Does anyone here use Jumbo/Oversize grips? I just tried them and have some insights and questions

[longdrivenate 118]

Like most of us golf addicts, I love to tinker with golf gear. My latest experiment was replacing all my standard grips with Winn Dri-Tac Lite Oversize ones. I had the idea to give it a shot for a few reasons:

1. I was having wrist pain and had read that larger grips can help since you use your wrists less and also have to use less grip pressure.
2. I was always getting blisters on my hands unless I wore two gloves. I don't know if I have baby hands or what but I needed to always wear two gloves or I would have terrible blisters before even getting through a whole round. It might be because I have a high swing speed so the friction was just too much on my hands, I don't know, but I've worn two gloves for years because of it and I'm tired of it. I thought bigger (and softer) grips would mean I could grip the club more lightly, use more surface area of the hand, and avoid blistering better.
3. I do not consider myself that consistent with my irons. I'm not a bad player (7.1 hcp currently) but I struggle to have a consistent shot shape with my irons and am equally capable of slicing one and hooking one depending on the day. I watched a TXG video on various grip sizes and they seemed to demonstrate that a larger grip will force the clubface to stay square longer, which would presumably result in more consistency of whatever shot shape your swing produces.

So anyways, that was the thesis. I don't know why I didn't just start with one club to test the bigger grip out, but I went full addict and replaced the grips on 11 clubs (everything except Driver, 3W, and putter) then went to the course yesterday to play a round with them.

What did I observe? Some good and some bad. Let's start with the good:

1. My directional control and shot shape was very consistent. I don't know if it's because the face was staying square longer like the TXG guys demonstrated or what, but almost every shot I hit went on line with where I aimed. I wasn't able to "work" the ball as easily and everything was pretty much a baby fade, but considering the ball went where I wanted, that was good. And the results spoke for themselves - despite hitting only 4 fairways, I hit 12 GIRs. For comparison, over the last 3 months on the same course I have averaged 7 GIRs on 6 fairways hit per round, so this was clearly a marked improvement on my approach shots.
2. Minimal blistering issues. Played my first round in over 7 years without two gloves and I got through it with minimal pain and blistering. I definitely attribute this to being able to grip the club with much less pressure and the Winn Dri Tac grips being softer than my previous Tour Velvet 360s. I was very happy about that.
3. I have less wrist pain today than I usually have the day after a round, so I think the larger grips did reduce some of the stress on my wrists.

Now the bad:

1. I had way less "feel". None of the shots I hit felt great (you know that feeling of just flushing one...not that it happens for me often lol). They didn't feel bad, but I was just getting way less sensory feedback from the club, which honestly made the round less fun to play...despite pretty good results, every shot felt somewhat clunky and dead.
2. It was hard for me to know where the clubhead was in space. I just felt like I wasn't really sure where my club was. I think this contributed to the previous point, but it also just made me feel anxious on every shot.
3. Distance control was less consistent. Even though my directoinal control was markedly improved, due to the two points above, the quality of my strikes varied more than usual so I was more likely to chunk or thin balls than usual. These misses ended up not being too bad and not getting me in as much trouble as hitting a big slice or hook, but clearly there was a tradeoff in distance control for directional control.
4. Finesse/creative shots were harder to hit. Anythign where I wanted to get a little "handsy" or try to shape a shot a certain way was just harder because I couldn't use my wrists and hands as much. So while that was good for full length approach shots, my short game didn't feel as precise (especially out of bunkers, or trying to flop a ball, or curve it around an obstacle, etc.). Maybe that's not a bad thing since I'm not sure I should be doing that anyways and perhaps I'd be better served trying to groove a more dead arm chipping motion, but it was just different and I felt somewhat one dimensional when it came to shorter, creative shots.

Anyways, now I'm trying to decide if I should stick with these grips for awhile, or swap back to standards so I'm curious if others on here have made the switch and what your experience has been. More specifically, if you struggled with the same negatives I listed above, did that stuff improve as you got more used to them (did you develop more "feel" and more understanding of where the clubhead was, etc.)?

I'm encouraged by the performance and the reduced pain/stress on my hands and wrists, so I'm inclined to at least try them for a couple weeks now, but the lack of feel really bothers me and I can't say I enjoyed playing them as much as normal irons haha.

