Smaller hands? A smaller grip is probably what you should hold. Larger hands? Larger grip. Makes sense.
But is there a quick and easy way to grasp where you fall on the grip spectrum?
Kellie Stenzel believes so.
The GOLF Top 100 Teacher was talking on a recently posted video to her social-media feeds, where she said a correctly sized club grip correlates to a correctly struck golf ball. It directly affects distance and your ability to release, she said.
So how do you check? You need only your lead hand. (For right-handers, this is your left hand; for lefties, this is your right hand.)
Then put the club in your fingers and close them around it.
“You’ll see that my fingers reach the palm — there’s no large space, or it doesn’t overlap too much,” Stenzel said on the video.
“So it’s really important that your club when it fits you correctly that your fingers form that perfect circle and that’s when you’re going to know your grips are the right size for you.”
For those of us who buy clubs from off the shelf — and get the off-the-shelf grips — it’s a good tip. As for my clubs? Notably, after checking, I’ll be heading here for a larger grip.
Let’s keep the club-grip conversation going. In 2020, GOLF.com wrote a story headlined “Pay attention to this 1 aspect when searching for new golf grips,” and you can read that story by clicking here, or by scrolling below.
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So you’ve started to notice that your golf grips are showing some wear. There are tricks you can try to extend the life of the rubber compound, but sooner or later, there’s going to come a time when you need to spring for fresh handles.
Grips are relatively inexpensive compared to a set of clubs — prices usually range from $5 to $12 per grip — and currently come in new colors and designs that should add some excitement to the search. Of course, you can always stick with your current grip of choice if you don’t want to mix it up.
Either way, there’s one aspect that you should keep in mind before you make a purchase: grip diameter. It’s arguably the most overlooked aspect when it comes to the golf grip. In reality, even the most advanced grip can affect your swing if it’s over- or undersized.
If your hands are on the larger side and you’re playing a standard-size grip, the small muscles in the hands have to work harder during the swing. The additional movement can cause you to get handsy and release the club too quickly at impact, negatively impacting turf interaction, consistency and shot dispersion. You’re also more prone to hook the ball if the grip is too small.
A grip on the larger end of the spectrum will engage the larger muscles and take the hands out of the equation. You should expect the hands to slow down and rotate less during the swing — although that might not be the case for every golfer — reducing your ability to square the face up at impact. If you’re already slicing the ball, an ill-fitting jumbo grip will magnify your miss.
It’s important to note there are exceptions to every rule. If you hook the ball, it might be worth testing a larger grip to see if it can help straighten out your shot shape. That being said, make sure you consult a certified club-fitter before testing different grip diameters.
So how do you determine if your grip is right for your hands? Observing your glove size is a good place to start. For those wearing a small, women’s medium or junior glove, an undersized grip with a smaller diameter will likely be a good option. Medium-sized gloves would typically fit in the standard size range; large and extra large are better off starting in the midsize to oversized category.
If you still feel like something is off, take your normal grip in your top hand — that would be the left hand for a right-handed golfer — and see how your longest fingertip interacts with the edge of your thumb pad. If you notice the finger is digging into the pad, it likely means your grip is too small. A large gap could mean your grip is too big.
These days, every manufacturer offers a wide range of sizes to fit every hand size. But if the grip doesn’t fit like a glove, consider adding tape wraps underneath the rubber to alter the size.
Finding the proper grip size is one way to keep your swing on track and ensure you aren’t implementing any bad habits you’ll have to correct down the road.
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Nick Piastowski
Golf.com Editor
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
