REPEAT PERFORMANCE
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One of every three Tour pros reportedly prefers playing grips with reminders—they’re
typically slight ridges on a grip that help a golfer use the identical hand position every
time he or she holds a club. Golf Pride offers its ALIGN Technology as an option in
four of its popular grips. This raised ridge along the grip’s underside helps remind
golfers to achieve consistent hand placement on the club. “It gets your hands on
the grip the same place every time before you start to swing,” says Bruce Miller, the
company’s retail product manager. “Regardless of how you hold the grip or how
technically sound your grip is, if you do it the same way every time, you will probably
lower your scores.” Golf Pride is not alone here: This year, SuperStroke offers a
similar “Spyne” concept in some of its grips that it describes as a heavily embossed
ridge along the grip’s underside that “guides golfers to repeatable hand placement,
making it easier to square the face at impact.”
INTELLIGENT GRIPS
Smart grips—those with computer chips inside—gather and relay all
of your pertinent swing and playing tendency data to a smartphone
or smartwatch. The app displays not only exact distances you
hit every shot in your round but also where you hit them. While
aftermarket sensors are available to screw into the butt end of
your current grips, two major club manufacturers sell them pre-
installed in their own clubs. Cobra offers Cobra Connect smart
grips as standard in many of its latest clubs. The grips are made
by Lamkin and Golf Pride, and feature Arccos technology. Plus
they use artificial intelligence to precisely account for the impact
wind speed, wind direction, elevation and other environmental factors have on how
far a ball travels. The software also analyzes all of a user’s data history, plus 400+
million shots taken by golfers via Arccos and 368 million geotagged data points
at every course in the world to instantly provide an optimal on-course strategy.
PING has also begun selling custom-ordered clubs armed with Arccos smart grips
made by Golf Pride, for an upcharge—and is offering the Arccos screw-in “Smart
Sensor” for any of its clubs, including putters. Says John K. Solheim, PING’s
president: “Average golfers now have access to data previously only available to
tour pros. The app collects true distances from actual shots … (that) leads to club
recommendations that give you the best opportunity to play your best.”
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HANDLES WITH FLAIR
1) G
olf Pride’s Z-Grip ALIGN ($12/midsize, $11.49/standard size) has a dedicated raised
ridge underneath, for consistent hand placement. Made with firm material and deep
texture, the full cord model is typically for better players.
2) T
he JumboMax STR8 Tech Non-Tapered ($13) helps maximize lower hand feel and
clubface awareness. It promotes light grip pressure, so you can hold it a little looser.
3) L
amkin’s reduced-taper TS1 ($10) feels softer in cold temperatures. Its micro-texture
surface yields a comfortable, secure grip connection.
4) S
uperStroke’s Traxion Series Pistol GT ($30) includes an adjustable weight port in the
grip cap for counter-balancing. Its pistol-style top helps you lock in your upper hand
without taper, to encourage even grip pressure.
5) W
inn’s soft Dri-Tac Lite ($7) is made of proprietary polymer that feels tacky in all
weather conditions. It’s lightweight, to enhance feel and swing tempo.
vsga.org
J U LY / A U G U ST 2 0 19 | V I R G I N I A G O L F E R
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