Air Compressor re-grip with +wraps

[Simpsonia]

Following the advice of a friend, who is a physical therapist, I decided to change my grip size following a pretty bad bout of golfer's elbow. I'm tall and have large hands, and he theorized that I was death gripping the club. Being a DIY kinda guy, I read about using standard 2" wide masking tape and an air compressor to re-grip clubs and gave it a shot, and it has worked out well. I'd like to play around with some more sizing after regripping everything to Midsize and still finding it a bit small. I'd like to try midsize with +4 under the trail hand vs Jumbo. I'm using the GP Tour Velvet. 

 

My question is for those of you who use an air compressor, how do you adjust wraps? It seems that the plain masking tape, while it works for keeping the grip in place on the shaft, it is significantly thinner than grip tape, so I can't just throw 4 of masking tape wraps on to try out. I'd probably have to do 10-12+ wraps of the masking tape to get to the normal +4 if my guess is right. But, putting 10 wraps of of the thin tape would be difficult without getting creases. Maybe a layer of thicker tape (duct or gorilla tape) over the first masking tape layer? I like I really like being able to play around and change and re-use the grips without having to deal with solvent and residue, especially before I can finish fine-tuning and finding my perfect setup.

[sethdavidsdad]

23 minutes ago, Simpsonia said:

Following the advice of a friend, who is a physical therapist, I decided to change my grip size following a pretty bad bout of golfer's elbow. I'm tall and have large hands, and he theorized that I was death gripping the club. Being a DIY kinda guy, I read about using standard 2" wide masking tape and an air compressor to re-grip clubs and gave it a shot, and it has worked out well. I'd like to play around with some more sizing after regripping everything to Midsize and still finding it a bit small. I'd like to try midsize with +4 under the trail hand vs Jumbo. I'm using the GP Tour Velvet. 

 

My question is for those of you who use an air compressor, how do you adjust wraps? It seems that the plain masking tape, while it works for keeping the grip in place on the shaft, it is significantly thinner than grip tape, so I can't just throw 4 of masking tape wraps on to try out. I'd probably have to do 10-12+ wraps of the masking tape to get to the normal +4 if my guess is right. But, putting 10 wraps of of the thin tape would be difficult without getting creases. Maybe a layer of thicker tape (duct or gorilla tape) over the first masking tape layer? I like I really like being able to play around and change and re-use the grips without having to deal with solvent and residue, especially before I can finish fine-tuning and finding my perfect setup.

Yes you can just get several wraps of tape to make it thicker. I have used painters tape in the past and built up several layers. 
I like being able to change grips quickly without the mess

[SEP1006]

Before going to the Jumbomax Grips I would put 4 wraps underneath the NDMC Plus 4 Midsize. I used Duct Tape at first then went to using the medical tape like they wrap ankles with.

[Ed McNicholas]

I use masking tape and measure with a set of calipers because graphite shafts have different butt diameters then steel.

[Chip Duffer]

When I want more thickness, I use the grip tape but do not remove the non-stick layer that is normally peeled to reveal the glue. 2 of these layers should provide the build up you're looking for.

[P.E.]

According to GolfWorks a grip manufacturer allows for the diameter of 1 piece of double coated grip tape when referencing their grip mandrel size. For example; a .600 core grip size being installed on a .600” diameter shaft butt will install to a standard size grip which includes 1 layer of double sided grip tape. A piece of double-coated grip tape wrapped around a golf shaft increases the shaft butt diameter by .014.

 

Since you don't need double coated grip tape when using a compressor I use .015 build up tape from GolfWorks  when installing grips.

 

I have installed regular Tour Velvet Plus 4 grips with 3 layers of build up tape with no problems.

 

Great thing about air installation is that you can try almost any combination of sizes until the grip feels right for you.

 

Calipers will give you the measurements once you have your ideal fit.

