Golf clubs have the smallest handle of anything I can think of that you’d attempt to generate power with, why?

[27x10.5]

All I can think of is that they wouldn’t fit in the bag if they were tennis size. I’ve never even tried a large grip and I once tried a midsize and immediately took them off because it felt so foreign.

 

But any racquet sport, baseball, hockey, hammers, ax and most tools, golf training aids, every power switch in movies to kill power to a building, pretty much anything that involves creating speed or transferring power has a big grip or handle. We somehow ended up with huge grips on putters which is the most delicate part of the game. 
 

So I don’t get it, has anyone messed around with a huge grip on a driver to see what happens? 

[Louis_Posture]

16 minutes ago, 27x10.5 said:

 

So I don’t get it, has anyone messed around with a huge grip on a driver to see what happens? 

 

For most players over sized golf grips are comfortable to hold and promote lighter grip pressure technique.

The negative factors of larger grips is that they inhibit wrist-hand action, may diminish the player's ability to execute precise shots, and (due to added weight) may harm the balance-feel of the club.

[hellojude]

I was just thinking about this the other day. Bryson really likes the jumbo grips. I think they work for some people. I think the issue is its more difficult to create angles and speed with larger grips IMO. 

[Zitlow]

Don't think power, think quickness. 

 

 

 

[SEP1006]

2 hours ago, 27x10.5 said:

But any racquet sport, baseball, hockey,

 

Don't forget Ping Pong, Lacrosse, Badminton and I'm sure there are others as well. I have said this many times on here. Why the golf grips are so small makes no sense at all, at least to me anyway.

 

I played the Jumbomax Ultralight XL for probably 8 years before recently switching to the Jumbomax Zen Lights. Will never go back to standard or even mid-size grips. It is so much easier to control the club face with the bigger grips. And I never lost any distance when I swapped to them either, actually picked up about 5-8 yards per club.

 

 

[stryper]

Every once in an awhile something comes up that I hadn’t thought of before…this is one of those times. 🤔

[MikeW2]

22 minutes ago, SEP1006 said:

 

Don't forget Ping Pong, Lacrosse, Badminton and I'm sure there are others as well. I have said this many times on here. Why the golf grips are so small makes no sense at all, at least to me anyway.

 

I played the Jumbomax Ultralight XL for probably 8 years before recently switching to the Jumbomax Zen Lights. Will never go back to standard or even mid-size grips. It is so much easier to control the club face with the bigger grips. And I never lost any distance when I swapped to them either, actually picked up about 5-8 yards per club.

 

 

Out of curiosity, how big are your hands?

[Shilgy]

47 minutes ago, MikeW2 said:

Out of curiosity, how big are your hands?

Might be irrelevant in this case.  You question is from traditional golf grip thinking while the OP is just asking why.

 

For some reason traditional golf grip thinking is the longest, usually middle, finger just about touches the palm when gripped.  He is just asking why in golf and not in other games.

[SEP1006]

3 hours ago, MikeW2 said:

Out of curiosity, how big are your hands?

 

No bigger than normal. I'm 6'-1" so a little taller than average. I just like the feel / control of the bigger grips. You can hold them with very little pressure which of course releases any tension in the arms.

[MikeW2]

2 hours ago, Shilgy said:

Might be irrelevant in this case.  You question is from traditional golf grip thinking while the OP is just asking why.

 

For some reason traditional golf grip thinking is the longest, usually middle, finger just about touches the palm when gripped.  He is just asking why in golf and not in other games.

I understood the original question and the traditional thought process. My curiosity comes from the fact that I have very small hands, wrist to tip of longest finger is just under 7 inches, but like the feel of a thicker grip. Which ironically I held for the first time ever yesterday.

[ChaosTheory]

The first grips were strips of leather wrapped around wooden shafts, which gave the approximate size of today’s grips.

[PedronNiall]

The clubhead/ball speed, direction/face angle tendencies, and spin findings here were interesting.

