Your connection to the putter is the single most important factor for controlling speed and direction, yet the putting grip is often the most neglected part of a golfer's game. Unlike the power-driven grip for a full swing, the putting grip is all about finesse, feel, and stability. This article will show you the fundamental principles of a solid putting grip and walk you through the most popular styles so you can find the one that gives you a confident, repeatable stroke and helps you hole more putts.
To understand how to hold a putter, we first need to know why it’s not the same as holding a driver or an iron. A full swing is about generating speed and leveraging the club's angle. This requires wrist hinge and a full-body athletic motion. A putting stroke, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. The goal is to remove variables, simplify the motion, and create a consistent pendulum.
The job of a good putting grip is to quiet the small, twitchy muscles in your hands and wrists. When you get "wristy" or "flippy," you introduce unwanted variables that make it nearly impossible to control the putter face and your putt's distance. A solid grip takes the hands out of the equation and unites them, allowing your bigger, more reliable muscles - your shoulders and torso - to rock back and forth, guiding the putter on a smooth path.
Think of it this way: your putting grip creates the stable platform, and your shoulders create the engine. Get the platform right, and the engine will run smoothly every time.
While there are several popular styles, a handful of non-negotiable principles apply to all of them. Whether you use a reverse overlap, a claw grip, or something in between, these fundamentals should be the foundation of your hold.
The goal of the stroke is to return the putter face to the ball perfectly square to your intended line. The easiest way to promote this is to have your hands working together, not against each other. By placing your palms so they face each other on the grip, you create a neutral hand position. If one hand is turned too much one way or the other (what we'd call a "strong" or "weak" grip in a full swing), it will have a tendency to want to rotate back to its natural position during the stroke, twisting the clubface open or closed. Parallel palms keep the system quiet and encourage the putter face to stay square from start to finish.
With an iron or wood, you hold the club more in your fingers to create leverage and encourage wrist hinge. For putting, we want to do the opposite. To reduce wrist movement, you should place the grip more in the lifeline of your lead hand (the left hand for a right-handed golfer). This positions the club more in line with your forearm, effectively turning your hand, wrist, and forearm into a single, stable unit. This makes it much more difficult for your wrist to break down during the stroke.
Your trail hand (the right hand) will then connect to the grip in a way that aligns with your lead hand, reinforcing that feeling of unity and control.
Distance control, or "speed," is arguably the most important skill in putting. It’s almost entirely about feel, and you can’t have feel if you’re strangling the putter. A tight grip introduces tension into your forearms, wrists, and shoulders, making a smooth, flowing stroke nearly impossible. It deadens the feedback from the putter head, making it difficult to sense how hard you need to strike the ball.
A great way to find the right pressure is to think on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the tightest you can possibly squeeze. Your putting grip pressure should be a 3 or 4. Just firm enough to maintain full control of the putter but light enough that you feel the weight of the putter head and your arms can hang and swing freely without tension.
One of the most common features you’ll see among great putters is the placement of their thumbs. Most golfers find the greatest stability by placing both thumbs so they point straight down the flat, top portion of the putter grip. This symmetrical placement reinforces the "thumbs parallel" feeling and helps subconsciously keep the putter face square. It provides a balanced pressure point from both hands, contributing to that single, solid unit we're trying to create.
Once you understand the core principles, you can apply them to different styles. Here’s a breakdown of the three most popular putting grips seen on tour and at local clubs. Experiment with them on the practice green to see which one gives you the most confidence.
Made famous by Jordan Spieth, this grip is a powerful antidote for golfers who get too "handsy," specifically with their dominant trail hand.
This grip looks a bit unusual, but it's wildly popular on tour thanks to players like Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson, and Tony Finau. It's the ultimate solution for golfers whose dominant hand causes mischief, including the dreaded "yips."
You should not choose a grip randomly. You're looking for the one that feels the most natural, stable, and, most importantly, produces the best results. You’ve got to try them all to find your fit.
Take three balls to the practice green and drop them 10 to 15 feet from the cup. Begin with the reverse overlap and hit three putts, paying attention to not just whether they drop, but also how they feel and how the stroke looks. Next, switch to the cross-handed grip and do the same again. Feel the difference and observe the distance and accuracy.
After hitting a couple of rounds with each style, you should have a clearer idea of which grip gives you the sense of stability and helps you get your speed right most consistently.
A good putting grip will not only improve your accuracy but also instill confidence every time you step onto the green. Test these popular grips and principles during your practice sessions to discover what feels right for you. Consistency in your grip approach will ultimately help you lower your scores on the course.
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