Bigger is Better

Last week, I installed a new Winn AVS Jumbo putter grip on my Odyssey two-ball blade putter (black insert). The grip cost $8.99 at Golfsmith. I could have opted for the exact same model of grip, but with the big "ODYSSEY" lettering, for $19.99. No-brainer there; golf is expensive enough.

I haven't played a round with the new putter yet, but have practiced twice so far, and absolutely love it. We'll see how long that lasts, but the reason I'm encouraged is that my putting style favors a larger grip, because I use a piston motion from the right arm, so it's most beneficial to have the palm jabbing into the grip, different from wrapping the fingers around like a conventional golf grip.

Jack Nicklaus is probably the most famous for putting this way. (Just about anything Jack did automatically makes him the most famous for doing it.) But he still held the putter a little more conventionally.

The thing about putting is, sometimes the only cure for one's putting woes is to get rid of the instrument that was a part of so many negative visual impressions, i.e., missed putts. Some pros keep a putter for years and years...we'll see if my AVS-gripped Odyssey makes it "months and months," or even "weeks and weeks."