 

 

Slightly undersized grip produced the highest clubhead & ball speed with the least spin and slight left tendencies. The largest grips produced the lowest speeds and over 1k RPMs more spin with consistently open face angles. While tennis, racquetball, table tennis, and other sports might do well with larger grips, I wouldn't be surprised to find that even tennis racquets, despite their footprint, have far lower MOIs than pretty much any club in the bag. I'm sure the same is true of the head of a hockey stick. Drivers might not be as bad, but irons would be more of a bear to get used to. Still, this was only one example.

 

This fitter had pretty much the same grouping with every grip, with a slight nod to the jumbos, and got the longest distance out of the jumbos as well.
 

 

A player would need to put more energy into turning a much larger grip through enough total degrees required to square the face than smaller one. That said, it doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't be viable, only that players would have to get used to them. They might also make an easier transition for players who come from other club or racquet sports.

 

Funny that this just dropped a few days ago.

 

 

I still have a larger grip on one of my clubs currently as I'm experimenting and will probably try them throughout the entire bag again soon just to see what I like for certain. It'd be nice to see some more in-depth tests a la TXG. What's out so far is a little light on the statistical rigor to be conclusive. Would also be good go have some PTs and Orthos do some testing to show differences in stress levels on the joints.

 

Edit: guess I missed this one in my initial look. Even the king of consistency Matty didn't see any difference in distance, he actually lost a tiny bit, though dispersion was slightly tighter. Still, need some more in-depth tests, especially around any help the give regarding impact on the body.

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by PedronNiall

[iacas]

Plus, larger grips move your balance back into your heels, if you like the Wright Balance stuff. 😉

 

 

[SEP1006]

24 minutes ago, iacas said:

Plus, larger grips move your balance back into your heels, if you like the Wright Balance stuff. 😉

 

 

 

 

I just don't see this. IMO larger grips have nothing to do with balance.

 

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, SEP1006 said:

I just don't see this. IMO larger grips have nothing to do with balance.

 

I don't either, hence the wink at the end. But they do…

Spoiler

 

So much to pick at in that video, but… This is OT, so I'll keep it short (and in the spoiler).

 

[pdxhak]

A few months ago I switched to midsize +4 grips and no way going back to traditional size grips. It took a few range sessions to get used to the larger grips but it was worth it. 

[SEP1006]

21 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

I don't either, hence the wink at the end. But they do…

  Hide contents

 

 

 

So much to pick at in that video, but… This is OT, so I'll keep it short (and in the spoiler).

 

 

 

Still not buying it.

 

 

 

 

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, SEP1006 said:

Still not buying it.

 

Okay. Again, I don't either. 🙂 

[Yacho]

I get the "pulls" with larger grips.  Dunno, doesn't work for me.  Almost like I cannot flow with the club anymore, and I'm over-manipulating it instead of guiding it into the ball.

[MikeW2]

57 minutes ago, pdxhak said:

A few months ago I switched to midsize +4 grips and no way going back to traditional size grips. It took a few range sessions to get used to the larger grips but it was worth it. 

What was it that improved for you?

[aenemated]

I tried a Jumbomax setup several years back. Just went with the mediums - still considerably bigger than standard.

 

I certainly felt faster when I could actually square the clubface - I felt like I had to really aggressively release through impact to even get close and I lost like all clubface awareness. Any control seemed to go out the window.

 

I did really, really like the feel in my hands, though.

[bobfoster]

Tonight's TL;DR ...

 

Over time (especially long periods of time) pretty much all sports equipment converges on sizes and shapes that optimize performance for their particular sport. 

 

There are always technical explanations, but the major, underlying reason is this: Experience says it works best. When the majority of pros in any sport are all using roughly the same size/shape equipment, it isn't just because of "tradition" or because they haven't tried anything else. I use the example of pros because not only does someone that does a sport for a living have a huge vested (financial) interest in finding what works best, they also have equipment in their hands at many multiple times the frequency of even good amateurs. (Imagine how many times - in endless practice and in tourneys - Djokovic hits a tennis ball in a year, compared with  a guy that plays with friends a couple times a week.) So it is generally the pro level of a sport that does the most experimentation (they not only have to, many of them are paid to), and who play enough to understand the differences that even the slightest changes to equipment result in. 

