in your hands by changing that weight in the
05:51 top but that's not a dual balanced or counter balanced putter grip is it?
05:55 It's making it feel more like a counter balanced putter so as we know counter balanced putters
05:59 are heavier at the bottom and heavier at the top just to make it feel more stable and smoother
06:04 and this is one way you can kind of promote that a little bit by using a conventional
06:08 length grip so if you want a heavier putter or a lighter feeling putter that's one way
06:13 you can do that.
06:14 Yeah and it's one that, it's quite a nice piece of technology that because if you're
06:18 buying the grip with the brand of putter you might get a dual balanced or a counter balanced
06:23 putter grip in it, this one allows you to kind of set it in exactly the way that you
06:26 want so it's kind of worth thinking about.
06:29 There is, as you said, there's also a golf pride grip down there which has got a slightly
06:32 different feel to it to the other super stroke grips right?
06:35 This is the Bator sensor from golf pride and it's a really soft feeling grip and I think
06:40 it's definitely one you should try, it's not tapered so you should feel like even pressure
06:46 in both hands but it's just a different type of feel, all different putter grips have different
06:50 textures on the surface, the super stroke has like a plus pattern, this has something
06:55 similar but it does feel very different because it's made of a softer material so it's really
06:58 worth trying as many different ones as you can.
07:01 All our hands are different sizes and shapes so they're all going to suit you in different
07:05 ways so it's trying as many as you can and finding the one that feels the best in your
07:08 hands.
07:09 Now Joel, over your, I know as a fact that over your golfing career, you've used a few
07:14 different grips yourself, like ways of holding the putter, what have you gone for, what have
07:19 been the sort of feelings that you've had from those different grips?
07:21 Yeah, I mean so you might find this relevant to your game and it's definitely worth trying
07:25 so for me I started with the conventional right below left with the finger kind of running
07:29 alongside the other fingers and then I changed to having the finger running down the line
07:34 of the putter, felt like that kind of took the wrists out a little bit more, again that's
07:38 something you can try and then I was really struggling with short putts and I changed
07:42 from conventional to left below right, Jordan Spieth a few years ago was holding a lot of
07:46 putts that way so I thought I'd give it a try and that actually felt for me like I really
07:51 was a lot more proficient on short putts, I didn't look at the hole, I wasn't that good
07:55 at them, it just felt like the back of the left wrist wasn't breaking down as much so
08:01 I wasn't flicking at the putter at all and if you tend to have that fault in your stroke
08:05 that's a really good way of combating that, you can even wear a watch and put a pencil
08:08 down there as a drill to stop it from breaking down but for me that left below right just
08:13 felt like the back of the left hand was going towards the target and there was no flicking
08:18 at all during that stroke and I was really good at short putts for a while, I think they
08:22 kind of go in and out of fashion grips and some grips work for a while and then suddenly
08:26 they stop working and it's something you can change really quickly so it's just trying
08:30 what works for you and then it might just suddenly stop working and you can always change
08:34 back so it's just what feels comfortable at the time.
08:37 I would agree with what you just said, if you are struggling with your putting try a
08:40 different grip because it gives you that different feel and it's a bit like resetting your brain,
08:45 for a long time now I've been using a claw grip and I felt like my right hand was way
08:50 too active, if anyone has suffered with the yips it's such a debilitating thing in golf,
08:54 I've certainly suffered with it in the past myself and by taking the palm of the right
08:58 hand off the putter and having it running like this, suddenly no problems in that regard
09:03 and now for me putting would, I wouldn't say it's the strongest part of my game but it's
09:07 definitely not the weakest area of my game, I'm throwing away shots on the golf course
09:11 in other areas more readily than I am on the green with the putter and that's down to the
09:16 claw grip and I feel like if I could have started again from scratch I might have even
09:20 just started with the claw, I know it can look a little bit ungainly and people think
09:25 you're struggling with your putting but actually if it resets your brain and you feel comfortable
09:29 with it then go for it, that would be my advice.
09:32 And there's a whole host of golfers on tour that have switched to the claw grip and got
09:35 some really good success, you've got Tommy Fleetwood, Webb Simpson, one at Sawgrass using
09:40 the claw grip, obviously he uses that anchored style stroke, we've seen it with Soren Keltz
09:45 as well who runs it along the inside of his forearm, obviously he's got a lot of loft
09:49 on his putter, I think he's got 6 degrees of loft because he's got so much shaft lean
09:52 but that's another way, we're talking about so many different runs, but that's probably
09:57 a fifth or sixth way you can hope potentially make the putter more stable, less face rotation
10:02 and more consistent so, you know, worth a try.
10:06 So there you have it, putting as Joel's just said is a feel game and whatever works for
10:10 you works, there are some technical principles at work within putting that are good for everyone,
10:15 everyone to have, but beyond that it is an individual game and one putting stroke really
10:20 won't look a lot like another one and that's why it's definitely worth experimenting with
10:24 different styles of grip and different types of grip on your putter, just to change the
10:28 feeling in your hands, find something that's right for you and then you might just be able
10:31 to hold a few more putts.
10:33 Guys, thank you very much for watching, if you have any questions about any of this stuff
10:36 and we have sort of whisked through it all, there is a lot to understand, a lot to learn,
10:41 if you're thinking about buying a putter or a new grip, leave a comment below, leave a
10:44 question and we'll get back to you with some hopefully some advice and some thoughts from
10:48 us, but from here, from Frilford Heath for now, it's goodbye.
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