Why thick putter grips

As the time of publication, you could also purchase grips of varying thicknesses to find one that fits you best. Generally, these grips were slightly more expensive than conventional grips. Dave Stockton, a former tour pro and highly regarded putting instructor, makes a case against using thick putter grips. He believes that great putting is largely about having a feel for distance control, which he believes is transmitted through the finger tips.

Stockton believes the putter grip should be just wide enough to create a small space between the finger tips and the pads at the base of the palm of your top hand when you take your grip. Stockton, unlike many modern golf teachers who promote a pure arm and shoulder stroke, allows for some wrist hinge in the backstroke to create fluidity and to make it easier to keep the hands ahead of the putter in the forward stroke.

The term yips refers to involuntary twitching, shaking or jerking in your hands during your putting stroke. Many golfers suffer from this condition, though the exact causes are unknown. The yips can make it almost impossible to control the putter, particularly on short putts.

Dallas-based golf instructor Hank Haney recommends a thick handle combined with a split-handed grip as one means to control putting yips. One of the most important benefits of a fat putting grip is that it keeps your arms relaxed and your hands soft.

To be a great putter, you have to maintain a soft grip pressure. While so many pros have different strokes, styles of putters, and strokes, they all agree on having a soft grip. This allows you to maintain feel on the greens and not have tension in your arms. Big grips can really help the putter from twisting during your stroke.

If you tend to take the putter back too inside or outside, an oversized grip might help you. Before you choose a putting grip, I highly recommend testing it out at the golf store or using a friend to get a feel for it. There are models, depending on the manufacturer, that are more in between models.

I recommend going up in size slightly and seeing how it affects your putting. Oversized grips are almost always heavier than standard, off the rack grips. If you have a light putter grip, it will make the club feel heavier during your stroke. This is arguably the biggest factor when it comes to choosing a fat putter grip. Nowadays, putter grips come in all different shapes.

The USGA caps the size of putter grips at 1. The key to good putting is to keep those wrists nice and steady. With technology making materials more durable and lighter, thicker grips can help golfers, especially those with bigger hands and impatient wrists, where it really matters — on the putting surface.

If you would like to see where your putting is, before you invest in a new putter, arrange a visit to see us and take a look at our SAM Putting Lab.

There are many ways to putt but the golf ball itself relies only on physics to determine where it goes. All golfers play with a certain amount of feel.

The SAM PuttLab answers the question of what the putter is doing during the stroke, meaning you can identify your strengths and weaknesses so we can tailor more efficient training — resulting in more holed putts! The technology involves ultrasound sensory analysis and up to frames per second of image capture, measuring and analysing all movement details of your putting and chipping too.

It is more exact than any other putting aid. It then displays these parameters and more 28 of them in total in a way you and your coach can understand. Giving you individual feedback on your putting strokes. The analysis reveals even the smallest details of your movements.

This data can then be used to help develop practise or training strategies to improve your putting. Have you ever wondered why you have a tendency to pull the ball left of the hole when putting? It could be that the putter face is closed at impact or that the path of the club varies during the stroke. In the same way TrackMan helps analyse the physics of hitting the golf ball, the SAM PuttLab identifies the relationship the putter head has over whether the ball disappears in to the hole or not.

It means you can visualise what the putter head does during the stroke. Which has a massive effect on where the ball ultimately goes. Getting help with increasing distance off the tee is a great confidence boost to your game and can help improve your scoring.

Putting is an area of your game you will use, regardless of your ability, somewhere between times per round. Improving your putting can improve your scores dramatically.

If you want to make more putts this year, contact us on