Arthritis?

[wkuo3]

> @Tommix said:

> > @wkuo3 said:

> > > @Tommix said:

> > > I’m not going to say to hang on to your money as your going to need it as you age but hang onto it OR make sure you’ve got good private health insurance. I’m 76 this year. Gave up grog in 1982 totally and stopped smoking in 1996. Always fit and in my early sixties when still working I would play 9 holes 3/5 days before work and run between shots. On Saturdays played Comp. Retired at 64 and played 18 holes three times a week (walk) no problems. We have been paying top private hospital ins. since our late thirties and hardly ever had a claim , what a wasted but then I turned 69 in 2013 . Diagnosed with acute prostate cancer . Had robotic surgery cost $usd 56,000 plus. I was out of pocket $usd 12,000. ( phew I was in hospital two nights only). Every thing good played golf three days a week until 2016 and diagnosed with Temporal Arteritis ,not arthritis, after losing sight in right eye four times as well as other nasties . rushed to hospital pumped full of drug and saved sight. Was on 92 tabs a week mainly to offset side effects of drug that saved sight. Finally got off that drug in Feb. this year. In Sept. last year put in hospital for stent in blocked heart artery ,couldn’t breath ( side effect of initial drug ). Still had / have trouble breathing /stamina subsequent scans confirm scarring of lungs from one of drugs that offset side effect of initial drug .OMG it didn’t stop. As I had no immunity from initial drug ended up with Shingles in feb this year. Now my knees are giving out ie. pain to bend which I’m told is result of initial drug as it eats your bone even though I had drugs to offset it happening . But hey I’ve got my sight and can still walk 18 holes once a week as well as 9 holes . Aside from cost of drugs cost was minimal as I have top private hospital. It’s **** getting old but we all do.

> >

> > You are a brave warrior ! And obviously you had done well to have means to extend the journey.

> >

> > I don't know to envy you or pray for you.

>

> Ha, no neither , not brave just lucky and stubborn.

 

Stubborn is the key, the will to live on, sometimes is overlooked by practice of medicine alone.

I had known a guy whom should had been 6 feet under within weeks according to his M.D. from pancreas cancer and he lived on for more then 3 decades.

 

He has the means to sustain the altered life style , basically gave up the modern medicine after the first year and retrested into a life style which only cared for by his wife and the medical assistant. His diet was something I know that no one could stick to more than a week but he had a very strong will to live on. He passed away a year ago, 37 years after his death sentence was pronounce by a bunch of medical specialists.

 

I'm not sure it was a blessing or not but he survived all those years, out lasting all most all of his friends and buddies.

 

[Prut]

> @Tommix said:

> I’m not going to say to hang on to your money as your going to need it as you age but hang onto it OR make sure you’ve got good private health insurance. I’m 76 this year. Gave up grog in 1982 totally and stopped smoking in 1996. Always fit and in my early sixties when still working I would play 9 holes 3/5 days before work and run between shots. On Saturdays played Comp. Retired at 64 and played 18 holes three times a week (walk) no problems. We have been paying top private hospital ins. since our late thirties and hardly ever had a claim , what a wasted but then I turned 69 in 2013 . Diagnosed with acute prostate cancer . Had robotic surgery cost $usd 56,000 plus. I was out of pocket $usd 12,000. ( phew I was in hospital two nights only). Every thing good played golf three days a week until 2016 and diagnosed with Temporal Arteritis ,not arthritis, after losing sight in right eye four times as well as other nasties . rushed to hospital pumped full of drug and saved sight. Was on 92 tabs a week mainly to offset side effects of drug that saved sight. Finally got off that drug in Feb. this year. In Sept. last year put in hospital for stent in blocked heart artery ,couldn’t breath ( side effect of initial drug ). Still had / have trouble breathing /stamina subsequent scans confirm scarring of lungs from one of drugs that offset side effect of initial drug .OMG it didn’t stop. As I had no immunity from initial drug ended up with Shingles in feb this year. Now my knees are giving out ie. pain to bend which I’m told is result of initial drug as it eats your bone even though I had drugs to offset it happening . But hey I’ve got my sight and can still walk 18 holes once a week as well as 9 holes . Aside from cost of drugs cost was minimal as I have top private hospital. It’s **** getting old but we all do.

