In this video, Neil Tappin and Joel Tadman look at how to find the right putter grip for your game.
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00:00Hi guys, Neil Tappen and Joel Tadman here from Golf Monthly, and in this video we are
00:08looking at putter grips, both the grip that you have on the club and the way in which
00:11you hold it.
00:12Now, over the last five or ten years we've seen a lot of players out on tour holding
00:17their putter in slightly different ways, from claw grips to left below right, right below
00:22left, even two thumb grips you see are being used regularly out on tour, so there are lots
00:26of different methods that people are using, and I think that has led to a whole host of
00:31different grips being launched into the putter market, so your choice of putter grips is
00:36bigger now than it's ever been, and it's a really important decision to make because
00:40the choice of grip you put on your putter will largely depend on the technique that
00:46you use.
00:47Talk us through the options that people have.
00:48Definitely, yeah, I mean we've got a load of grips in front of us here, they come in
00:52a whole host of different shapes, sizes, and textures, so it's important you try different
00:57ones to see which ones feel right for you, but yeah, so I'm just talking through kind
01:02of how they vary, so traditional putter grips, this is kind of similar to a traditional putter
01:07grip where it's larger at the top, so wider at the top, and then it tapers towards the
01:12bottom, so what that essentially does is it means that you're gripping the putter grip
01:17with different pressures in each hand, which means if it's narrow at the bottom, your right
01:21hand will be holding it a bit tighter, which means that it might be a bit more active in
01:25the stroke, which is why SuperStroke, a common putter brand, there are obviously a lot of
01:29different putter grip brands out there, but SuperStroke kind of pioneered that no taper
01:34design, so you can see it's the same width at the top as it is at the bottom, and that
01:37means that you're applying equal pressure to the grip from both hands, which means they
01:42should be less active or equally imparting force on the putter, so your stroke should
01:48be a little bit more consistent.
01:50One quick thing, Joel, so the tapered version that you've got there, what sort of player
01:54should be looking out for that, because there is a benefit to having a slightly firmer grip
01:59pressure in your lower hand, isn't there?
02:00Yeah, so if you're struggling to release the putter, if you need a more active right hand,
02:04so perhaps you miss putts to the right a little bit more.
02:07Or maybe your distance control isn't very good, so you feel like you need that flow
02:11through the ball a bit better.
02:12Yeah, if you're more of a field player rather than a kind of mechanical player, you might
02:16want to feel like your right hand is a little bit more active through stroke, another way
02:20you can do that is by running the right finger down the bottom of the grip during your stroke.
02:24We saw Ian Poulter do that on tour, he won on tour recently by changing his putter grip
02:28to having that finger running down the back of the grip there, and that's because he felt
02:32like he needed a little bit more help releasing the putter, so that's another way you can
02:35do it.
02:36Okay, so from there, and that super stroke grip that's even all the way through, strangely
02:42you might think, okay, that's fine, those are two good options, but there's a lot more
02:45to talk about besides these two, right?
02:47Yeah, of course, and we've got a load of different grips here.
02:49We talked about the taper in this direction, so the width, the top and bottom, but you'll
02:53notice a lot of putter grips are wider at the top in this direction, so from the side
02:57on view, and that's designed to fit more between the pads of your top hand a little bit more
03:03easily, so you get a bit more stability in the grip, better control in that top hand,
03:07which is really important.
03:08Yeah, and that's certainly what I've got in my Scotty Cameron here, and as Joel said,
03:13the putter really is designed to sit in between those two pads, isn't it?
03:16Yeah, you don't want the wrist to be involved here, so you really want the angle of the
03:20shaft as close to your forearm as you can when you're addressing the ball.
03:24You don't want to have a big angle between your arm and your putter shaft, because that
03:28means your wrist is going to be more involved, so the more you can use your shoulders during
03:32the stroke rather than your wrist, so keeping this all in one line, and just rocking the
03:36shoulders, you should be a more consistent putter that way.
03:39So what are the other options that we've got to show people?
