Putter How to Grip: Mastering the Foundation of Your Short Game

Golf's most deceptively simple stroke begins with something even simpler—how your hands meet the club. Yet walk any practice green on a Saturday morning, and you'll witness a carnival of grip variations that would make a contortionist jealous. Some golfers clutch their putters like they're strangling a garden hose, while others hold them so delicately you'd think they were handling their grandmother's china. The truth about putting grips lies somewhere between these extremes, in a place where biomechanics meets personal comfort, where tradition collides with innovation.

I've spent countless hours studying putting grips, not just from instruction manuals but from watching tour professionals warm up before rounds. What struck me wasn't the uniformity—it was the subtle differences. Jordan Spieth's left-hand-low approach looks nothing like Tiger Woods' reverse overlap, yet both have hoisted major championship trophies. This observation led me down a rabbit hole of grip experimentation that fundamentally changed how I think about this crucial connection between player and putter.

The Anatomy of Connection

Your hands are the only part of your body that touches the club. Obvious? Sure. But the implications run deeper than most golfers realize. The pressure points, the angle of your wrists, even which fingers do the heavy lifting—all of these micro-decisions cascade into macro-results on the green.

Let me paint you a picture. Place your hands together as if you're praying. Now separate them about putter-grip width apart. Notice how your palms naturally want to face each other? That's your body's neutral position, and it's where most successful putting grips begin. But here's where it gets interesting—and where most instruction falls short.

The conventional wisdom says your palms should face each other perfectly, creating a neutral grip that promotes a pendulum stroke. Solid advice, except human bodies aren't manufactured in factories with standardized specifications. My left shoulder sits slightly lower than my right (years of carrying a golf bag on one side, perhaps), which means my "neutral" looks different from yours.

Traditional Grips and Their Evolution

The reverse overlap grip dominated putting instruction for decades, and for good reason. By placing the left index finger over the fingers of the right hand (for right-handed golfers), you create a unified feeling in the hands while maintaining the left hand's guiding influence. Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors with this grip. Case closed? Not quite.

I learned the reverse overlap from my first golf instructor, a crusty old Scotsman who insisted it was the only "proper" way to hold a putter. For years, I putted adequately with it. Not great, not terrible—just adequately. Then I watched a senior tour event where seemingly half the field used something different. These weren't young rebels trying to make a statement; these were golfers who'd spent lifetimes perfecting their craft and had evolved beyond conventional wisdom.

The cross-handed grip (or left-hand-low for righties) started as a desperation move for golfers fighting the yips. Now? Major champions like Jordan Spieth and Jim Furyk have normalized it. The grip essentially reverses your hand positions, placing the left hand below the right. This naturally levels the shoulders and can quiet overactive right hands—a common culprit in pushed putts.

But wait, there's more. The claw grip, which looks like you're making a lobster puppet with your right hand, might appear ridiculous until you understand the biomechanics. By removing the right hand from its traditional position, you eliminate its ability to manipulate the putter face through impact. Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, and Justin Rose have all wielded the claw effectively in pressure situations.

Pressure Points and the Forgotten Fundamental

Here's something most putting articles gloss over: grip pressure changes everything. You could have technically perfect hand placement, but if you're gripping the putter like you're trying to juice an orange, you've already failed.

I discovered this truth during a particularly frustrating round where every putt felt like I was fighting the putter. My playing partner, a scratch golfer with an economics degree who approached golf like a science experiment, asked to see my grip. "Hold this," he said, handing me a tube of toothpaste with the cap off. "Now make a putting stroke without squeezing any out."

Ridiculous? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely. That visual taught me more about grip pressure than any instruction book. Light grip pressure—what instructors often call "holding a bird"—allows the putter to swing naturally. It maintains feel and promotes the small muscles' involvement rather than the large, less precise ones.

The pressure should be consistent throughout both hands, though I've noticed many good putters apply slightly more pressure with their lead hand. Think 60-40 or even 65-35 ratio. This prevents the trailing hand from taking over during the stroke.

Modern Innovations and Why They Matter

Putter grips themselves have evolved dramatically. When I started playing in the '90s, most putters came with thin, rubber grips that felt like pencils. Today's options include oversized grips, counterbalanced designs, and materials that would make a materials scientist jealous.

The SuperStroke phenomenon deserves particular attention. These oversized grips minimize wrist action by encouraging a shoulders-and-arms stroke. They're not just for tour pros anymore—weekend warriors have discovered that a larger grip can calm nervous hands and promote consistency.

I was skeptical until I tried one. The first few putts felt like I was holding a baseball bat, but something magical happened around the tenth ball. My stroke smoothed out. The putter face stayed square longer. Three-footers that used to terrify me became automatic. Not because the grip possessed mystical powers, but because it encouraged better mechanics.

Counterbalanced grips add weight to the grip end, shifting the putter's balance point. This might sound like equipment geekery, but the physics are sound. By moving weight away from the putter head, these grips can smooth out jerky strokes and promote a more pendulum-like motion.