 

Suddenly, I'm not feeling too bad.

[OldFrog75]

> @Snowman9000 said:

> Have you tried big grips? They can really help. Do you overlap, interlock, or ten fingers? I tried to go to overlap last year but my fingers became painful with arthritis, so I went back to 10 finger. My pain eventually went away.

 

Thanks for this comment. I've been researching the topic and I think larger grips might help. My question is: How did you decide which grip and size to get? Did you get a grip fitting somewhere? As with so many golf products it seems like after all the research is said and done you pay your money and then hope you made the right decision. I interlock BTW.

[wkuo3]

When I get aged and starting to have arthritis, my hands could not form a tight fist.

In younger days I was able to hold a fist as tight and solid as a piece of rock. Swollen tissue and joints made it impossible to clinch the fist tight. To decide on how large a grip I should change to be able to get a firm grip on it, starting by built up the regular size grip.

This is quite easy if using the air compressor to put on and take off the grip.

I would use an old grip and starting by adding the tape to the shaft. All the while keeping a record of the changes. Measure the grip with a caliper when a desired size is reached.

Then compare with the size without the built up to decide the base size of the grip to use.

Can't remember exactly but I read it somewhere that Ben Hogan in his later years had built up like 8 layers of double sided grip tapes on his golf grips . The guy installing it had a difficult time sliding the corded grips on ( with lubricants, without using the air compressor ). No one made over sized corded grips.

 

If you need to built up more than 1/32" over sized, start with a mid sized grip. If you need to add over 1/16th an inch then start with the Jumbo grips.

 

Personally, I can't use a golf grip that's too soft. A soft cushy grip might be more comfortable but it will lose the feel of the connection to the golf club. I have larger thicker palm with relatively shorter fingers and the mid sized rubber grips fits the current need with an extra layer of tape.

[OldFrog75]

> @wkuo3 said:

> When I get aged and starting to have arthritis, my hands could not form a tight fist.

> In younger days I was able to hold a fist as tight and solid as a piece of rock. Swollen tissue and joints made it impossible to clinch the fist tight. To decide on how large a grip I should change to be able to get a firm grip on it, starting by built up the regular size grip.

> This is quite easy if using the air compressor to put on and take off the grip.

> I would use an old grip and starting by adding the tape to the shaft. All the while keeping a record of the changes. Measure the grip with a caliper when a desired size is reached.

> Then compare with the size without the built up to decide the base size of the grip to use.

> Can't remember exactly but I read it somewhere that Ben Hogan in his later years had built up like 8 layers of double sided grip tapes on his golf grips . The guy installing it had a difficult time sliding the corded grips on ( with lubricants, without using the air compressor ). No one made over sized corded grips.

>

> If you need to built up more than 1/32" over sized, start with a mid sized grip. If you need to add over 1/16th an inch then start with the Jumbo grips.

>

> Personally, I can't use a golf grip that's too soft. A soft cushy grip might be more comfortable but it will lose the feel of the connection to the golf club. I have larger thicker palm with relatively shorter fingers and the mid sized rubber grips fits the current need with an extra layer of tape.

 

Great advice. Unfortunately I would need to have the grips put on at a golf shop, which I assume will cut the old grips off and put on whatever new grip I choose with however many wraps I tell them. If it turns out wrong I will have wasted money because they will have to repeat the process and then charge me for the grip plus installation every time until it feels right.

[wkuo3]

> @OldFrog75 said:

> > @wkuo3 said:

> > When I get aged and starting to have arthritis, my hands could not form a tight fist.

> > In younger days I was able to hold a fist as tight and solid as a piece of rock. Swollen tissue and joints made it impossible to clinch the fist tight. To decide on how large a grip I should change to be able to get a firm grip on it, starting by built up the regular size grip.

