Getting a Grip on a More Comfortable Putting Stroke

Golf Pride’s new Reverse Taper grips are wider at the bottom to reduce lower-hand tension.

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One philosophy for putting is to employ a shoulder-rocking motion to guide the putter squarely through the ball, “using the big muscles” for success on the greens.

Take the hands out of the stroke, they say.

That’s all fine and good—unless you’re in the business of selling grips.

“We’re at the other end of the spectrum,” says Bruce Miller, retail product manager for Golf Pride. “We want players to use their hands.”

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Miller likes to say that grips are equipment for golfers’ hands, and to that end his company has a new equipment launch dropping April 15: Golf Pride’s Reverse Taper putter grips. The grips are just like they sound, having a shape that’s opposite to conventional grips which are widest under the top hand and then slimming beneath the bottom hand.

Golf Pride's Reverse Taper grips come in three shapes, all in medium and large sizes / Courtesy Golf Pride

A problem with those conventional grips, Golf Pride found through extensive research with players of all abilities, is that the lower hand can become a focus when struggling on the greens and an overcompensation would occur.

“Yippiness, flipping, de-cels, giving it the gas, jabbing it,” Miller recites. “An overactive lower hand.”

But if the grip itself could be inverted, reversing the taper and becoming progressively larger from the end cap to the where the grip stops, Golf Pride found it would negate some of those overactive faults. Just don’t call it “taking the hands out.”

As Miller says, it’s more like “optimizing each hand in the stroke.” And getting them to work together again.

Golf Pride’s Reverse Taper grips are available in three shapes: round, pistol and flat. The round is the universal style, with a distinct flat front that would appeal to the way most golfers hold their putters. The pistol’s substantial flat sides can be popular with a left-hand low (for righthanders) grip. The flat is more of an oval shape, much larger on the sides and conducive to straight-back/straight-through putting styles.

They're all made with polyurethane for softness and texture, and all shapes are available in medium and large sizes, following a trend toward larger putting grips overall. Golfers have also long been more receptive to putter grip changes than swing grips—maybe Golf Pride Tour Velvets have always been reliable on the irons and woods so there’s no need to go to the effort of changing all those clubs, but the trusty flatstick hasn’t been so trusty lately, so …

Reverse Taper grips may be the answer. Just don’t call them a tool to take your hands out of the equation. 

Golf Pride's Reverse Taper grips will be available beginning April 15 at golf courses and leading retailers including PGA TOUR Superstore.