Putters

The club that accounts for the most strokes during a round also comes in a bewildering array of shapes and styles…

TESTED: CAN FAT GRIPS HELP YOU HOLE MORE?

tour events and golf shops, oversize putter grips are popping up everywhere. To find out if jumbo grips really help golfers make more putts, we had a group of players attempt the same six-foot putt (with no break) 20 times: 10 putts with a standard grip and 10 putts with a grip that was 80 per cent larger.

To ensure golfers didn’t get too comfortable with one grip, we had them alternate putters after every attempt. Our golfers made the same percentage of putts (71 per cent) with both kinds of grips, but high-handicappers made more putts with the fat grip, and low-handicappers made more with the standard grip.

“Anyone who has a lot of tension or too much wrist and hand movement in their putting stroke might benefit from using a larger putting grip,” says Susan Roll, an LPGA teaching pro. “If you don’t have those issues, and your grip fits comfortably in your hands, then a traditional grip should be fine.”

MALLET PUTTERS

BLADE PUTTERS