> > This is quite easy if using the air compressor to put on and take off the grip.

> > I would use an old grip and starting by adding the tape to the shaft. All the while keeping a record of the changes. Measure the grip with a caliper when a desired size is reached.

> > Then compare with the size without the built up to decide the base size of the grip to use.

> > Can't remember exactly but I read it somewhere that Ben Hogan in his later years had built up like 8 layers of double sided grip tapes on his golf grips . The guy installing it had a difficult time sliding the corded grips on ( with lubricants, without using the air compressor ). No one made over sized corded grips.

> >

> > If you need to built up more than 1/32" over sized, start with a mid sized grip. If you need to add over 1/16th an inch then start with the Jumbo grips.

> >

> > Personally, I can't use a golf grip that's too soft. A soft cushy grip might be more comfortable but it will lose the feel of the connection to the golf club. I have larger thicker palm with relatively shorter fingers and the mid sized rubber grips fits the current need with an extra layer of tape.

>

> Great advice. Unfortunately I would need to have the grips put on at a golf shop, which I assume will cut the old grips off and put on whatever new grip I choose with however many wraps I tell them. If it turns out wrong I will have wasted money because they will have to repeat the process and then charge me for the grip plus installation every time until it feels right.

 

It really isn't that hard to learn to use the air compressor to grip a golf club. not only it's convenient but eventually it'll save you a lot of money.

I rotate the grips on different sets so no need to get additional grips for each set of golf clubs which do not get equal playing time.

You can customize the grip size and shzpe, because it's so eady to blow the grips on and off.

Most people that do a little household work will have a small air compressor and if you don;t have one yet, it is not going to break the bank to get a small to medium size air cpmpressor depending on what other use it might have around the house.

 

Once you get the hang of using air to grip the golf clubs, you'll never go back to the double sided tapes with the use of solvent.

 

Get one that's decent, it'll make the job much easier.

 

[ChaosTheory]

> @OldFrog75 said:

> > @Snowman9000 said:

> > Have you tried big grips? They can really help. Do you overlap, interlock, or ten fingers? I tried to go to overlap last year but my fingers became painful with arthritis, so I went back to 10 finger. My pain eventually went away.

>

> Thanks for this comment. I've been researching the topic and I think larger grips might help. My question is: How did you decide which grip and size to get? Did you get a grip fitting somewhere? As with so many golf products it seems like after all the research is said and done you pay your money and then hope you made the right decision. I interlock BTW.

 

As advised above by wkuo3, I use air to change my own grips. That makes it super easy to try different ones. Here is a very short video I made 9 years ago, which is approaching a quarter million views. (I'm kinda proud of that.) It shows how to remove/install grips with a simple tire inflator. Note, this is not showing how to remove one that was installed the conventional way. Although you'll see the promo for my Part 2, which does show that. I'll answer your sizing question below the video frame:

 

Size: It's really about personal preference and/or pain relief. I have smallish hands and find that Jumbos are too big for best fit in my lead/upper (left) hand. I found this by trial and error. However, for my lower hand, jumbo is great. So I like grips that are bigger than normal in the lower hand area. Golf Pride Tour Wrap, NDMC +4, Super Stroke swing grips, and others.

Weight: Some of them can get pretty heavy. Whether that affects you or not, can't be predicted. Winn and Super Stroke and some others make jumbos that are the same 50-ish grams as a normal grip.

I would say from a pain relief aspect, when in doubt, go bigger.

 

 

 

[scomac2002]

The only caution I might add by going to bigger grips for pain relief is that you may not release the clubhead as fully as you did before. I would agree with @Snowman9000 that a larger lower hand might be just as effective as going with the next size up in grips.

[OldFrog75]

> @scomac2002 said:

> The only caution I might add by going to bigger grips for pain relief is that you may not release the clubhead as fully as you did before. I would agree with @Snowman9000 that a larger lower hand might be just as effective as going with the next size up in grips.

