Gripping my clubs again

I’ve been playing a lot of golf this past season and noticed that my grips were getting a little more worn than I’d like, so I recently took advantage of a snowy day to re-grip some of my clubs.

Regrapping clubs is simple and economical. However, it does require some equipment. Luckily, you can buy most of these things cheaply on Amazon:

You will also need turpentine, a work vice, a container to collect the turpentine (I use a paint roller container) and a hair dryer. You probably have a hair dryer. You can get the other stuff at your local hardware store (including the hook knife).

You can get the whole set for about $40, not including the grips and vise. Considering what pro shops charge to change grips, there is a lot of money to be saved here.

The procedure is simple. Use the hook knife to cut off the old handles. Keep the tip up so as not to scratch the shaft.

Use the hairdryer to heat the old grip tape to loosen it. Sometimes I can just peel the old tape off. Other times I find it helpful to use a grip tape stripper. It should come off easily when heated enough. If you must use force, be gentle with the stripper so you don’t scratch the shaft.

Clamp the axle in the vise using the vise. Place the paint tray or other container under the handle

Wrap the grip tape around the shaft. There are two ways to do this: spirally and lengthwise. I do it lengthwise. I start at one side of the end of the shaft, tape it up and over the top and back to the other side.

If you make it spiral, put a piece of tape over the top of the club. That helps it slide further later.

Use the grip to determine how far into the club to extend the tape. A little too long is better than a little too short. If the tape is too long, I use an exacto knife to carefully cut off the portion that extends below the grip.

Peel off the top layer of the grip tape to reveal the adhesive.

Then fill the handle halfway with turpentine and hold your finger over the small hole at the end. Hold a finger on the other hand over the open end and slosh the spirits around in the grip.

Then slowly pour the liquor from the inside of the grip over the grip tape. This should make it very smooth. If not, pour some more spirits over it.

Align the desired handle side with the correct side and then quickly slide the handle over the end of the handle. The key is to go straight in one fluid motion. Do it quickly. Do not try to align the handle exactly as you slide it on. Just turn it on. If it gets stuck or seems difficult to put on, you don’t have enough energy in the grip. Try taking the grip off and then adding more methylated spirit to the inside and to the grip tape.

Seriously, I don’t think you can use enough mineral spirits. I like my grip tape soaking wet.

Once the grip is in place and you have used enough alcohol, you will have a few minutes to rotate it to align it perfectly. I find that most grips have small alignment lines on the bottom and top. Assuming you’ve gotten the grip in a way that’s close to how you want the logo to appear, you only need to make minor adjustments.

As a side note, I often re-grip my clubs without using a vise. With enough mineral spirits I can hold the club shaft with one hand and slide the grip on with the other.

And you’re done.

I tend to do the handles in an assembly line style. I cut off all the handles, then removed the tape from each piece, then taped them all back on, then one by one loosened the top, put the mineral spirits on and slid the golf handles on.

I can do a whole set in less than an hour.

For a first attempt, I recommend purchasing an extra grip. That way, if you underestimate the amount of mineral spirits needed and one gets stuck, you can cut it off and try again.

You can reuse the turpentine that you collect in the pan. A roll of tape lasts a long time.

Note that this is all for round wood and iron grips. Although putter grips use the same process for applying the grip, aligning the top, sides and bottom is more difficult. I have a special alignment board for that.