A golf grip is your only point of contact between your hand and the golf club. When it wears out, your grip becomes compromised, and this leads to poor performance when playing.
Apart from replacing the grips, there are other care and maintenance practices to familiarize yourself with, such as cleaning your grips regularly to remove excess oil and dirt that could make them slippery. If you play regularly, all the skin protection products you use end up on your golf clubs, such as skin oils and sunscreen.
Factors That Contribute to Worn Golf Club Grips
While the need to regrip your clubs is inevitable eventually, some factors contribute to faster wearing out. These are;
- Not cleaning your grips enough.
- Exerting too much grip pressure when playing
- Using the wrong grip size
- Using a grip with unfavorable firmness
- Texture
These factors may accelerate your grips wearing out as they dictate how you play the game. For instance, if you use the wrong grip size, you will need to adjust your firmness, often tightening your hand at the grip to make sure it stays in your hand. On the other hand, the texture of a golf club grip determines how long it can last when used regularly.
Even as you keep these factors in mind, your perfect golf grip will still need to change. If you play every week, you may need to regrip your golf clubs twice or thrice a year. If you are an occasional player, you should schedule regripping every six months or when you notice your grips are affecting your game.
How to Regrip Your Golf Clubs Easily from Home
Regripping golf clubs is relatively easy if you have all the supplies at home. If you are not comfortable changing them yourself, you may take the help of your golf pro from the store where you bought your new golf grips.
However, if you want to regrip at home, these are the supplies you will need;
- Trash can
- Utility/Exacto knife or hook blade
- Grip solvent
- Double-sided tape
- Paper towels
- Vice clamp
- Blow torch
- New grips
- Your golf clubs
Step 1: Remove the old grips
The first and probably the most time-consuming process is removing the old grips from your shaft. The step requires you to use a hook blade or utility knife, and you can also use a blow torch to make the removal faster.
Ensure you hold your club's shaft around halfway length, with the grip facing away from you. You can also place it on a rubber vise for more safety. Then, insert the hook blade at the top edge of the old grip to make an incision. Pass the blade just over your shaft to cut through all the grip's rubber, making sure you don't make a line on the shaft itself. You need to be careful if you have graphite shafts as you can easily damage them.
Once you pass your blade to the butt of the grip, you can start peeling off the old grip, making sure to get as much of it as possible. You need to get the most of it off because you will be regripping again and thus could end up with an annoying build-up. If it fails to come off easily, you can use a dull blade to scrape the remaining tape lightly.
In another scenario, once you remove the grips, you can use a blow torch to heat the remaining tape for easier peeling. However, it is good to understand you will still need some new tactics to remove all the tape if you want to. When done, throw the old pieces into the trash can.
Step 2: Wrap the double-sided tape
To wrap the tape correctly, start at the butt end and wrap the grip in careful, downward motions to prevent overlapping. For this step, you need to have prepared the tape beforehand and cut the exact measurements you want to work with.
If you want to increase your grip width, you can apply build-up tape in this step before wrapping the grip tape.
When done wrapping, you should make sure a little extra tape is left at the top. Fold the tape around the end of the shaft to make it easy to fit the new grip.
Step 3: Apply the grip solvent
Plug a hole at the end of your new grip and pour the grip solvent into it. Covering the open end of the grip with one hand, shake the solvent inside to make sure it is evenly distributed.
Next, hold your shaft over a tray or the trash can, and pour the solvent over the grip tape. Use the excess solvent you harvest on the tray to use for the remaining golf clubs if you are regripping more than one.
Step 4: Slip the new grip onto the shaft
You need to install the new grip while the grip solvent is still wet. Slip it over the grip tape, and make sure to adjust or align the clubface and grip. It is best if you had every fine alignment done while the tape is slippery, and after that, give the grip a few hours to dry.
Step 5: Repeat the process for each club
If you want to regrip all your golf clubs, follow these 4 steps for each club.
Step 6: Use your new grips
When your new grips are installed and dried, you can enjoy playing your golf games without worrying about missing your straights.
How to Take Care of New Grips
After regripping, the easiest way to take care of your new grips is by keeping them clean and dry. While they will still wear out when you play and get exposed to outdoor environments, cleaning them is important in extending their longevity.
It would be best to clean your grips depending on a few factors, such as how often you play golf, your grip style, and hand pressure. If you play golf often, you will need to clean your grips very regularly, preferably after every game or two.
Your grip style includes the material you prefer to have on your grip. Full-cord grips can require less frequent cleanings than rubber or other squishy grips.
Another factor to consider is the environment you tee in. If you play in a hot or muggy climate, you will sweat more and require more cleaning. If you live in a colder climate, you might not need to clean regularly since you will sweat less. However, you might need cleaning if the weather is rainy, as it is vital to keep your grips dry at all times.
How to clean grips
To clean your golf grips, use any of the following methods.
Method 1: Using cleaning wipes
You can buy golf grip cleaning wipes from most stores at an affordable price. To clean using these, simply take one wipe from the pack and wipe the entire grip. You can use one wipe to clean several clubs.
This is the easiest cleaning method that requires not extensive planning or a lot of supplies. The wipes are formulated with ingredients for easier cleaning.
Methos 2: Using soap and water
You can also use warm water and mild soap to clean your new golf grips. The following are the supplies you need;
- warm water
- mild detergent
- washcloth
- bucket or sink
- soft bush for rubber or cord grips
Step 1: Mix water and soap and dip in the washcloth or brush. Scrub every inch of the grip to remove all dirt.
Step 2: Rinse the grips, washcloths, or brush for any soap residue. Use the washcloth to remove excess water from the grips.
Step 3: Use another dry washcloth to pat dry the grips as soon as you get them off the water. While this will protect the grip's material, it will also remove any unseen traces of soap or detergent to maintain grip color.
Method 3: Use a product that can rejuvenate your grips
You can invest in a rejuvenating cleaning spray that can remove dirt and oil from your grips. These sprays are easy to use, and they get your grips looking clean and healthy. Another advantage is they are suitable for use on the whole golf club. You can also use the spray as you play golf, so you are not limited to only cleaning from home.
Frequently Asked Questions About How to Regrip Golf Clubs
1. How often should you regrip your clubs?
Depending on how much you play golf, you should regrip your golf clubs every six months. If you are a weekly golfer, you can regrip more frequently, even four times a year.
2. Which is the best grip solution to use?
While you can use different solutions, from mineral spirits and other light liquids, a grip solvent may be your ideal choice as it is designed for grips and is non-toxic.
3. How can you know the correct grip to replace an old one with?
When choosing a new grip, golfers need to consider their grip size, the ideal grip texture, weather conditions, and grip firmness.