Gotta-Grip Golf Blog

Improvements to equipment and accessories in the sport of golf seem to have taken a long time to evolve, not unlike the game itself ,where history and tradition play a significant role in any rule or equipment changes.

For example; golf clubs changed very little for the 1st 400 years (circa 1450 -1850). That was the era of the "longnose wood", built like it sounds, with a long thin head, lead weight back, and sometimes a leather insert on the face. The design accommodated the "feathery" golf ball, feathers tightly packed and sown inside a leather cover. The feathery also predominated for the same 400 years.

Golf grips...there were none until the begining of the 18th century. Even then, grips consisted of thin cloth, sometimes silk, wrapped around the end of the shaft. Grips at that time were referred to as "listings". At the beginning of the 19th century,club makers experimented with leather wraps, sometimes wrapped around wool.

Leather remained the grip of choice until the 1890's, when experiments began with braided rubber and sometimes even rubber like substances "smeared" on the shaft to create a grip. Not a very pleasing thought.

The rubber grip industry didn't pick up speed or devotees until the mid 1920's. Coincidently, the steel shaft was declared conforming with the Rules of Golf by the R&A in 1929. Rubber continued to make inroads and in the early 1950's the slip on rubber grip was perfected, which led to rubber becoming the golf grip most used. That is still the case today, although Leather wraps are still seen at and professional level. (Jack Nicklaus is still a user)

Today, experiments continue with different polymers (very much like rubber) in an attempt to produce a grip that gives a good feel and retains it's tackiness ,even in bad playing conditions. This is a difficult task and most grip manufacturers recommend re-gripping every year, a potentially expensive proposition. Rubber grips by the nature of their composition begin a deteriation process immediately, from use, exposure to various climate changes and oils from the players hands. Compared to no grips, or silk "listing" we've come a long way. What might the next 250 years bring in the way of grip technology?