Your golf grip size is far more important than you probably think. It is the single-most influential piece of equipment forgotten by most golfers, and getting it wrong can cause inconsistent shots, from big hooks to nasty slices, without you ever realizing the true source of the problem. This guide will walk you through exactly how grip size affects your swing, how to tell if yours is wrong, and straightforward steps to find the perfect fit for your hands.
Yes, absolutely. Think of it this way: the grip is your one and only connection to the golf club. Every ounce of power, feel, and control you transfer into the club head has to travel through your hands and down the shaft. If that connection point, the grip itself, doesn't fit your hands properly, the rest of your swing will need to make compensations to get the clubface back to the ball correctly.
A poorly sized grip can fundamentally alter your hand and wrist mechanics during the swing. It can either restrict your hands or allow them to become too active, both of which lead to big problems with clubface control at the moment of impact. It’s like trying to write your signature with a marker that’s as thick as a rolling pin or as thin as a toothpick - your hand can't function naturally, and the result is sloppy. In golf, a "sloppy" result means a ball flying far from its intended target.
A grip that is too narrow for your hands is one of the most common causes of a hook (a shot that curves hard from right to left for a right-handed golfer). Here’s why and what to look for.
When a grip is too small, it allows your hands - particularly your bottom hand - to become overly active and rotational during the swing. Your fingers wrap too far around the grip, encouraging a tendency to “flip” or snap your wrists through impact. This rapid closing of the clubface causes the hook. You might feel powerful, but that power is uncontrolled, leading to snap hooks that dive out of the air.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a grip that is too thick is a classic recipe for a slice (a shot that curves significantly from left to right for a right-handed golfer).
A grip that's too big for your hands does the exact opposite of one that's too small: it inhibits your ability to release the club. Your wrists are restricted, and you simply cannot rotate your forearms and square the clubface in time for impact. As a result, the clubface arrives at the ball in an "open" position, delivering a glancing blow that imparts slice-spin on the ball. This is often accompanied by a loss of distance, as you're not efficiently transferring energy into the ball.
Fortunately, you don’t have to guess. There’s a very simple and reliable method for finding the right grip size for you. It combines a general guideline with a specific a physical check.
Your golf glove size provides an excellent initial benchmark for honing in on your ideal grip size. While this isn’t an exact science, it will get you into the right category. Here is a general guide:
Think of this as your starting reference. It helps narrow down the options, but the next step is what confirms the perfect fit.
This is the gold standard for checking your grip size and it takes about ten seconds to do. Follow these instructions carefully:
Use what you find here to validate the glove size method. If you wear a medium glove but your fingers are digging into your palm on a standard grip, you may need a grip that’s slightly larger than standard. This leads us to the finer points of customization.
Sometimes, you fall in between standard manufactured sizes. A standard grip might feel just a hair too small, while a midsize feels a little too bulky. This is where the magic of build-up tape comes into play.
A golf-specific, double-sided tape is used to install any grip. By adding extra wraps of this tape around the shaft before sliding the new grip on, a club fitter can make minute adjustments to the final thickness. A single extra wrap of tape increases the grip diameter by approximately 1/64 of an inch. While that sounds tiny, your hands are highly sensitive, and you can definitely feel the difference.
This fine-tuning allows for a truly customized fit that aligns perfectly with your hand size and, just as importantly, your personal preference for feel. Don't be afraid to experiment. When you get new grips, ask the fitter to build up one or two clubs with extra tape so you can feel the difference yourself.
Correct grip size is one of the most effective and affordable ways to improve your ball striking and eliminate a consistent hook or slice. It's a foundational element of your equipment that directly allows your hands to work properly within the golf swing, giving you better control and more confidence over every shot.
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