 

To those who have switched to larger grips - Did you find it affected ball flight and if it did how did you remedy that? I've experimented with the idea by putting a Midsize CP2 on my 6 iron and during my initial testing it seems like I tend to push/fade the ball more. I'm hesitant to convert my whole bag because I really don't want to go through a long, laborious process of tweaking my swing, grip, stance, ball placement, etc., to get the ball to go straight again.

[scomac2002]

> @OldFrog75 said:

> > @scomac2002 said:

> > The only caution I might add by going to bigger grips for pain relief is that you may not release the clubhead as fully as you did before. I would agree with @Snowman9000 that a larger lower hand might be just as effective as going with the next size up in grips.

>

> To those who have switched to larger grips - Did you find it affected ball flight and if it did how did you remedy that? **I've tested the idea by putting Medium CP2 on my 6 iron and during my initial testing it seems like I tend to push/fade the ball more**. I'm hesitant now to convert my whole bag because I really don't want to go through a long, laborious process of tweaking my swing, grip, stance, ball placement, etc., to get the ball to go straight again.

 

That's what I was referring to when I said that you might not release the clubhead as fully as you did before.

 

I have fairly big hands so have always used midsized grips. But, all midsized grips are not created equal as some have more or less taper and depending upon the butt diameter of your shafts that can have an impact as well. (Beware of many Aldila shafts with butt diameters of .625" to .640")

 

If pain is your main concern then perhaps look to a softer grip of which the CP2 is, but stick with the standard model with perhaps an extra wrap or two to get a half size up and perhaps tame the tendency to push/fade the ball. You could also try a different grip model with a more normal taper, but in midsize like a SuperStroke Cross Comfort.

[BIG STU]

> @wkuo3 said:

> > @OldFrog75 said:

> > > @wkuo3 said:

> > > When I get aged and starting to have arthritis, my hands could not form a tight fist.

> > > In younger days I was able to hold a fist as tight and solid as a piece of rock. Swollen tissue and joints made it impossible to clinch the fist tight. To decide on how large a grip I should change to be able to get a firm grip on it, starting by built up the regular size grip.

> > > This is quite easy if using the air compressor to put on and take off the grip.

> > > I would use an old grip and starting by adding the tape to the shaft. All the while keeping a record of the changes. Measure the grip with a caliper when a desired size is reached.

> > > Then compare with the size without the built up to decide the base size of the grip to use.

> > > Can't remember exactly but I read it somewhere that Ben Hogan in his later years had built up like 8 layers of double sided grip tapes on his golf grips . The guy installing it had a difficult time sliding the corded grips on ( with lubricants, without using the air compressor ). No one made over sized corded grips.

> > >

> > > If you need to built up more than 1/32" over sized, start with a mid sized grip. If you need to add over 1/16th an inch then start with the Jumbo grips.

> > >

> > > Personally, I can't use a golf grip that's too soft. A soft cushy grip might be more comfortable but it will lose the feel of the connection to the golf club. I have larger thicker palm with relatively shorter fingers and the mid sized rubber grips fits the current need with an extra layer of tape.

> >

> > Great advice. Unfortunately I would need to have the grips put on at a golf shop, which I assume will cut the old grips off and put on whatever new grip I choose with however many wraps I tell them. If it turns out wrong I will have wasted money because they will have to repeat the process and then charge me for the grip plus installation every time until it feels right.

>

> It really isn't that hard to learn to use the air compressor to grip a golf club. not only it's convenient but eventually it'll save you a lot of money.

> I rotate the grips on different sets so no need to get additional grips for each set of golf clubs which do not get equal playing time.

> You can customize the grip size and shzpe, because it's so eady to blow the grips on and off.

> Most people that do a little household work will have a small air compressor and if you don;t have one yet, it is not going to break the bank to get a small to medium size air cpmpressor depending on what other use it might have around the house.

>

> Once you get the hang of using air to grip the golf clubs, you'll never go back to the double sided tapes with the use of solvent.

>

> Get one that's decent, it'll make the job much easier.

