Changing grips: when it is time, what it costs, what size changes

The grip is the only part of a golf club you touch and the only one that wears out on a schedule. It is still the item that stays unattended longest, often longer than the club itself. A set of new grips costs less than a hybrid and changes more about how the club feels.

The interval

Lamkin, one of the two big manufacturers, recommends a change every 40 rounds, and every 30 if you spend a lot of time on the range (Lamkin). Play twenty rounds a year and that works out at once a year; add winter practice in a bay and it comes sooner.

The criterion is not the calendar but the surface. A grip is due when it feels hard and smooth rather than tacky, when it shines where your fingers sit, or when you have to hold on tighter in damp weather.

What a worn grip does

It forces more grip pressure, and grip pressure is the quietest distance killer in golf. Hold on tight and you tense forearms and shoulders, lose club head speed, and lose the release of the face at impact.

That shows up as a ball flight to the right for a right-hander, and it gets blamed on the swing. Anyone playing the same grips for three years should replace them before booking an hour of coaching.

What it costs in Switzerland

Prices at a Swiss online shop on 26 September 2026 (Golfers Paradise):

Item	Price
Standard grip, for example Tour Velvet	CHF 11.90 to 12.90
Cheapest grip in the range	CHF 11.50
Putter grip	up to CHF 49.90
Material for 13 clubs	around CHF 155 to 170

On top comes labour if you do not do it yourself; a pro shop charges per club. Doing it yourself is possible and needs three things: double-sided tape, solvent and a knife. A change takes five minutes per club, and the first one takes twenty.

Size, and what it really changes

A thinner grip lets the hands work more, a thicker one slows them down. That is the whole mechanism: anyone pulling the ball left can damp it slightly with a thicker grip; anyone not closing the face in time gets through more easily with a thinner one.

The fine tuning runs through the tape. Every extra layer under the grip makes it measurably thicker, and a fitter works in small steps with it rather than jumping a whole size. It is the cheapest adjustment there is on a club.

What the rules allow

The Equipment Rules set an upper limit: a grip's cross-section must not exceed 1.75 inches, that is 44.45 millimetres, in any direction (R&A). A round grip at that maximum must not be fitted off-centre or at an angle to the shaft.

On woods and irons a slightly raised rib along the full length is allowed, the so-called reminder rib; maximum and minimum diameters may differ by no more than 0.040 inches. Putter grips have freedoms of their own and need not be round.

One grip or thirteen

If you have to economise, change the clubs you use most: driver, 7 iron, wedge and putter. The rest can wait a season. The only thing that matters is not mixing: two different sizes in one set feel wrong at every change of club.

On a putter the grip is a subject of its own, because there size and shape are meant to quiet the wrists. That is why putter grips cost three to four times as much, and why changing one there is a decision rather than maintenance.

Grips and the mat

Anyone practising regularly in a bay wears grips out faster, because more balls are hit per hour than on a course. A hundred balls in an hour is about two rounds' worth of strokes. So count your bay hours when you count the interval.

Bays are also warm and dry, which hardens rubber faster. Spend twenty hours in a bay over the winter and by April your grips feel different from October. What winter training otherwise needs is in A winter training plan.

Doing it yourself in five steps

Cut the old grip lengthwise and pull it off. Remove the old tape with a scraper and a little solvent. Apply new double-sided tape in a spiral and push the overhang into the butt end. Soak the tape with solvent and pour the rest straight into the new grip.

Then push the grip on in one movement and align it within a minute, before the solvent evaporates. Let it dry for two hours. The first club takes twenty minutes, the fifth five, and a crooked grip only shows up on the next shot.

Which material

Three constructions are common. Smooth rubber is the standard and feels best when new. A grip with cord woven in grips when wet too and is harder on the hand for it. A wrapped grip looks classic and wears faster.

For Swiss weather a mix makes sense: rubber on the short irons, where feel counts, and a corded grip on the driver and long clubs, where you need the most hold in the wet. With a glove every material plays softer.

The glove belongs in the sum

A glove is cheaper than a grip and wears faster. If the club starts slipping, check the glove first and the grip second; a worn glove feels exactly like an old grip and costs a fifth as much.

Together the two decide your grip pressure, and grip pressure decides your speed. What else on a club contributes to speed is in Club head speed.

Storage between seasons

Rubber hardens through heat and dryness, which makes a car the worst place for a set of clubs. A boot in summer reaches temperatures that age grips by a season without a ball being hit.

Store the clubs dry and cool over the winter, not next to a radiator, and wipe the grips with warm water first. That gives many grips some of their tack back and puts the change off by a season.

More on this: How to hold the golf grip.

The order that pays

Grips first, fitting later. New grips are the cheapest change to a club and the only one everybody needs; a fitting is the most expensive and only pays off once the swing has settled. If you plan both, change the grips before the fitting, so the fitter measures your grip pressure and not old rubber.

What a fitting costs is in Golf fitting in Switzerland. And whether your shaft suits you at all is settled in Regular, stiff or senior.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I change golf grips?

Lamkin recommends every 40 rounds, and every 30 with a lot of range work. At twenty rounds a year that is once a year. What decides is the surface: hard, smooth or shiny means due, whatever the calendar says.

What does regripping cost in Switzerland?

A standard grip costs CHF 11.50 to 12.90, a putter grip up to CHF 49.90. Material for thirteen clubs is around CHF 155 to 170, plus labour at a pro shop. Doing it yourself needs tape, solvent and a knife.

What does a thicker grip size do?

It slows the hands down. Anyone pulling the ball left can damp that slightly with a thicker grip; a thinner grip lets the hands work more and close the face more easily. Fine tuning runs through extra layers of tape.

How thick may a grip be?

Its cross-section must not exceed 1.75 inches, that is 44.45 millimetres, in any direction. On woods and irons a slightly raised rib along the full length is allowed, with maximum and minimum diameters differing by no more than 0.040 inches.

Do grips wear faster in a simulator bay?

Yes, because you hit more balls per hour than on a course: a hundred balls is about two rounds' worth of strokes. Rubber also hardens faster in warm, dry rooms. Count your bay hours into the interval.

Sources

• R&A: The Equipment Rules, Conformance of Clubs (Griff) (1,75 Zoll Querschnitt, 0,040 Zoll Rippen-Toleranz)
• Lamkin: Importance of Re-Gripping (alle 40 Runden, alle 30 bei viel Range-Training)
• Golfers Paradise: Schlägergriffe (Preise am 26. September 2026)