In this video, Neil Tappin and Joel Tadman look at how to find the right putter grip for your game.
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00:00 Hi guys, Neil Tappan and Joel Tappan here from Golf Monthly and in this video we are
00:08 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 5 or 10 years we've seen a lot of players out on tour holding their
00:17 putter in slightly different ways, from claw grips to left below right, right below left,
00:23 even two thumb grips you see are being used regularly out on tour.
00:26 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
00:52 a 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 So I'm just talking through how they vary.
01:04 Traditional putter grips, this is kind of similar to a traditional putter grip where
01:08 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 Super Stroke, a common putter brand, there are obviously a lot of different
01:29 putter grip brands out there, but Super Stroke 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
01:38 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.
01:50 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
02:17 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
02:28 to having that finger running down the back of the grip there and that's because he felt
02:32 like he needed a little bit more help releasing the putter so that's another way you can do
02:36 it.
02:37 Ok, so from there and that Super Stroke grip that's even all the way through, there are
02:42 strangely, you might think ok that's fine, those are two good options but there's a lot
02:45 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 at the top and bottom but you'll notice a lot of putter grips are
02:55 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
03:25 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
03:37 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
03:47 bigger ones as well but this is essentially for people who like the feel of a larger putter
03:53 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 you try a load of different ones.
04:24 Just going back to that two thumb grip, sorry Tav, the one thing that's really good about
04:28 that two thumb grip, obviously it gets your shoulders level but it also, because your
04:32 hands are facing each other it means that your alignment should be pretty square, you
04:37 know you haven't got one arm climbing on top of the putter this way or underneath the other
04:41 way because they're level, your shoulders should be square to the target or parallel
04:45 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
04:53 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 Definitely which might help on short putts, some people struggle with long putts when
05:02 they have that type of grip but for most golfers it might be a way to be more consistent.
05:08 Yeah and 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 so keep an eye out for him.
05:15 Matt Wallace is the last thing, Matt Wallace uses it as well.
05:18 Right what else have we got?
05:19 Well this is an interesting one from Superstock, 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
05:32 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
06:27 want so it's kind of worth thinking about.
06:30 As you said there's also a Golf Pride grip down there which has got a slightly different
06:33 feel to it to the other Super Stroke grips right?
06:35 This is the Batore Sensor from Golf Pride and it's a really soft feeling grip and I
06:40 think it's definitely one you should try, it's not tapered so you should feel like even
06:45 pressure in both hands but it's just a different type of feel, all different putter grips have
06:50 different 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
07:09 hands.
07:10 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
07:30 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 but it just felt like the back of the left wrist wasn't breaking down as much so I wasn't
08:02 flicking at the putter at all and if you tend to have that fault in your stroke, that's
08:05 a really good way of combating that, you can even wear a watch and put a pencil down there
08:09 as a drill to stop it from breaking down but for me that left below right just felt like
08:14 the back of the left hand was going towards the target and there was no flicking at all
08:20 during that stroke and I was really good at short putts for a while, I think they go in
08:23 and out of fashion grips and some grips work for a while and then suddenly they stop working
08:27 and it's something you can change really quickly so it's just trying what works for you and
08:32 then it might just suddenly stop working and you can always change back so it's just what
08:35 feels comfortable at the time.
08:37 Yeah I would agree with what you just say there, if you are struggling with your putting
08:40 try a different grip because it gives you that different feel and it's a bit like sort
08:43 of resetting your brain, for a long time now I've been using a claw grip and I felt like
08:49 my right hand was way too active, if anyone has suffered with the yips it's such a debilitating
08:53 thing in golf, I've certainly suffered with it in the past myself and by taking the palm
08:58 of the right hand off the putter and having it running like this suddenly no problems
09:03 in that regard and now for me putting would, I wouldn't say it's the strongest part of
09:07 my game but it's definitely not the weakest area of my game, I'm throwing away shots on
09:11 the golf course in other areas more readily than I am on the green with the putter and
09:16 that's down to the claw grip and I feel like if I could have started again from scratch
09:20 I might have even just started with the claw, I know it can look a little bit ungainly and
09:25 people think oh you're struggling with your putting but actually if it resets your brain
09:28 and you feel comfortable 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 Sorin 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
09:53 but that's another way, we've talked about so many different ones, but that's probably
09:57 a fifth or sixth way you can hope potentially make the putter more stable, less face rotation
10:03 and more consistent so 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
10:25 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
10:32 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
10:37 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
10:45 question and we'll get back to you with hopefully some advice and some thoughts from us, but
10:48 from here, from Frilford Heath for now, it's goodbye.
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