If you are thinking right now that this is a name you haven’t heard before so it must be a new company, toss that right out the window. While stateside the Two Thumb name isn’t all that recognizable, they’ve been selling their products worldwide for a decade now and been designing their own grips since 2005. So, while they may be new to most, and I was in that category before this review, they are not the new kids on the block.
Quick Take
Not all that recognizable stateside, the Two Thumb putter grips has a following across the pond and more than that, some legitimate Tour use. The grips are exactly what they aim to be, with wider front paddle sections for ample thumb placement while also fitting in the hand comfortably and determined to fight wrist break at all costs. Unique names, a unique design, and a unique outlook on putter grips.
The Two Thumb Ideology
The name gives you a pretty good clue as to just what the premise behind the grips that Two Thumb have created is and what they seek to do. The name of the game here is reducing the killers in putting, tension and wrist break.
The first grip they designed was the “original”, also known as the Big Daddy, and its design focused on providing a platform for eliminating as many variables and breaks in the putting stroke as possible. The company is a big proponent of a putting grip that keeps both hands directly parallel to each other with the thumbs literally side by side on the front paddle, and the Big Daddy was perfectly designed for that. By creating this grip, it allows the golfer to form a “Y” from the hands to the shoulders which frees up all tension and allows a repeatable pendulum motion.
As time has gone, the lineup has evolved and more options have been created, like the “Snug Daddy” grips I got in for this review. The Snug Daddy are much more traditionally sized. Now, I know some are hesitating under the thought that the parallel grip style would have to be used with these grips, not so however, even the company acknowledges there are many grips out there and their grips will work well with a variety of them. I myself use what I know as a near “prayer grip”, meaning almost parallel but not quite, I also don’t run index fingers down the sides and I still saw merit from the Two Thumb designs.
Big Daddy and Big Daddy Light
We have to start with the OG, right?
Two Thumb were kind enough to send in two variations of their original “Big Daddy” putter grip for this review, the full rubber OG, as well as a dual material “Light” version.
At first glance, many will think about the Flat Cat design and while the overall shape looks similar, I found these to have a lot more rounded nature, particularly in the rear of the grip which let them both sit more naturally in the hands. The wide look and feel took some time to get used to, but it made a lot of sense when thinking about the putter grip technique they were built around.
I found it incredibly hard to have anything but a tension free putting stroke that still kept my wrists in check with both models, even when using a variety of grips, it was a much more comfortable design than I expected. Being honest, when I unboxed these, they drew an audible reaction from me in both shock and a slight amount of fear, but realistically they’re just a very solid design with a specific purpose.
The “Original” Big Daddy is a tank. This thing comes in at 190g and is made entirely of rubber, in fact, it is the companies own Tour Velvet material and it is allthere. The shape distributes the weight across the grip, but even then, this is one that is going to alter putter swing weight in a significant way. Because of that, I believe it’s the best bet for those using heavy putter heads or for golfers who simply enjoy a back weighted putter (of which I am one). I put it on a 350g putter head and though I could still feel the head in the stroke, the balance point of the entire setup was definitely shifted. I can also say this one was the most durable of the grips I worked with for the review and it is because of the rubber.
The “Light” version of the Big Daddy is almost 1/3 the weight of its older, beefier, sibling. Made of lightweight underscore covered in a layer of dual textured polyurethane, it is the same feel in hand you get from SuperStroke or Winn in their putter grips. This is a material design that is always going to feel good in the hands as I do think the biggest benefit for it is the texture allows for a light grip that is always going to benefit golfers. On the other end, the larger shape in and out of the bag is going to potentially speed the wear, which is already traditionally not great on poly layered grips, depending on the type of bag you are using.
While I’m not a fan of the “Big Daddy” name as it does come off as a little hokey, it does have a story behind it and, well, it fits the design/shape. In the end, I started with hesitation to these grips and wound up pretty shocked at how well they do their job.
Snug Daddy 27 and 30
I also got to work with a much more traditional style grip from the Two Thumb company which they have named the “Snug Daddy”. Again, the unique name will likely elicit an equally unique reaction, but it sticks to the trend they started with their first grip.
As for the design of the grips, I worked with the “27” and “30”, the numbering refers to the width and depth of the grips in millimeters, it is also worth noting that Two Thumb also makes “24” and “27 Wide” models. This is going to be a much more familiar design to most golfers stateside as they are no-taper putter grips with a lightweight rubber core that is covered in a polyurethane outer layer. Though at first glance these appear very similar to SuperStroke with its no taper, they actually have a more unique shape with harder edges making for a larger front paddle surface area.
On the course these were obviously the easiest for me to get used to as they’re far more traditional. The lightweight nature (30 is 60g and the 27 is 40g) meant a stark contrast to my time with the Big Daddy Original as these actually accentuate the putter head weight through the stroke. The shapes here leant to a lot more versatility with different putting grip styles as well, and even worked well with the claw grip, especially the 30 which is a longer grip top to bottom than the 27.
Aesthetically these are pretty clean grips, and the decision to go with solid colors means they show wear significantly better than say, solid white which we have seen other companies foolishly go with. This is worth talking about because the reality is these dual material type grips will wear more than all rubber counterparts. That said, it definitely makes for one very comfortable putter grip.
An Option to Consider
At THP we have said it a million times, options are good. Everyone wins with more options, especially well thought out ones, and Two Thumb as a company is much more well based than the U.S. readership is going to realize. With multiple Tour Pro’s having used and currently using their grips and 11 worldwide wins, this isn’t a random start up company. But, finding a foothold stateside will be the significant undertaking that Two Thumb has to take on, as is always the case, getting them into the hands of golfers is the key to that, and I’m curious to see how they approach that.
The Details
Availability: Now
Price: $43.05 (by conversion rate at time of article)
Options: www.twothumbgrip.com
