Through the 2024 Mexico Open, the average putts per round on the PGA Tour is 29.23. With a Tour average score of 71.425, putts equate to approximately 41 percent of strokes per round on Tour this season.
With an average of four out of every 10 strokes in a round taking place on the green, there’s no truer expression in the game than “drive for show, putt for dough.”
While many amateurs are confident a shiny new Scotty Cameron putter for $450 will solve their putting perils, Golf Pride believes it’s engineered a much economical solution: the Reverse Taper grip.
Available beginning April 15 at retail and golf course locations as well as online, the $29.99 Reverse Taper grip flips the putter grip upside down. A slimmer upper half and a wider lower section anchor the top hand for stability while reducing tension in the lower hand for smooth acceleration through the putting stroke. The reverse width and weight also prevents micro-levers in the stroke to help golfers avoid flipping their wrists at impact.
“It’s a subtle reverse taper—it’s not crazy,” Golf Pride Chief Innovation Officer Andy Erickson said. “What we saw in the SAM PuttLab data is that it’s noticeably more square at impact across the board (compared to a parallel putter grip) for nearly every player we put through testing.”
In a game of minutiae and millimeters, any advantage, especially on the green, can pay major dividends to help golfers go lower. Studies have shown that an putter face open just two degrees at impact will miss the hole from five feet. The room for error is less than one degree from eight feet and less than half a degree open or closed from 15 feet.
After extensive research including interviews, assessing more than 300 putting grips and techniques, 18,000 SAM PuttLab putts, outdoor testing and 100 iterations, the Golf Pride Reverse Taper grip is available in three shapes (round, pistol, flat) and two sizes (medium and large).
Featuring a traditionally round upper section that tapers into a wider lower section, the round grip is a universally popular option for all hand-gripping techniques. Helping golfers lock in their upper hand, the pistol shape is often popular among players who utilize a left-hand-low technique. Boasting a slightly more oval-shaped upper section, the flat grip is often preferred by golfers with a palm-to-palm putting stroke technique.
Regardless of size and model, each of these polyurethane Reverse Taper grips were designed to weigh between 63-70 grams.
“We tried to find that sweet spot so, no matter if you are a large pistol or medium flat, we try to keep you in that same weight range to sort of eliminate one variable,” Erickson said. “There is a comfort piece where you don’t want something that feels like a weird, foreign, almost training-aid-feeling in your hand, so it was striking that balance between being helpful and subtle.”
In development since 2021, the Reverse Taper grip is the second product in Golf Pride history to be conceptualized, designed and tested at their state-of-the-art Global Innovation Center in Pinehurst, N.C., located next to the world-famous Pinehurst No. 8.
Already utilized on the DP World Tour and LPGA, the Reverse Taper grip is also a key product highlighting Golf Pride’s emphasized messaging around the importance of grips as performance equipment.
Last year, the company came out with a study that showed a distinct difference in average ball speed and carry length between players using a new Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip compared to a grip placed in a weather chamber for 24 hours.
On average, ball speed increased by 1.3 mph and the average carry length improved by 2.3 yards, while face impact location of the new grip compared to the worn one showed a dispersion increase of 11 percent and 10 percent in the X-axis and Y-axis, respectively.
Equipped with an innovative product in the Reverse Taper grip and data backing up its performance, Golf Pride continues to urge all golfers to pay more attention to their grips.
“We do view grips as performance equipment and we’re looking to change that narrative,” Erickson said. “When I first started playing golf, a $40 steel shaft was fine. Now all of a sudden I have a $250 shaft on my driver, so at some point in time somebody convinced me that a shaft matters.
“Similarly, the more we get into the science of grips and what we do, there is certainly the psychological and emotional part since it’s your only point of contact with the club. If you’re not feeling secure and strong at address, we can just stop the conversation because you’re not going to be able to control the clubhead.”
Michael LoRé 