In golf, it’s tempting to focus on improving the weaknesses of your game, shoring up the areas where you give away the most strokes instead of honing strengths.

While minimizing the most glaring liabilities is certainly important, I’ve found that it’s equally crucial to be refining the stronger areas of a golf game. After all, the vast majority of golfers are leaps and bounds behind elite players in every aspect of golf, making the potential for gains virtually unlimited across the board.

This season, I’ve focused on enhancing the strengths of my game, starting with upgrading my wedge play with the help of Edison.

More recently, I’ve taken steps in another area where I’ve always considered myself an above-average player: putting.

I’m definitely not what anyone would consider to be a tinkerer with putting. Sporting the same Ping putter for the past 15+ years, I’ve relied upon feel and experience to make my putting a strength, without changing equipment.

So when the opportunity came up to review a new putter grip, I was naturally apprehensive. Was I asking for trouble, risking sudden bouts of the yips when I need great performance on the greens to score well?

Nonetheless, I decided it was worth a shot, changing out my traditional grip for the fat 2Thumb OG Lite 43 putter grip.

The Fat Putter Grip – What’s all the Fuss About?

You’ve probably seen many players using fat putter grips in recent years. To me, this trend seemed silly at first, and I didn’t understand why a fat grip would help a short game.

However, after testing it out, I think I now understand how the grip can change a putting stroke for the better.

As 2Thumb explains on their website, a wider grip redistributes pressure across a larger surface, thereby reducing wrist tension, a common cause of the “yips.”

I, for one, do tend to grip my putter tightly, a natural reaction to the high drama and nerves associated with putting the ball in the hole.

I also have had bouts of the yips over the years, most notably in college when I was forced to permanently switch to left-hand-low to cure a particularly awful tendency to push putts to the right.

2Thumb offers a wide range of grip types and models (some fat, some traditional) and its Grip Selector Quiz can help you hone in on the right fit for your putting style and tendencies.

While the “Prayer” style is the most common you’ll see used with a fat grip, it accommodates many other grip styles and I feel comfortable using it with my left-hand-low.

On the Course

My first round with the OG Lite was one to remember. The first thing I noticed on the practice green was that I was missing everything left. After several practice putts, I realized that with a traditional grip I tended to push putts, and had been compensating for it by aiming left.

With the fat grip, my pushes had immediately disappeared! I did, however, need to aim further right than I was used to given my newfound square contact.

Another immediate benefit of square contact was truer roll with no bounce. My quirky putting stroke with a traditional grip caused me to open up the face, which would launch the ball slightly in the air at contact. That’s been eliminated with my new grip, and the truer roll allows me to gauge speed more accurately.

That day, I carded one of the best rounds of the season, firing a 75. While excellent ball-striking was the main reason for that, I was able to capitalize on numerous opportunities, sinking enough short to mid-range putts to keep the momentum going. My lag putting was also dialed in that day, thanks to better speed control.

Since that first round, results have been more mixed with a few rounds on Florida courses with grainy Bermudagrass greens. I didn’t putt well on that trip, but I’m not putting much stock in that since I pretty much never putt well on Bermuda, anyway. I’m excited to see what the OG Lite grip can do for my putting now that I’m back home playing on good ol’ Bentgrass greens again.

Closing Thoughts

If you’re struggling with the yips or just looking to improve your putting, in general, I think it’s worth considering changes to your grip. 2Thumb boasts a wide range of options to find the grip that’s just right for you, and you may be surprised at how well that will translate on the greens.

Upgrade your putting stroke with 2Thumb today!