>

 

Well stated--- I have been using air for years--- It saves me a heck of a lot of money since I experiment around with different clubs a lot. In fact I just came back out of the shop. Took one set of Tour Wraps off my graphite KZGs and put them on the FCs that Stickfish sent me. I am off work tomorrow ( hours of service limits exceeded) and plan on playing the FCs with persimmons and more than likely a Bulls Eye or TP Mills Spalding putter

[BIG STU]

> @OldFrog75 said:

> > @scomac2002 said:

> > The only caution I might add by going to bigger grips for pain relief is that you may not release the clubhead as fully as you did before. I would agree with @Snowman9000 that a larger lower hand might be just as effective as going with the next size up in grips.

>

> To those who have switched to larger grips - Did you find it affected ball flight and if it did how did you remedy that? I've experimented with the idea by putting a Midsize CP2 on my 6 iron and during my initial testing it seems like I tend to push/fade the ball more. I'm hesitant to convert my whole bag because I really don't want to go through a long, laborious process of tweaking my swing, grip, stance, ball placement, etc., to get the ball to go straight again.

 

I normally play standard sized Tour wraps except on my 16* fairway and 23* hybrid. On those I use a Midsize Tour Wrap to help prevent me from hooking those 2 clubs. I use a midsize Tour Velvet on my driver for the same reason. The driver was the first experiment on that and I had the Tour Velvet laying around. Shot it on and liked it. Hit it good so I never changed it. I have an uncanny feel and sometimes different type grips feel better on different clubs for me. I know some guys have to have grips matched throughout a set. A good example for me is on my steel shafted KZGs I like the feel of the Lamkin Crosslines but did not like the feel of the Tour Wraps. Just the opposite on my Mac VIPs I do not like the Lamkins and love the Tour Wraps.

[braincramp52]

Quitting sugar will help with arthritis more than any single other thing.

[wkuo3]

> @OldFrog75 said:

 

> To those who have switched to larger grips - Did you find it affected ball flight and if it did how did you remedy that? I've experimented with the idea by putting a Midsize CP2 on my 6 iron and during my initial testing it seems like I tend to push/fade the ball more. I'm hesitant to convert my whole bag because I really don't want to go through a long, laborious process of tweaking my swing, grip, stance, ball placement, etc., to get the ball to go straight again.

 

The grip is the connection between the golfer and the golf club. Anytime you change the grip will result in slight modification for your golf game. Going to larger size will inhibits the hands from turning over. The degree of the changes will vary depending on the golfer.

Always get used to the new grip on the driving range. I had found out even with the same grip, it'll have different size in thickness when put on different shaft because the shifts will have different sizes from steel to graphite , from the trimming ........

A pair of caliper is your best frind, it'll take all the guess work out of the size issue.

 

Yes, going to a larger grip will enhence ball flight going to the right side. The hooks will be minimized and the fade will go even farther right. Whether it's a larger sized grip or just to built up the lower portion of the grip ( which does the same thing, minimize the hands from turning over ). The benefit will outweight the work effort to get use to it.

[KenL]

I use an interlocked finger grip which causes the knuckle on my right pinky finger to swell.

If I hit about 2 buckets (120 balls) at the range it will act up but its nothing I can't live with.

[Tim Schoch]

I recently switched to Brian Sparks' and Julian Mellor's "Easiest Golf Swing." It is magic. Very low effort with same distance and much better contact and accuracy. Love it. I have tossed all my swing notes. Don't need them. I now have a swing without position thoughts. Can't be more amazed and grateful. Watch the videos, and I mean all of them. There are gems in each one.

[scomac2002]

> @"Tim Schoch" said:

> I recently switched to Brian Sparks' and Julian Mellor's "Easiest Golf Swing." It is magic. Very low effort with same distance and much better contact and accuracy. Love it. I have tossed all my swing notes. Don't need them. I now have a swing without position thoughts. Can't be more amazed and grateful. Watch the videos, and I mean all of them. There are gems in each one.

 

Great to hear that this is working for you. I have watched the videos and was going to try and implement this swing for the benefit of my wonky back. I haven't had much luck as of yet, but your experience offers me renewed confidence to keep giving this a try.