One of the things you want to make sure you do when you go and get your club regripped is to have a competent PGA professional help you with the job. If you want to save some money with labor and do the work at home yourself, that's fine, but make sure that you are fitted for and buy the proper grips.

I went to a golf shop, which will remain nameless, a few years ago to have my clubs regripped. The professional who helped me gave me a few sample grips, analyzed how I held them and showed me how to gauge the proper size for my new grips. He also gave me some vague advice about how firm my grip should be and what sorts of materials might be best for me. The person helping me then told me it looked like I needed an oversize grip and that he would write a work order for me that afternoon.

While I was skeptical about the guy who helped me, I was excited to get my clubs back so that I could try them out on the course a day later. I didn't notice any marked improvement in my quality of play. If anything, I may have been striking the ball a bit more poorly than usual. I chalked it up to getting used to the new grips.

A year later, it was time to regrip my clubs once again. Because I had sneaking suspicions about the previous store I used to regrip my clubs, I went to a more established pro shop to hopefully get better quality service and equipment. Like at the other place, the professional here asked me to hold a sample club so that he could get a sense of what I needed. Unlike the other place, he immediately asked me if I always held the club like this when playing, because I was holding it wrong! Apparently, I had been holding my grip in my palms, and not in my fingers like I should have. The guy at the other store gave me bad advice and sold me the wrong grip! I changed my grips to midsize and also got them in a higher level of firmness.

When I used my newly gripped clubs on the course, I immediately noticed that my shots were flying straighter and farther than before. I couldn't believe that I had been playing golf at a much poorer level for a year, and had been gripping my club wrong the whole time. A year's worth of agony and mistakes could have been prevented if I had received proper advice the first time I got my clubs regripped.

The lesson of the story is, no matter if you're paying someone else to do it or you're doing it yourself, make sure you install grips that properly fit you and suit your style of play.

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