Golf Equipment: How to Replace Golf Grips

A proper grip of the golf club is very important to get a good swing. There are three essential requirements of a good grip: a good glove, a proper hold of the club, and ensuring that the rubber grip on the shaft of the club is not slippery. Worn out grips can result in your hands slipping, thus resulting in errant shots. It is recommended that you periodically replace your golf club grips irrespective of whether your golf club set is old or new. It is very necessary since the golf club grip is the only part that is in direct contact to your physic.

A worn and decaying golf club grip can cause the club to wobble and become unwieldy in the hands of even a skilled golfer. And if the condition is poor enough, it can cause the club to slip out of its grip during a swing. Grips wear out with use, heat, moisture and even just time. Replacing them at the appropriate time is the best way to ensure that your clubs will feel solid and secure.

How to check if the grip needs a change
Examine your golf club grips so as to determine if they're in need of replacement. Begin with a visual inspection to check for signs of ware and tear. Take a few practice swings after the visual inspection to see how the clubs feel in your hands. If the clubs feel somewhat loose inside the grips, the grips should be replaced as soon as possible. Also, if the finish on the outside of the grip isn't gripping your hands well enough for you to be able to swing the club while holding it loosely, they're ready for replacement. Keep a log of the changed grips throughout the golf season. Replace the grips after one year or 40 rounds, whichever comes first.

Selecting the New Grip
Proper re-gripping of your golf clubs involves you to make out the core size of the grip that you require and the size of the grip that best fits your hand. Golf club grips come in standard core sizes; small, medium, large and jumbo. To decide the core size, just measure the diameter of the butt of the shaft that you will re-grip and select the grip accordingly.

Most golfers will be inclined to take their clubs to a professional for re-fitting, simply because they feel they do not have the equipment/tools to carry out the task on their own. Therefore, the first thing to do is to get hold of a few basic tools and solvents. Once you have the basic equipment in hand, you can proceed with the task on your own.

Tools/Equipment required

• A utility knife (preferably with a hooked blade)
• Mineral spirits (odorless preferred)
• A vice (that clamps on a table)
• Double-sided grip tape (from a golf store)
• A soft rubber clamp
• Solvent
• Replacement grips of your choice (again, from a golf shop)

Steps

1. Hold the club firmly with one hand, using the other for the work. You can use a vice grip, but ensure you protect the club with a rubber holder so it is not damaged.
2. Cut off the existing grip using the utility knife.
3. Remove the old grip tape with a grip-tape scraper. If you do not have a scraper, you can try a small kitchen knife. Be careful not to damage the shaft.
4. Use a rag and an adhesive remover or grip solvent to remove the leftover tape and stickiness. Any good solvent can be purchased from your local store.
5. Wash the shaft with soap and water and dry it completely. Put the middle of the shaft in the vise and clamp it.
6. Measure where the new grip will fit: Take the new grip in one hand and hold it alongside the bare shaft of the golf club. Align the butt of the grip with the end of the shaft. Use your other hand to make a pencil mark on the shaft where the opposite side of the grip ends, toward the head of the club.
7. Remove a piece of double-sided tape from the roll, and place one end at your pencil mark. Smooth down the length as you stick the tape along the shaft to its butt end.
8. Trim the tape off the roll at the shaft's end. Thereafter, carefully wrap your piece around the shaft, overlapping the tape's width as necessary.
9. Take the new grip and plug one end by placing a golf tee in the little hole at its butt. Now pour some solvent inside the grip.
10. Place a finger or thumb over the open end of the grip, leave the tee-plug at the bottom and shake the entire grip. This allows the solvent to spread throughout the interior of the grip.
11. Pull the golf tee out of the end of the grip, then slide the grip onto the shaft over the tape. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to slide the grip on. If it's hard to slide it on, use more solvent, either inside the grip or on the tape.
12. Remove the club from the vise.
13. Hold the club as if you were hitting a shot. Adjust the grip gently so that it's straight on the club, making sure any pattern on the grip is not twisted around the shaft.
14. Work your hands up and down the golf shaft, pressing the grip firmly against the club to seat the adhesive.
15. Let the grip dry for about 10 hours before using.

All serious golfers understand the importance of equipment maintenance. One's enjoyment of the game can be optimized by taking out time to ensure that the equipment is in good condition, especially the grips on the clubs. As the grip is the only part of the club one uses to initiate the swing, it makes sense to replace the grips, enabling a confident swing. Re-gripping clubs can be done with ease at home, and the equipment required is a minor expenditure in comparison to a professional's charge.