Curious to hear thoughts!

[longdrivenate 118]

I should also mention that I don't have big hands...I wear a Men's Small glove...so this wasn't an issue of my hands being too big for standard grips and I'm not a typical candidate for oversize grips. Figured I should share that. 

[Thin2win 3,895]

I switched to Mid-size a few years ago, and I'm happy with that change. Much less wrist pain, and less tendency to pull the ball left. 

Also, I wear a Cadet-M glove, so on all the grip size charts I should use an undersized. The feel and club awareness come back after a few rounds, just takes a little getting used to. 

[Kenny B 34,239]

I switched to midsize a few years ago, mostly because of arthritis.  Hands are not large, but my fingers are long for the rest of my hand.  It takes a little getting used to, but worth it for me.

Depending on your clubs, shafts and new/old grips, you may have changed the swingweight enough to notice the feel difference.  If it's not much, you probably will adjust; otherwise you could adjust the SW with weights, or find a different larger grip with a different weight.

[Middler 3,768]

I switched to midsize about a year ago because that's what my glove size corresponds to, and my fingertips were just into the pad on my left hand. I haven't noticed any real differences, but when I grip a standard size grip now it feels completely unnatural. So I guess I've switched!

[DiscipleofPenick 4,174]

I wear a regular medium glove and use MCC+4 midsize. It really helps with my grip pressure and keeps the wrists quieter through the swing.

Take Dead Aim

[SlowNLow 415]

6 hours ago, Kenny B said:

I switched to midsize a few years ago, mostly because of arthritis.  Hands are not large, but my fingers are long for the rest of my hand.  It takes a little getting used to, but worth it for me.

Depending on your clubs, shafts and new/old grips, you may have changed the swingweight enough to notice the feel difference.  If it's not much, you probably will adjust; otherwise you could adjust the SW with weights, or find a different larger grip with a different weight.

Did it feel like you lost a little clubhead speed with the larger grips, especially with the woods?

[ZenGolfer 928]

8 hours ago, longdrivenate said:

Like most of us golf addicts, I love to tinker with golf gear. My latest experiment was replacing all my standard grips with Winn Dri-Tac Lite Oversize ones. I had the idea to give it a shot for a few reasons:

1. I was having wrist pain and had read that larger grips can help since you use your wrists less and also have to use less grip pressure.
2. I was always getting blisters on my hands unless I wore two gloves. I don't know if I have baby hands or what but I needed to always wear two gloves or I would have terrible blisters before even getting through a whole round. It might be because I have a high swing speed so the friction was just too much on my hands, I don't know, but I've worn two gloves for years because of it and I'm tired of it. I thought bigger (and softer) grips would mean I could grip the club more lightly, use more surface area of the hand, and avoid blistering better.
3. I do not consider myself that consistent with my irons. I'm not a bad player (7.1 hcp currently) but I struggle to have a consistent shot shape with my irons and am equally capable of slicing one and hooking one depending on the day. I watched a TXG video on various grip sizes and they seemed to demonstrate that a larger grip will force the clubface to stay square longer, which would presumably result in more consistency of whatever shot shape your swing produces.

So anyways, that was the thesis. I don't know why I didn't just start with one club to test the bigger grip out, but I went full addict and replaced the grips on 11 clubs (everything except Driver, 3W, and putter) then went to the course yesterday to play a round with them.

What did I observe? Some good and some bad. Let's start with the good:

1. My directional control and shot shape was very consistent. I don't know if it's because the face was staying square longer like the TXG guys demonstrated or what, but almost every shot I hit went on line with where I aimed. I wasn't able to "work" the ball as easily and everything was pretty much a baby fade, but considering the ball went where I wanted, that was good. And the results spoke for themselves - despite hitting only 4 fairways, I hit 12 GIRs. For comparison, over the last 3 months on the same course I have averaged 7 GIRs on 6 fairways hit per round, so this was clearly a marked improvement on my approach shots.
2. Minimal blistering issues. Played my first round in over 7 years without two gloves and I got through it with minimal pain and blistering. I definitely attribute this to being able to grip the club with much less pressure and the Winn Dri Tac grips being softer than my previous Tour Velvet 360s. I was very happy about that.
3. I have less wrist pain today than I usually have the day after a round, so I think the larger grips did reduce some of the stress on my wrists.