[Mikeski]

I play over sized Winns but when I would mess around with wraps under mid size grips I'd use 2" wide masking tape. I'd peel off around 6" piece for the first wrap then decrease the length of tape by around and inch until at the butt I'm wrapping a 2" piece.

Then I'd take one long piece and place it length ways to cover all of the wraps. That way I didn't feel the "seams" every 2" under the grip.

[Howard_Jones]

Get a caliper
Start by a measurement of the shaft butt, the official specs might say 0.600 but 0.595 to 0.605 is what they are. Now add one layer of what ever tape you plan to use and measure again.
Do the math for how much 1 layer of YOUR tape adds as diameter.

Instead of giving you specs for "play ready grip size" first, il rather tell you how large the shaft butt must be to get a cetrain play ready diameter using STD grip size with 0.60 core.

BUTT - GRIP
0.600 - 0.900 = Standard
0.660 - 0.960 - MID SIZE
0.720 - 1.020 - JUMBO

Grip size is measured 2.0" inch down from the butt, and tells NOTHING about how large size is for the lowest hand, the taper shape here vary alot, and thats why grips like +4 and +2 has come to the marked, who is "standard taper, but built up with 2 or 4 layers to the lowest hand."

2 layers is 0.030 (the middle of STD and MID)
4 layers is 0.060 or MID size for the lowest hand

This is THEORY, grips is different, some "stretch" more than others, meaning some will be smaller, some will be a tad larger than my numbers, but this is "the system" we navigate in.

IF you buy "Golf build up tape" from Mitchell, its 0.015 for each layer, so from STD to MID we need 4 layers, and from MID to Jumbo another 4, or 8 total if we use a standard grip.

Add some water and soak the inside of the grip, now blow it on with compressed air. With some training 10 or 12 layers can be done, but grips like New Decade should NOT be put on by air, the different rubber in the front vs the back of it is so large, the front "ballons" and blows up in way to many cases, so those grips is "no good" for compressed air, most others is no problem.

If you experience that the grip twist during play, we can prevent that.
Use air again and remove the grip.
Now add 3 x the smallest grip tape for spiral pattern like this:
The first 3 inch down, the second 5 inch down, the last 7 inch down.
Only one wrap of it around the shaft at 3 spots like this.

This will prevent the grip from twisting, but this 3 points want be strong enough to make a grip change using air problematic at all, and its not problem to blow the grip over those 3 tape spots either, just make the tape wet by water only, and make sure the inside of the grip was soaked in water before you start.

For large shaft butts, hold and secure the front of the grip while you "by care" try to add air enough to open the grip mouth so you can get the front of the grip over the shaft butt. Take advantage of the air that returns from the air filled shaft to "open the grip mouth", so this works better without "closing" the shaft butt with tape, and thats not really needed either.

Good luck.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Howard_Jones

[ARL67]

OP use whatever buildup method and type of tape you want, but use single-sided for the last wrap.   Building up will provide a bit tighter fit to the grip so should minimize twisting.  If you detect some twist, it is a simple matter of blowing off-on the grip again.  Add some thin spirals of double sided as Howard advises above if you experience and are bothered by the twisting.

 

I build up my lower hand with strips of single-sided 2", 3", 4", 5", 6" and a final full wrap of single-sided.  I don't bother measuring as I'm not that particular on true diameter, just as long it's a Midsize grip ( CP2 Wrap Mid are my go-to ) with a built-up lower hand. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by ARL67

[Simpsonia]

Thanks guys, sounds like that build up tape is exactly what I need. 

[AmazinBlue]

Duct tape is about the thickness of 3 layers of masking tape.  Gorilla duct tape is even thicker, maybe closer to 5 wraps.  If you use duct tape,  put one layer of masking tape on before the duct tape to make remove it easier.

[mylesb21]

I've also used intertape oversized build up masking tape instead of regular masking tape (you can find at Golfworks). 1 layer of heavy duty tape is .14" vs .10" for regular masking tape.