 

Why aren't golf grips as thick as tennis racquet grips? Well, why aren't tennis grips as thin as golf grips? Why are golf and baseball grips round, tennis grips beveled octagons, and hockey sticks rectangular (and bigger than golf grips but smaller than tennis grips)? Simple answer: Performance. It is what works for each sport. You can use a lot of science to explain why it might work, but the fact that it does is all that really matters to people that play the sport. 

 

Of course, within those sports there are always hyper-customizations - which is what we are talking about here. Variances so small that only pros and decent amateurs could even tell. Good tennis players (I used to be one) have string tension preferences ... slightly looser or tighter. In fact, long string and cross string tensions can be different. Hand a baseball player a tennis racquet for the first time, and he'd be clueless that there was any difference at all. Hand Venus Williams a racquet strung even 1.5lb lower in the crosses and she'd know it in a second. 

 

In golf grips? The difference between regular and medium is literally around 1/8". Would be meaningless to anyone that hadn't played a lot of golf. Starts to matter if you do. The science (in case anyone is still reading)?

 

It has to do with which muscles are activated. The golf swing is an unbelievably complex thing. Multiple muscle groups involved for different swings. From the large core muscles, to the thighs/calves, arms, and even the smallest muscles in the hands and fingers. For drivers and the long iron end of the bag, you want mostly the core working. Arms and wrists just following to support the SS the core has developed, and provide full release and an extra kick at impact. Being too "handsy" makes for unpredictable and wider dispersion. At the short, wedge end of the bag, you want delicate precision. Totally different muscle groups involved. Watch Tiger's incredible (infamous) pitch on 16 at the 2005 Masters - a 1/4, firm, descending stroke that was nearly all slight shoulder, forearms, wrists and hands. 

 

General rule with grip size? The larger the grip, the more it neutralizes the hands, and activates larger muscles. Because it does slightly inhibit the release, larger grips do (usually, as a general rule - so you never want to go too thick) slightly shorten distance on long clubs, but accuracy improves precisely because the hands are less involved. You want the opposite with wedges. 

 

So (leaving aside a few outliers like Bryson) a lot of pros use different grip sizes. But the norm is that they'll use medium grips, or do a bunch of wraps on a standard grip with their driver and long irons, but they'll move towards standard grips with few or no wraps (besides the one) with scoring irons and wedges. The more precision you want in distance, trajectory, and ball behavior when you're 10' from the hole, the more the hands have to come into play. 

 

So why does this (seem) to fall apart when it comes to the shortest club, the putter? Why are so many going SuperStroke, grips almost twice as big as even the largest driver grip? Why would the wedges be the thinnest grips in the bag, but the putter the thickest? Weirdly, same principle. The most consistent putting comes when the hands and fingers are almost completely neutralized. You don't want them involved at all. Fingers, hands, even arms are fixed, only the shoulders slightly rock back and through. All of the delicate touches that the smaller muscles of the wrists, fingers and hands can add to chips and pitches are lethal to putting. Nothing should vary - not even the speed of the clubhead. Only difference between a 4' and 8' putt is the length of the backswing (with a commensurate follow through). 

 

Gone on too long here. But hope it wasn't OT.

[Gohigh]

Unless someone is suggesting that golf motion is the same as tennis, baseball, or any other racket or bat sport, I dont see why the correlation is made at all. 

 

Im sure no one thinks the shaft is the "bat" or "racket" in golf as you are not hitting the ball with it? 

 

Regardless of how hard you can swing the shaft, with whatever size grip of your choosing, if the path, plane, and general timing of the golf head attached to the shaft does not contact the ball squarely and in the middle of the face, does it really matter? 

 

One could argue maybe hockey has general swing similarities as golf, but last time I checked, hockey puck does not go 300 yards nor is it meant to fly over 100ft in the air. 