Now the bad:

1. I had way less "feel". None of the shots I hit felt great (you know that feeling of just flushing one...not that it happens for me often lol). They didn't feel bad, but I was just getting way less sensory feedback from the club, which honestly made the round less fun to play...despite pretty good results, every shot felt somewhat clunky and dead.
2. It was hard for me to know where the clubhead was in space. I just felt like I wasn't really sure where my club was. I think this contributed to the previous point, but it also just made me feel anxious on every shot.
3. Distance control was less consistent. Even though my directoinal control was markedly improved, due to the two points above, the quality of my strikes varied more than usual so I was more likely to chunk or thin balls than usual. These misses ended up not being too bad and not getting me in as much trouble as hitting a big slice or hook, but clearly there was a tradeoff in distance control for directional control.
4. Finesse/creative shots were harder to hit. Anythign where I wanted to get a little "handsy" or try to shape a shot a certain way was just harder because I couldn't use my wrists and hands as much. So while that was good for full length approach shots, my short game didn't feel as precise (especially out of bunkers, or trying to flop a ball, or curve it around an obstacle, etc.). Maybe that's not a bad thing since I'm not sure I should be doing that anyways and perhaps I'd be better served trying to groove a more dead arm chipping motion, but it was just different and I felt somewhat one dimensional when it came to shorter, creative shots.

Anyways, now I'm trying to decide if I should stick with these grips for awhile, or swap back to standards so I'm curious if others on here have made the switch and what your experience has been. More specifically, if you struggled with the same negatives I listed above, did that stuff improve as you got more used to them (did you develop more "feel" and more understanding of where the clubhead was, etc.)?

I'm encouraged by the performance and the reduced pain/stress on my hands and wrists, so I'm inclined to at least try them for a couple weeks now, but the lack of feel really bothers me and I can't say I enjoyed playing them as much as normal irons haha.

Curious to hear thoughts!

I didnt have any of the issues that you listed but I tried jumbo grips a couple years ago and felt like I had a lighter grip pressure because of the bigger grips.  Im also with you on the feel part.  I felt like there was no feel.

All in all though, I just liked the way that they felt.  There was just something about jumbo grips that just felt comfortable to me.

[Kenny B 34,239]

25 minutes ago, SlowNLow said:

Did it feel like you lost a little clubhead speed with the larger grips, especially with the woods?

Not really.  I feel like I have more control of the club and don't feel like I need to tighten my grip to hold onto the club.  Less tension in arms.  I haven't tried Jumbo grips; might be easier on my wrists, but like you said, I think I would lose a little clubhead speed... and I can't afford to lose any!!

[BKordon 307]

I use Golf Pride CP Pro midsize with 3 extra wraps on the bottom hand. I also wear a cadet XL since I have large hands but not the hands of a piano player. I originally went to midsize to prevent the left miss. Blisters are never an issue, but I do get a great callus on my left index finger. 

[Oneputtdean 1]

I have used Winn DriTech Tour Wrap oversize for years.  Love them.

[HAC 76]

I switched from standard grips to midsize grips a couple of years ago because I have a little arthritis and thought they would help.  I have liked them with my driver but not with my other clubs and am switching back.  I put one standard size grip on my pitching wedge to test it out and while I sometimes pull hook with it, I think I will be able to correct that in a few rounds and then will be able to hit irons with a less aggressive swing and hit the ball straighter and with just as much distance.  Asked our pro shop to put them on all the clubs after playing yesterday and will see how they work.  If I hate them, I can always go back to midsize.  But, I think I am better off with the standard grips as my hand and fingers aren't that big.

I also get blisters on my thumbs.  I put tape on both sums.  Solves the problem.  I use this.  Mueller Golfer's Grip Tape 1 Inch x 5 yds - Walmart.com - Walmart.com

 

[HAC 76]

23 hours ago, Middler said:

I switched to midsize about a year ago because that's what my glove size corresponds to, and my fingertips were just into the pad on my left hand. I haven't noticed any real differences, but when I grip a standard size grip now it feels completely unnatural. So I guess I've switched!