The Setup Connection

Your grip doesn't exist in isolation—it's part of a kinetic chain that includes your stance, posture, and alignment. A perfect grip with poor setup is like having a Ferrari engine in a shopping cart.

Stand behind any tour player as they address a putt, and you'll notice their grip connects seamlessly to their overall position. The hands hang naturally from the shoulders. The grip pressure allows the arms to remain tension-free. Everything works in harmony.

I learned this lesson the hard way during a playing lesson with a tour professional. I'd been struggling with pushed putts and assumed my grip was the culprit. The pro watched one putt and immediately adjusted my stance width. "Your grip is fine," he said. "But you're reaching for the ball, which changes everything." By narrowing my stance and standing closer to the ball, my arms hung more naturally, and the grip suddenly felt perfect.

Personal Variations and Finding Your Path

After two decades of experimentation, I've settled on a modified reverse overlap with a slightly stronger left hand. It's not textbook, but it matches my eye dominance and natural stroke tendencies. Your ideal grip might be completely different.

The key is systematic experimentation. Don't just randomly try grips—approach it scientifically. Spend a week with each grip style, tracking your results. Pay attention not just to makes and misses, but to how the grip affects your stroke path, face angle, and confidence.

Some golfers thrive with unconventional approaches. I've played with a scratch golfer who uses a split-hand grip, with several inches between his hands. Another single-digit handicapper puts cross-handed with a claw-style right hand. Both would make instruction manual writers cringe, yet both consistently drain putts.

The Mental Component

Here's an uncomfortable truth: your grip affects your psychology as much as your mechanics. A grip that feels secure breeds confidence. One that feels foreign creates doubt. And doubt is death on the greens.

I've noticed my grip pressure increases under pressure—a common affliction. Recognizing this tendency allows me to consciously lighten my hold during crucial putts. It's a simple adjustment that pays enormous dividends.

Some players develop pre-putt routines that include grip checks. They'll waggle the putter, feeling for the right pressure. Others, like Rickie Fowler, constantly adjust their grip between putts, keeping the hands active and preventing tension buildup.

Practice Strategies That Actually Work

Driving range sessions grab the glory, but putting practice wins tournaments. Yet most golfers practice putting poorly, mindlessly rolling balls without purpose or feedback.

Effective grip practice requires deliberate attention. Start each session with grip awareness drills. Hold the putter with different pressures—death grip, normal, feather light—and notice how each affects your stroke. Put with your eyes closed, focusing solely on how the grip feels throughout the motion.

One drill that transformed my putting: the one-handed drill. Putt five balls with just your lead hand, then five with just your trailing hand. You'll quickly discover which hand dominates your stroke and whether your grip promotes proper hand action. Most golfers are shocked to find their "weak" hand produces better results, indicating their normal grip might be too dominant with the other hand.

When to Change and When to Stick

The grass always looks greener with a different grip, especially after a bad putting round. But constant changes breed inconsistency. How do you know when to switch versus when to persevere?

I use the three-round rule. If a grip issue persists for three consecutive rounds despite focused practice, it's time to investigate changes. One bad round? That's golf. Two? Could be coincidence. Three? Now we have a pattern.

Changes should be incremental. Don't jump from reverse overlap to saw grip overnight. Maybe start by adjusting pressure or slightly modifying hand position. Dramatic changes require dramatic practice commitments.

The Bottom Line Truth

After thousands of hours studying, practicing, and experimenting with putting grips, I've reached one inescapable conclusion: there's no universal solution. The best putting grip is the one that allows you to consistently return the putter face square to your intended line while maintaining feel and confidence.

Your ideal grip depends on your physical characteristics, stroke tendencies, and mental approach to putting. It might be textbook traditional or wildly unconventional. It might change as you age or as equipment evolves.

What matters is the commitment to finding what works for you, then practicing it until it becomes second nature. Because when you're standing over a four-footer to win your club championship, you don't want to think about your grip. You want to think about the ball disappearing into the cup.

The journey to finding your perfect putting grip isn't just about lower scores—though those certainly follow. It's about understanding the beautiful complexity hidden within golf's simplest stroke. It's about the satisfaction of solving a puzzle that's uniquely yours. And sometimes, it's about having the courage to grip it your way, conventional wisdom be damned.

Authoritative Sources:

Pelz, Dave. Dave Pelz's Putting Bible: The Complete Guide to Mastering the Green. Doubleday, 2000.

Stockton, Dave, and Matthew Rudy. Unconscious Putting: Dave Stockton's Guide to Unlocking Your Signature Stroke. Gotham Books, 2011.

Utley, Stan, and Matthew Rudy. The Art of Putting: The Revolutionary Feel-Based System for Improving Your Score. Gotham Books, 2006.

United States Golf Association. "Equipment Rules." usga.org/equipment-standards/equipment-rules.html

PGA Tour. "Strokes Gained: Putting Statistics." pgatour.com/stats/stat.02564.html

Broadie, Mark. Every Shot Counts: Using the Revolutionary Strokes Gained Approach to Improve Your Golf Performance. Avery, 2014.