If you are sitting down and reading this, then you too are among the lunatic fringe who enjoy everything golf equipment. Let’s be honest, we are the type who will spend hours upon hours discussing and debating clubheads, shafts, metallurgy, milling methods, and even what specific foundry a company is using for their iron heads. However, there is one part of the equation which merely gets passing thoughts, the golf grip. Today, we are taking the Education Zone into the world of golf grips.
The Education Zone – Grips
Our goal with these pieces, as always, is to shed some light on the “why” within golf product design, yet with golf grips we tend to fly by the seat of our pants. At first glance, they seem simple. Pick a size, pick a style, install, and go. But when you peel back the layers, there’s a surprising amount of engineering, history, and nuance at play, not to mention being the one part of the club our hands touch on every single swing.
To help us dig into the “why” of grip materials and design, we sat down with Brandon Sowell, an industry veteran that has over twenty years of experience within golf marketing and product development, most recently with WellMXS. Brandon was able to offer some candid perspective on what really matters when it comes to golf grips.
The Three Pillars of Golf Grip Materials
When deciding where to begin on this Education Zone journey, it made the most sense to start at the core, literally, and for golf grips that means materials. We can realistically think of modern golf grips as belonging to one of three material families: rubber, corded, and polyurethane.
Rubber
All-Rubber grips sit in the middle of things. These designs are durable, versatile, and still the most widely used globally. If you are looking for examples, then look no further than the classics like the Tour Velvet. What many may not realize, however, is that these often undergo buffing for surface texture, a process which looks to make sure things are smooth but can lead to slight variations in feel and even accelerate UV aging.
Corded
Corded grips are the firmest option out there and were designed originally not just for traction, but also structural strength. The original reason for integrating corded fiber within the grips was to improve the strength while also reducing torque, similar to what you see in construction with the use of rebar within concrete. Along with those positive traits also comes a more abrasive feel which some love, and others loathe. It is for that reason we have seen a “sub-family” of corded grips, the hybrid or “multi material compound” styles which put the cord under the lead hand but full rubber on the trail hand for a bit of a “tweener” in terms of feel and feedback.
Polyurethane
Polyurethane grips prioritize comfort and cushioning above all else. Typically, these are built around a rubber or foam underlist (base layer) which then has an outer coating or polyurethane material applied. The main goal here is to create a grip which will minimize vibration and hand fatigue, Winn style grips are the most commonly seen varieties of these. However, softness can also be accompanied by durability issues, particularly for those who play a considerable amount of golf.
There is a rub to all of this when it comes to all of this, however. Brandon pointed out in the discussions for this article that golfers should keep in mind that each material brings its own trade-offs, and picking the right one depends on your swing speed, feel preference, and even the climate you play in.
The Feel Factor
No doubt, as you worked your way through the three main types of golf grip base materials, within your head you were also linking each to a specific memory of feel that you have had in the past. Sure, the materials are key here, but if grips had a personality spectrum, it would be defined by durometer, which is a fancy word for hardness.
Higher durometer materials provide a firmer feel, improved torque resistance, and increased feedback at impact. Lower durometer materials, by contrast, offer a softer feel, enhanced shock absorption, and greater comfort.
Brandon Sowell
This explains why some players swear by that crisp, firm connection, while others want something they can squeeze all day without fatigue. It’s not about better or worse, it’s about matching the grip to the golfer. The easiest way to put it, if you want maximum feedback, then a higher durometer grip is your ticket, but if comfort is king in your world, then a lower level is your best bet. A more generalized breakdown of that from highest durometer to lowest is cords, all-rubber, then polyurethane.
Of course, as materials change, so too does the density, and as Brandon points out, that can open up a whole other litany of design aspects which must be considered:
“Material density, on the other hand, primarily gets adjusted to achieve specific weight targets, particularly in oversized grip designs. This is most relevant in putter grips, which often feature larger profiles to assist with overall weight distribution and balance to the club head.”
That aspect of weight distribution is one that doesn’t get the discussion or emphasis within our own personal grip choices that it perhaps should. Being that the grip is a key element in the greater functionality of a club from both a static and swing weight perspective, the various thicknesses and placements of both diameter as well as overall material placement can make or break an experience for some golfers throughout the golf swing.
Fatigue, Comfort, and the Forgotten Factor
Comfort, however, is not just about softness. It is easy to underestimate the toll which grips can take on your hands over the length of a round. Sure, softer materials can indeed reduce fatigue when compared to cords, however how the materials react to dirt and grime matters as well.
What most of us don’t realize is that such things can lead to unconscious changes to grip pressure. This compensation can add another variable to our rounds, something most of us certainly do not need. As Brandon pointed out to us, there is a simple solution which can pay big dividends:
“A good practice, popularized by players like Fred Couples, is to wipe down grips before each shot. That simple habit restores surface tack and provides a more secure connection without forcing players to squeeze harder. Many golfers are surprised at how much better a clean or fresh grip feels, and only then realize how much unnecessary effort they were using with worn grips.”
With all of that in mind, it is the size of the grip which might just be the most forgotten aspect of the fatigue, comfort, and durability trifecta. You see, the influx of oversized, mid-size, and even reduced taper options we have seen across all grip manufacturers is not simply happenstance. These options are all part of the greater equation of finding the best fit for each individual, ensuring that they can keep a more relaxed connection to the club which reduces strain while encouraging a more neutral pressure. So, yes, size matters.
Weathering the Grip Game
Materials absolutely matter, and so too do their specific design and applications. The various textures and tricks which manufacturers use are all done with the purpose of improving our connection to the club through an infinite variety of golf swings. Even with as much as the softness and texture matter, the environment with which you play and store your clubs has a much greater impact than we realize.
Brandon put it succinctly with this commentary:
“Temperature can also influence grip feel. Like golf balls can change feel depending on high and low temperatures, grips feel softer in hot temperatures and firmer in colder conditions. Some players even swap grip styles seasonally, choosing corded for summer traction and softer rubber for winter flexibility.”
While the thought of changing grip softness based on the seasons may blow some of your minds, specifically if you already play softer options, the cord users out there understand the weather aspect and can perhaps grasp the concept a bit more easily.
The rubber and cord compound in particular is not a good bedfellow of the cold or a lack of overall humidity, they can lead to things drying out and actually getting slick despite their purpose. No, this is not a certainty, but that is why understanding why and how a grip is made, as well as your own needs and environment, matter so much for the longevity of both your health, and your grips.
From Traditional to Transformational
While this much conversation on the golf grip might seem a bit mundane to some, seemingly showing us to be stuck within one of three main material tiers as far as options go, innovation is very much alive. A big reason we reached out to Brandon Sowell is also his work alongside a grip manufacturer you are likely familiar with as a reader of THP, and that is WellMXS.
While you can read all about the brand in our prior feature, here, we bring this up more to point out that there are still some very real innovations ongoing in this segment. In particular, WellMXS is rethinking not just the external, but the internal structure as well.
“The WellMXS proprietary dual-layer elastomer construction was developed to combine the torque control of a corded grip with the comfort and surface consistency of all-rubber grips,” Sowell points out. “The inner layer delivers core stability and torque resistance, while the outer layer provides a softer, tacky surface for enhanced comfort and control.”
We point this out because such innovation is not simply change for the sake of it. This is an example of modern companies trying to close the gap between tradition and transformation by using modern materials and precision engineering to deliver grips that look familiar but perform in ways players can actually feel.
Although golf grips will never get the attention that the rest of the club does, their future is most certainly brighter, smarter, and more important than most golfers realize.