One reason I am going back is I had my pro look at my grip and it looked like the third picture.  I do not tend to slice the ball, but I have to swing harder than I might like with my irons to get the ball straight.

[BH43 21]

I went to a tacki mac over size arthritic. I really like the feel and comfort of these grips.

[lasorcier 30]

Okay, I will weigh in on this one.  About a year ago, I switched from using TV +4 standard to TV +4 midsize, then to Jumbomax Tour small. 

A little background: 

• 6'2"
• ML Bionic Grips
• Titleist TSi3 (Motore F3 stiff 46.5", 3/4 degree flat i think)
• PXG Proto 17* 2-Hybrid (Fuji Professional H-8 stiff i think( it is grey and blue), 1* flat, +1")
• TM Sim 5 wood (Stock shaft +1")
• 3-Gap PXG Gen 3 0311T (Elevate Tour +1", 1 degree flat)
• Ping Glide 3.0 56 (stock off the shelf - unmodified)
• Neutral grip for both hands
• Relatively level AofA (driver +2.5*, irons -1.5* on average)

So, basically I don't like it when I am very tall over the ball so to speak.  I try to get the same proportional distance from the ball that an average-height player would using standard clubs would have.  It works very well.  I did this because when I am "over the ball" the chance to get stuck rises significantly and I seek to avoid that.

When I used the standard size, my fingers would hit the pad of my thumb very easily and had to grip hard to maintain control of the club.  Same for the midsize, but less so.  I then added 4 wraps to that, and even less so.  However, even then, my fingertips would hit the thumb pad.  The result here was that sometimes I would regrip at the top of my swing and I figured that was bad.

So, I bought some Jumbomax and used their sizing tool.  It said small so that is what I got.  I had tried a friend's medium and they were too large and had a totally dead feel.  So, recommendation number one is to use their sizing tool because if you go bigger, feel will suffer more.

It took me a couple rounds to get used to the Jumbomax.  What was immediate was that i was able to relax the strength of my grip considerably.  This led to less tension in the arms.  So, now, there is virtually no tension in the hands or arms.  I am able to make a stroke where my body is hitting the ball, rather than my hands having to micro-adjust to control the club face. What is also immediate was that i no longer regripped at the top.  I was a consistent hitter with the smaller grips, but became very consistent with the much larger grips.  The third thing that was immediate was that my backswing shortened up a bit (I needed this because I am flexible and can slip into the habit of the John Daly take-back, which feels totally comfortable but is bad of me to do). 

So, initially, they felt a little weird and had the same feeling of not totally feeling the club head.  This went away and that is the important concept here.  Your body will adjust and you will regain the feeling of knowing where the club face is.  I know where mine is at all times. 

The finesse stuff took a little bit longer, but it did come back.  If you give them a chance, the feel and the finesse do come back.  It just takes time for your body to adjust to it.  You'll be there when you walk into a golf shop, pick up a club to goof around with it, and it feels unnaturally small and weird.  That is how I knew.  Whenever I do that, I get that feeling and then the deathgrip returns because it essentially has to.  I have a little bit of early arthitis.  Nothing major yet, just minor soreness infrequently.  I would think that for arthritic hands these would be a God-send.

As a side note, I did not mess with weight when I regripped (i.e., no lead tape, etc).  I figured I would get used to it and I did.  Now i can enjoy the tension free swing and that is a great feeling.  For point of reference, the ring and bird fingertips on my right hand (left handed) do not touch the pad of my thumb.  The gap is approximately 1-2mm in the pic I will upload later.

I did not lose club head speed or distance.  If anything distance went up because i can 'get after it' without my upper body tensing up.

I hope that helps in some small way.

[longdrivenate 118]

I played the oversize grips (either in rounds or at the range) six times since originally posting this. While I felt myself getting more used to them, I still wasn't feeling totally comfortable or enjoying the feel. I still struggled to find the center of the clubface consistently, I hit a lot of balls fat, and even when I did pure one, the grip dampened the feeling so much that it took the fun out of it a little bit (not getting that crisp, compressed feeling). 

