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Golf grips get tacky when they are wet and over time the rubber becomes dry, brittle and cracked. This makes it hard to hold on to the club. You may also have a difficult time gripping the club properly because of a hand injury or arthritis in your fingers.
So what can you do? Don't purchase a new set of expensive grips.
Simply follow this simple procedure to make old, dry grips tacky again.
Step by Step Guide
1) Add some talcum powder to your golf club grips or athletic tape if they are open-ended plastic like the ones on a baseball bat. An open end grip makes it easier to put the talcum powder inside . If you do not have a talcum powder dispenser, use an old sock. Fill it with some talcum and tie it off.
2) Close up your club grip end so the talcum does not pour out during this process. If you are using athletic tape or electrical tape, wrap it several times around the open end of your golf club's grip until there is no more room for it to go in or out of the grip handle. You may need to use a little bit of water if your grips are really dry to get them to absorb all of the talc; but make sure you squeeze out as much moisture from the tape afterwards before placing on your clubs.
3) Keep the tape on the closed end of the grip for at least 24 hours and then open up your golf club handles. Open up your grips slowly to allow all of the moisture inside to come out while you are pulling it off. If you have wrapped your ends with athletic tape, keep one hand behind the tape (towards inside of handle) so that if some comes loose from the grip entirely, it will still be held in place within the club's handle.
4) Cut back any excess athletic tape and use an old toothbrush or a nail file to buff away any rough edges around your club's now open grip handle. Repeat this process four times in two weeks time to make sure that you get enough moisture into them. Generally, after the first day of this process your grips will already be tacky.
FAQS
Q: I'm not sure that my golf grips are tacky. What should I do?
A: See if they are tough to pull off from the club handle. If this is the case, it may be a sign that the grips will need some work to make them tacky.
Q: Should I use talcum powder or something else to make my grips tacky again?
A: You can use either talc or athletic tape and both have advantages and disadvantages. Talcum powder is easy to find and very inexpensive (usually less than $2 for an entire tube), but you may want to wear gloves because it leaves a residue on your hands. Athletic tape (such as electrical tape) makes it possible for you to create a lot of layers on the inside of the grip to help absorb moisture and keep excess talc from spilling out. However, it can be hard to find athletic tape in golf supply stores because they only sell it for athletes or to wrap their wrists.
Q: I've tried this tacky process for my grips several times, but they still do not get tacky or they wear off within an hour! What should I do?
A: You probably have old tapes that are too dry and brittle already. Gently remove them by hand (perhaps using some alcohol) and replace with new ones made from either talcum powder or athletic tape so that you can apply multiple layers over time until you reach your desired level of "tackiness" for your golf grips.
A Few Final Tips About How To Make Golf Grips Tacky Again
1) When using a new tube of the talcum powder, you might have to break the seal before it comes out by pushing down on it with something solid (such as a pen). You can also wrap some tape around both the outside and inside of the end of your grip so that it will not come off right away.
2) Do this process in a cool place like a garage or basement because heat can make the adhesive dissolve more quickly. If you are going to use athletic tape, try to keep all of these layers within the same temperature range.
3) Try not to touch your newly made tacky grips too
See more: How to Clean or Wash a Golf Glove
Conclusion
You now know how to make golf grips tacky again and why this method works so well. It has been proven by many people that my "talc-and-tape" technique will work every time; but you still may need to apply it a few times over the course of two weeks to get the kind of tackiness that you want from your golf grips. If they are starting out really sticky, then you can do this process in fewer days; but if not as tacky, then give them more time before doing another one and see what happens afterwards."