03:41Right, so we've got a wider super stroke here, so this is the Slim 3.0, I think they do do
03:46much bigger ones as well, but this is essentially for people who like the feel of a larger putter
03:53grip, so you've got larger hands potentially, or your grip that you choose, i.e. the way
03:57you hold the putter, is more leaning towards this style of grip, so for example, if you
04:02have a two thumb, if you want to go for the two thumb style, so having your hands together
04:06with your thumbs together like that, a larger grip is obviously important to do that.
04:10They come in a lot of different shapes as well, in terms of the leading edge, you can
04:14get ones that have a narrow front edge, or a wide front edge, depending on, it's all
04:18down to personal preference, at the end of the day, it needs to feel comfortable in your
04:21hands, so it's really important to try a load of different ones, just going back to that
04:25two thumb grip, sorry Tabby, go on, the one thing that's really good about that two thumb
04:29grip, obviously it gets your shoulders level, but it also, because your hands are facing
04:33each other, it means that your alignment should be pretty square, you know, you haven't got
04:37one arm climbing on top of the putter this way, or underneath the other way, because
04:41they're level, your shoulders should be square to the target, or parallel left to the target
04:46with your putter.
04:47Yeah, it should be a really, very solid, technical putting stroke, right, and then also by having
04:53your hands like that, I guess it encourages you to have a little bit less wrist hinge,
04:57keeps the putter more stable.
04:59Yeah, definitely, which might help on short putts, some people struggle with long putts
05:02when they have that type of grip, but for most golfers, it might be a way to be more
05:07consistent for sure.
05:08Yeah, and as I say, it's one of those that you will see players using out on tour, I've
05:11got a feeling that Bernd Wiesberger uses that at the moment to keep an eye out for
05:16him.
05:17Matt Wallace uses it as well.
05:18Yeah.
05:19Right, what else have we got?
05:20Well, this is an interesting one from Superstroke, again, like I said, there are other brands,
05:23we've got a golf pipe one down here, which is really good, but this is the counter core
05:27technology, so there's actually a weight here that kind of, you can pull it out and adjust
05:32the weight on the top to adjust the feel of the putter, feel is really important obviously
05:36with controlling distance and accuracy and all those sorts of things, so by adjusting
05:40the weight of the putter, you can kind of tweak the way it feels and suits basically
05:46your putting stroke.
05:47So Joel, you can change the feel of the putter in your hands by changing that weight in the
05:51top, but that's not a dual balanced or counter balanced putter grip, is it?
05:55It's making it feel more like a counter balanced putter, so as we know, counter balanced putters
06:00are heavier at the bottom and heavier at the top just to make it feel more stable and smoother,
06:04and this is one where you can kind of promote that a little bit by using a conventional
06:08length grip, so if you want a heavier putter or a lighter feeling putter, that's one way
06:13you can do that.
06:14Yeah, and it's one that, it's quite a nice piece of technology that, because if you're
06:18buying the grip with the brand of putter, you might get a dual balanced or a counter
06:23balanced putter grip in it, this one allows you to kind of set it in exactly the way that
06:27you want, so it's kind of worth thinking about.
06:30As you said, there's also a Golf Pride grip down there, which has got a slightly different
06:33feel to it to the other super stroke grips, right?
06:35This is the Tour Sensor from Golf Pride, and it's a really soft feeling grip, and I
06:40think it's definitely one you should try, it's got, it's not tapered, so you should
06:44feel like even pressure in both hands, but it's just a different type of feel, all different
06:49putter grips have different textures on the surface, the super stroke has like a plus
06:53pattern, this has something similar, but it does feel very different because it's made
06:57of a softer material, so it's really worth trying as many different ones as you can.
07:01All our hands are different sizes and shapes, so they're all going to suit you in different
07:05ways, so it's trying as many as you can, and finding the one that feels the best in
07:08your hands.
