Golf Pride study reveals importance of fresh grips to performance

Golf Pride investigated the effect of fresh grips on performance

Novel research findings show how fresh grips can gain you distance and confidence on the course.

This is an advertising feature in association with Golf Pride.

Confidence is king on the course. It always has been.

A confident player doesn’t overthink shot selection or get bogged down in multiple swing thoughts. They visualize the shot they want to hit, and then hit it.

Of course, playing well breeds confidence, but so too does being equipped with the right tools for the job. This may take the form of custom-fitted clubs, a low-spinning driver to boost distance off the tee, or even a high-spinning ball to ramp up stopping power on the green.

Often, however, the best confidence boosters are more fundamental and hit straight to the core of what good golf performance is all about – a consistency of face impacts aligned to your intended target.

And thanks to gripping new findings from Golf Pride, players now have the evidence they need to make some quick, and affordable wins in the confidence department.

The question you need to ask yourself…how often do you replace your grips?

According to Golf Pride, only 20% of golfers re-grip their clubs the recommended once annually, meaning that the vast majority of us are missing out on easy performance gains.

In their pioneering study, 82% of participants (handicaps below 5), reported that new grips felt ‘secure to very secure’ in their hands.

Conversely, when using warn grips, only 24% reported the same secure sensation.

We all recognize the importance of replacing worn-out golf gloves, but this evidence suggests we should all start paying closer attention to the state of our grips too.

Can fresh grips gain you yards?

That’s exactly what the study revealed – 2.3 yards to be precise, resulting from an increase in ball speed of 1.3 mph.

Admittedly you’re unlikely to strip off and jump in the nearest water hazard at the excitement of gaining two yards, however, it starts to become more meaningful once added to all the other marginal gains we strive to add to our games.

Perhaps your new set of players’ distance irons has gained you a few extra yards too, and a technical tweak has added some more mph to your club head speed?

All of a sudden, combined with your fresh grips, that strategically placed fairway bunker always catching you out at 250 yards is now comfortably carriable.

And that brook on the par five that stops you going for the green in two can now be taken on.

More birdie putts, more often, that’s the name of the game.

Selecting the right grip for your game

Like just about everything in golf, including the best grips, there are different horses for different courses.

To make this process as informed as possible, Golf Pride has designed a selector tool to help golfers get to grip with the technologies and grip types available, ensuring feel, feedback, and alignment suit your preferences and the typical playing conditions you encounter.

Golf Pride’s four key grip types include the CPX (soft and tacky), Tour Velvet (velvet and smooth), MCC (hybrid or half-cord), and ZGRIP (full-cord).

Additional technologies available include ALIGN (a raised ridge to help lock in the correct hand position), and PLUS4 (a reduced taper encouraging lighter grip pressure).

This obsessive innovation and commitment to optimizing performance has driven Golf Pride to the top of the professional tours with more than 80% of players choosing Golf Pride, and not a single one being paid to do so.

What exactly did the study involve?

Participants aged 24-40, hit a total of 30 shots with an identical standard length (37”) Titleist fitted iron with Project X shafts and a singular MB fitted iron head into a simulator on an artificial turf surface. A TrackMan 4 launch monitor was used to collect performance data of interest.

Each player hit ten shots with a brand new grip, ten with a grip exposed to ultraviolet light in an accelerated weather test chamber for eight hours, and the remaining ten shots with a grip exposed in the chamber for 24 hours.

Greg Cavill, Global Project Engineering Manager for Eaton Corporation, and leader of the research team behind this study said: “The results of this detailed test demonstrate that there are tangible and defined benefits to re-gripping.

“We’re excited to continue exploring the benefits of re-gripping, and further understanding how the connection between the hands and the grip can have an impact on performance”.

For more information on the No.1 grip on Tour, visit the Golf Pride website, and always consult with your PGA Professional who is the best authority on grip fitting and installation.

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