[Etzwane]

To paraphrase TGM, the question seem to indicate that your concept of the swing is axe handle driving (pushing across the shaft, large grips allows to better "overpower" the shaft) and not flail swinging (large grips would restrict wrist mobility so the flail would not be very efficient).

 

[UKGolfer86]

6 hours ago, pdxhak said:

A few months ago I switched to midsize +4 grips and no way going back to traditional size grips. It took a few range sessions to get used to the larger grips but it was worth it. 

 

I put midsize MCC+4s on at the end of last season for a couple of rounds, instantly fell in love.  I had issues with golfers elbow and trigger finger which i was sure was caused my gripping too hard.  Figured bigger grip = less grip pressure which would fix the physical issues.  I was not wrong, not even a hint since.  

 

5 hours ago, MikeW2 said:

What was it that improved for you?

 

My results may be different, but less tension in the forearms and generally all through my upper body, means i can truly relax everything. I get a much better sequence, smoother transition and much much more consistent release.  All of which combines to give me a more consistent and solid contact with the ball.  Has dropped my handicap by 3.5 so far this season.  

[tm3]

14 hours ago, Snowman9000 said:

The first grips were strips of leather wrapped around wooden shafts, which gave the approximate size of today’s grips.

Great question and interesting discussion.  I think that the above is the Occam's Razor answer -- golf is very strongly rooted in traditions (keep your head down).

[NevinW]

I've used Jumbomax grips in the past and really played well with them.  I switched back mostly because of the extreme difficulty of getting them in and out of the bag.  If anyone has a suggestion for a large grip friendly stand bag, i'd consider going back to them. 

[GungHoGolf]

11 hours ago, bobfoster said:

Nothing should vary - not even the speed of the clubhead. Only difference between a 4' and 8' putt is the length of the backswing (with a commensurate follow through). 

If the speed of the clubhead didn’t vary, all putts would roll the same distance. What is constant with most good putters is the tempo, not the clubhead speed. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

12 hours ago, bobfoster said:

Tonight's TL;DR ...

 

General rule with grip size? The larger the grip, the more it neutralizes the hands, and activates larger muscles. Because it does slightly inhibit the release, larger grips do (usually, as a general rule - so you never want to go too thick) slightly shorten distance on long clubs, but accuracy improves precisely because the hands are less involved. You want the opposite with wedges. 

 

 

 

 

tl;dr are my 5 least favorite ASCII characters of all time. Of course, it's because I tend towards excessive verbosity, much like you 😉

 

I think the point you make here is key to discussing golf vs other sports as well. So many other sports are MUCH more about power than fine movements when compared to golf. 

 

I hit a drive yesterday that was maybe 5* offline left. Trajectory was good. 

 

Do that with a baseball bat? Line drive single to left center. 

 

Do that with a tennis racket? Maybe you don't move the other player quite as much as you'd like and you make their return easier. 

 

Do that with a golf club? OOB, S&D or 2 penalty stroke drop w/ MLR E-5. 

 

You need much more control because a few degrees offline can be a much larger penalty hitting a ball 250y+. 

 

We grip the club in the fingers rather than the palms because of the need for that finer control. Which is a reason the grips aren't the size of a tennis racket or baseball bat--how are you going to grip in the fingers with something that big? 

[bobfoster]

26 minutes ago, GungHoGolf said:

If the speed of the clubhead didn’t vary, all putts would roll the same distance. What is constant with most good putters is the tempo, not the clubhead speed. 

You are correct - I expressed myself imprecisely. The idea was that if you have a four foot putt and your backswing is four inches (or whatever), the way to hit an eight foot putt is not to pull the club back the same four inches and just hit it harder, but rather to keep the same swing pace and extend the distance of the backswing. Speed was the wrong word to express that - tempo is the right one.

 

In fact, for a long time now my swing thought standing over a putt is the image of the simple metronome I used to practice piano ... "backswing" and "follow through" identical lengths, with tempo never varying throughout. I do get that putting strokes vary a lot - some golfers have shorter backswings, and others have abbreviated swing throughs - but for me, anyway, a pendulum stroke with a metronome pace give me the greatest consitency.