reduced taper rubber vs. tape for hand pain

[metaldog]

From what I understand reduced taper grips with more rubber/bigger grips like midsize/oversize helps with hand pain,

my understanding is also that extra tape tends to make things firmer...

 

Anyone have experience if extra tape exacerbates hand pain problems? Or can it help reduce hand pain like usual reduced taper grips? Or is it kind of almost negligible? 

 

if more information is needed here is my use case: 

Currently play st+2 hybrid lamkin midsize grips, 2 layers, love the grips. Only downsize is I do play in the rain and my right hand gets so slippery, and rain gloves on my right hand

makes me play god awful (how do people deal with that? Or people practice with 2 gloves on for this kind of occasion). 

Alternatively I have a wedge with midsize crossline genesis lamkin grips i tried on that works well when wet, but worried my right hand will suffer more with the the less rubber protecting me/more tape to mimic the extra 2 layers.  Trying to figure out how to play in rain weather since there are rounds where I have to play in the rain and I need to somehow make it work. 

[Stuart_G]

2 hours ago, metaldog said:

From what I understand reduced taper grips with more rubber/bigger grips like midsize/oversize helps with hand pain,

my understanding is also that extra tape tends to make things firmer...

 

Some people they help - some people they don't.     Only trying it out yourself will answer the question of whether they might help you or not.

 

Yes, extra tape does firm up grips a little but  changing grip size to help with hand pain is much more commonly about how it might effect grip pressure and tension for the swing.   Not always as much about the amount of material between the hands and the shaft.  But both can be contributors to some degree.

 

2 hours ago, metaldog said:

Anyone have experience if extra tape exacerbates hand pain problems? Or can it help reduce hand pain like usual reduced taper grips? Or is it kind of almost negligible?

 

For me personally, I've been playing with osteo-arthritis in the hands for almost 30 years now.   And neither grip size nor the material thickness, amount of tape, or grip material type are a factor in the amount of hand pain.    For me the only thing that mattered and made a difference was the switch to graphite shafts.

 

Also FYI when practicing on hard mats, I do use bionic (padded) gloves for both hands.    But then even before doing that I never had a problem switching between 1 and 2 gloves on the course.   So never understood how the second glove could cause any problems for anyone.   But if does cause a problem for you, some practice time with them seems to be the logical solution.

[hunterdog]

I have developed extensor tendinitis in my left ring finger. At times I can’t even swing the club. The most common treatment? Rest. But it’s in the middle of golf season here in the Northeast and I don’t want to take weeks off from playing. Anyway, I just switched from Winn Dri Tac 2.0 to Winn LT Midsize. I’ll play this weekend and let you know how my experiment went. 
 

PS: I did try Bionic glove with minimal improvement.

Edited Thursday at 12:07 PM by hunterdog
Additional info on the subject

[trying2scratch]

Grab a couple Jumbomax to test sizes and rejoice at the straight shots and reduced hand, wrist, arm, shoulder etc pain.   Tried a cpl of the zen lites as I got tired of adding 2-4 wraps with midsize.  The xs felt too big at first but soon felt so much more natural with so much less tension in hands/fingers. Oddly enough my hold on fade now just feels so much more relaxed goes straight. The nice thing about the zen is it still feels like rubber but way less weight. I like a heavier swing weight, so it was 2 birds with one stone. The Kool aid tastes so good right now...

[svlido]

Building up with tape will be firmer than bigger grips.  Paper is harder than rubber.

[ChaosTheory]

3 hours ago, svlido said:

Building up with tape will be firmer than bigger grips.  Paper is harder than rubber.

And the rubber gets stretched by the added wraps, and that makes the rubber harder.

[hunterdog]

FWIW, I regripped with DriTac LT midsize, in an attempt to reduce pain due to left ring finger extensor tendinitis. I played today with the new grips, a Bionic glove, and Alleve Tylenol combo. Was it perfect? But it was better than it had been and I was able to finish the round. 

[Streuner]

I play reduced taper grips on all my wedges and irons. Wedges and PW and i9 are having midsize grips, from i8 down to driving iron I use standard grip size and additional 3 tapes. This makes the grip harder, but the extra weight of the midsize grips bothers me more on the longer irons.