All that had me really second guessing if those grips were right for me, so while laying in bed the other night I started playing around with online grip sizing tools and most of them pegged me right in between an undersized and a standard grip. I had now tried standard and I had tried oversize without loving them so I decided why the heck not do some more experimenting and try out an undersize?  Not sure how that logic made sense, but I was in the tinkering mood. So I went out and bought an undersized grip and installed it on a spare 7 iron.

The next day, I took both the undersize and oversize 7 irons to the range. I started out by hitting a bunch of balls with my gamer (with the oversize grip). I can't say I was hitting it well. Everything was still fading/slicing, my strike point was very inconsistent, and nothing felt very good. I then switched to the undersize 7i not knowing what to expect. It felt strange as I held it behind the ball, but I took a swing and that first shot was a perfectly compressed rocket out of the dead center of the club face that went exactly where I wanted with a very slight draw. I was shocked. It was by far the best ball I had hit that day. So, I excitedly hit a bunch more balls with it. Same story. They were almost all wonderfully compressed, accurate, and felt great. My mind was exploding as if I had just stumbled onto a cure for cancer. Not only was I hitting the club with the undersize grip better than the oversize, but it was the best ball striking I've ever displayed in my golfing life!

I was nervous that maybe this was a fluke and the excellent ball striking would elude me the next day, but the quality of shots was so much better than what I'm used to that I couldn't ignore it. So last night I regripped my whole set with undersize grips.

Today I went back to the range with them and was very nervous to see if I had retained that quality ball striking from the last time. Fortunately I had. All the way through my bag I was now hitting the ball better than ever. Honestly, I'm shocked. Perhaps I've just been playing the wrong grips my whole life and I'm just an undersize guy. I don't know. But I do know that if I can transfer the ball striking I exhibited today to the golf course, I will be the best iron player I've ever been. That has me more excited about golf than I've been in years...which is saying a lot since I'm a full blown addict. 

Anyways, I guess it's still TBD if I retain that ball striking and if it translates to better scores. And also TBD what impact using the smaller grips has on the health and comfort of my hands and wrists...but for now I'm really excited about this whole thing. I'm bummed I went down the strange path of exploring the oversize grips since it cost me time, money and unsatisfying golf rounds, but it was also a fun experiment.

For now though, I'm going to give these undersize grips a shake for awhile. Will report back on the results after I've played them for a bit. 

[Hoganman1 154]

On 2/26/2021 at 1:44 PM, Thin2win said:

I switched to Mid-size a few years ago, and I'm happy with that change. Much less wrist pain, and less tendency to pull the ball left. 

Also, I wear a Cadet-M glove, so on all the grip size charts I should use an undersized. The feel and club awareness come back after a few rounds, just takes a little getting used to. 

I too use mid-size grips and wear cadet medium gloves. I just like the feel. Whenever I buy a new club I always have it re-gripped to Golf Pride Tour Wrap Mid-Size. I know they have newer styles now, but I like that the Tour Wraps are very tacky. When they get older I just scrub them with Dawn and an old tooth brush to re-furbish them.

[Thin2win 3,895]

2 hours ago, Hoganman1 said:

I too use mid-size grips and wear cadet medium gloves. I just like the feel. Whenever I buy a new club I always have it re-gripped to Golf Pride Tour Wrap Mid-Size. I know they have newer styles now, but I like that the Tour Wraps are very tacky. When they get older I just scrub them with Dawn and an old tooth brush to re-furbish them.

I'd recommend Pure grips, I'm a convert from GP. 

[dlow206 10,950]

I have never used oversized, but i have gone back and forth between undersize and standard.

My hands are about 7.25" rounding up a bit and longest finger is about 3.5". Some charts puts me in standard, Ping chart puts me in -1/64". Had gone back and forth between undersize and standard. Now that I have improved how I grip the club and am gripping the club more properly, the undersize feel a little small. Going to be switching to a standard 60 core on a 0.600" shaft. Debating on how many wraps under the right hand but it will be less than a +4, that feels too big. Maybe a +2 under the lower hand.

[Hoganman1 154]

17 hours ago, Thin2win said:

I'd recommend Pure grips, I'm a convert from GP. 

I'll have to research Pure grips. I've never heard of them, but I'm always open to something new and different. Thanks for your input.