Hello PURE grip nation,

As you may have noticed, I get pretty excited about finding awesome new golf products and brands. You may have also noticed that we have been giving away some beautiful Kikkor Golf Shoes on our site, but I have not really said much to introduce the Kikkor product formally. So, here is an overview of our findings from research with some Kikkor products.

First, I should say that I definitely have a thing for shoes. I am not the guy who collects dozens of pairs of shoes, but I have felt a great deal of passion for the same Black & White Vans Old Schools for about the last 15 years. These classic skate shoes serve me well in all kinds of settings, I wear them for business, to the pool, the beach, you name it. But, I definitely do not play golf in them…

Scottsdale, Ariz. (Dec. 13, 2011) – Hank Haney, who is regarded as one of the top golf instructors in the world, has signed with PURE grips and will use their products throughout his various business ventures, including his golf schools and teaching academies both in the United States and internationally. Haney also will serve as the face of PURE grips, promoting them through the company’s various marketing efforts.

“There is no better teacher in the game than Hank Haney, and there’s no better face for PURE grips than Hank Haney,” said Wes Brasher, founder and CEO of PURE grips. “Everything Hank has touched has been successful, whether it’s the countless number of golfers he’s helped to his multiple business ventures. We’re excited about what Hank brings to the table for us, as well as what PURE grips can do to assist his students. Hank is uniquely positioned to spread the word about PURE grips technology for better performance, easier club fitting and the importance of a good grip in playing better golf.”

The star of Golf Channel’s popular reality program The Haney Project, Haney will be active in raising the awareness of PURE grips through its social media channels.

“I’m excited to work with PURE grips because of the high quality of the grips, as well as the ability to custom fit my students through their unique application of tapeless installation,” Haney said. “As a teacher, I believe that custom fitting the club to the golfer is imperative. Until now, it was hard to get dialed in on the grip, but PURE’s options and the ability to grip, remove and regrip with ease really helps us get a player in the right grip for their game.”

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.

If you don’t have a fancy air-installation regripping kit, regripping golf clubs yourself can be a bit of a chore sometimes. Thankfully, most of the materials needed are household items or are otherwise easily attainable. A local golf shop or club manufacturer should have most of the supplies you don’t already have.

Unfortunately, most people have to rely on tutorials and video demos to guide them through the process. It might be frustrating at first, but regripping a club is a process that simply takes time and practice to master. You’ll start off slowly in the beginning, but you will become much quicker at it the more times you do it. Here are the basic steps to follow if you are looking to change the grips on your clubs.

First, you need to remove the old grip. This is most easily done with a knife. Just slice open the rubber, leather, plastic or whatever your grip is made of, and pull it right off of the club’s shaft.   Be careful when cutting the grip, it is always a good idea to push the blade away from you rather than pull it toward you.

Next, you want to wrap double-sided tape around the shaft. Start at the butt of the shaft, and work your way down the shaft to where the grip will end using a spiraling, overlapping motion.

Then, fill the little hole at the end of the new grip you are installing onto your club with a golf tee. Pour grip solvent into the opposite, open end of the grip. Cover the open end of the grip with your thumb, and shake the grip so that the solvent is evenly distributed.

Pour additional solvent onto the taped area of the club’s shaft, and slide the new grip onto the club. Remove the golf tee from the end of the grip.

Finally, make sure the grip is properly aligned. Let the grip dry for anywhere between eight and twelve hours. Once the grip is dry, give it a few test swings to make sure that you are happy with it. If so, great! Fresh, tacky grips await you during your next round. If not, start the process over again.

If all of this seems a bit too complicated or taking a bit too much effort, perhaps air installation is the right decision for you. Air installation kits use the power of air compression to attach grips to the shaft of your clubs. There’s no tape involved, no messy solvents involved and your whole set of clubs can be regripped in a fraction of the time it takes to normally do it!   The best part is, if you mess one up you can re-install it without wasting a grip!  Good luck!

As a golfer, you have many options when you're looking to upgrade your equipment. There are many metals to choose from when selecting the composition of your club heads, and there are many materials to choose from when deciding upon your shafts. Why should your grips be any different?

Most golfers know the basic materials grips are made of. You've got rubber, leather, various cording and other fabrics. However, what most golfers don't know is that many of these materials are actually terrible for your game and for your hands.

The worst offenders are the grips that are made out of cords and half cords. Most of the time, golfers buy these grips because they hear or read their claims that cord grips are exceptionally weather resistant and are "all-weather" grips. This could not be further from the truth. Cord grips might, and I stress might, do a better job of wicking away moisture than other clubs. That's the primary purpose that they're designed for. However, they are no less waterproof than any other type of grip. In fact, when cord grips get really wet and the fabric is saturated, you can wipe them with a towel all you want and they will still feel slick. So, you still have to take precautions to keep them dry. The other problem with cord and half cord grips is that they rip your hands to shreds. They are so rigid and so unforgiving that they will cause blisters, cuts and torn skin.