07:09Now Joel, over your, I know as a fact that over your golfing career, you've used a few
07:14different grips yourself, like ways of holding the putter, what have you gone for, what have
07:20been the sort of feelings that you've had from those different grips?
07:22Yeah, I mean, so you might find this relevant to your game, and it's definitely worth trying,
07:25so for me, I started with the conventional right below left with the finger kind of running
07:30alongside the other fingers, and then I changed to having the finger running down the line
07:34of the putter, felt like that kind of took the wrists out a little bit more, again, that's
07:38something you can try, and then I was really struggling with short putts, and I changed
07:43from conventional to left below right, Jordan Spieth a few years ago was holding a lot of
07:46putts that way, so I thought I'd give it a try, and it actually felt for me like I really
07:51was a lot more proficient on short putts, I didn't look at the hole, I wasn't that good,
07:55but it just felt like the back of the left wrist wasn't breaking down as much, so I wasn't
08:02flicking at the putter at all, and if you tend to have that fault in your stroke, that's
08:05a really good way of combating that, you can even wear a watch and put a pencil down there
08:09as a drill to stop it from breaking down, but for me, that left below right just felt
08:13like the back of the left hand was going towards the target, and there was no flicking at all
08:20during that stroke, and I was really good at short putts for a while, I think they kind
08:22of, they go in and out of fashion grips, and some grips work for a while, and then suddenly
08:27they stop working, and it's something you can change really quickly, so it's just trying
08:30to find what works for you, and then it might just suddenly stop working, and you can always
08:34change back, so it's just what feels comfortable at the time.
08:37Yeah, I would agree with what you just said, if you are struggling with your putting, try
08:40a different grip, because it gives you that different feeling, it's a bit like resetting
08:44your brain, for a long time now I've been using a claw grip, and I felt like my right
08:50hand was way too active, if anyone has suffered with the yips, it's such a debilitating thing
08:53in golf, I've certainly suffered with it in the past myself, and by taking the palm of
08:58the right hand off the putter, and having it running like this, suddenly, no problems
09:03in that regard, and now for me, putting would, I wouldn't say it's the strongest part of
09:07my game, but it's definitely not the weakest area of my game, I'm not, I'm throwing away
09:10shots on the golf course in other areas more readily than I am on the green with the putter,
09:16and that's down to the claw grip, and I feel like, if I could have started again from scratch,
09:20I might have even just started with the claw, I know it can look a little bit ungainly,
09:25and people think, oh you're struggling with your putting, but actually if it resets your
09:28brain, and you feel comfortable with it, then go for it, that would be my advice.
09:32And there's a whole host of golfers on tour that have switched to the claw grip and got
09:35some really good success, you've got Tommy Fleetwood, Webb Simpson, one at Sawgrass using
09:40the claw grip, obviously he uses that anchored style stroke, we've seen it with Soren Keltz
09:45as well, who runs it along the inside of his forearm, obviously got a lot of loft on his
09:49putter, I think he's got six degrees of loft because he's got so much shaft lean, but that's
09:53another way, another way, we're talking about so many different ones, but that's probably
09:57a fifth or sixth way you can potentially make the putter more stable, less face rotation,
10:03and more consistent, so, you know, worth a try.
10:06So there you have it, putting, as Joel's just said, is a feel game, and whatever works for
10:10you works. There are some technical principles at work within putting that are good for everyone
10:15to have, but beyond that, it is an individual game, and one putting stroke really won't
10:20look a lot like another one, and that's why it's definitely worth experimenting with different
10:25styles of grip and different types of grip on your putter, just to change the feeling
10:29in your hands, find something that's right for you, and then you might just be able to
10:32hold a few more putts. Guys, thank you very much for watching, if you have any questions
10:36about any of this stuff, and we have sort of whisked through it all, there is a lot
10:39to understand, a lot to learn, if you're thinking about buying a putter or a new grip, leave
10:44a comment below, leave a question, we'll get back to you with some, hopefully some advice
10:47and some thoughts from us, but from here, from Frilford Heath for now, it's goodbye.