How to Regrip Golf Clubs Yourself (With Ease)

Golf grips are typically a departure from the gaudy prices that accompany most other equipment. But the cost of regripping an entire set of clubs can add up quickly.

Let’s look at a cost breakdown of regripping your clubs yourself compared to having a professional handle it. For this comparison, we’ll use the Golf Pride MultiCompound Plus 4 ALIGN Grip, a common, high-quality grip with a nearly 5-star rating all over the internet.

When you have a professional regrip your golf clubs, you’re paying for two things: the grip itself, and the labor. Both of which will cost more from a professional than yourself. But how much more? One Golf Pride MultiCompound Plus 4 ALIGN Grips retail for $13.49 per grip. Let’s assume you want to regrip all of your clubs at once, with the exception of your putter. For a set of 13 grips, uninstalled, you’re looking at $175.37, plus tax. The grip is about a dollar cheaper per unit when purchased directly from Golf Pride, but you wouldn’t bring your own eggs to the diner, would you?

While labor costs can vary from store to store, three different shops were contacted for this article — PGA Tour Superstore, Golf Galaxy, and Golfer’s Warehouse — and all reported the same labor costs for regripping: $3 per grip.

With $39 in labor and $175.37 in parts, your regripping needs will cost $214.37 from a professional for 13 clubs.

It’s worth noting that some locations may offer regripping specials. The day PGA Tour Superstore was contacted, the store was running a weekend special that included free regripping with the purchase of grips, a $39 savings. Prices may vary at your local course, pro shop, or golf retailer.

Let’s run the same example on a Do-It-Yourself budget. A complete set of 13 MultiCompound Plus 4 ALIGN Grips costs only $64.79 on eBay, a significant savings of $110.58. However, if you’ve never regripped your own clubs before, you’ll have to invest in some additional supplies. Grip tape solvent, grip tape, a grip-removing hook blade, and a shaft clamp can typically be purchased in a bundle for less than $20. If your workbench already has a vise, you’re in luck. Otherwise, you’re looking at another $25-$75 for the tool that will hold your shaft in place while you operate. As an alternative you could use household clamps in conjunction with your shaft clamp, but the more secure the hold, the better off you’ll be.

Let’s assume $24.97 for a modest vise, and add that to the $16.99 regripping kit and $64.79 for your new grips. That brings the total cost to regrip 13 clubs yourself — all but your putter — to $106.75, just under half of what it would cost to have it professionally done.

In this example, you would save $107.62 by regripping 13 clubs with Golf Pride MultiCompound Plus 4 ALIGN grips yourself compared to having a professional do it.

If you’re simply looking for the lowest cost, the cheapest grips retail for about $5 each, and cheap sets of 13 grips are as little as a buck a grip online. You can work that math into the figures about to figure out your absolute lowest cost whether you do it yourself, or have the experts do it.

If you’ve decided to regrip your clubs yourself and invest that $100-plus savings into another area of your game — or life — here’s the simple step-by-step process you’ll need to follow.

Before you can put a new grip on your club, you’ve got to take off the existing grip. First, secure your club in your vise, where you’ll keep it secured throughout this entire process.

Grab your hook blade and carefully slice open your existing grip, starting from the bottom up. Be sure the flat part of the hook is in contact with the shaft, and the blade itself only cuts your grip. If you run the blade up the shaft, you’ll damage the shaft, especially when you regrip clubs with graphite shafts. You may need to make 2-4 cuts down the length of the grip to peel it off.

Remove the grip, say goodbye, and toss it in the trash. Next, peel any remaining grip tape off the shaft, and use grip solvent to clean any remnants from the shaft, prepping it for the incoming tape and grip.

Now that the shaft is clean and prepped with grip solvent, apply the new grip tape. Allow about a half-inch of grip tape beyond the top of the shaft to cover the end of the hollow shaft. A standard 2” double-sided grip tape will wrap around the shaft perfectly.

Your shaft is now taped and ready for a new grip, but before you can install the new grip, you must clean it with the grip solvent. Cover the small hole in the butt end of the grip with a finger and liberally pour grip solvent into the grip. Cover the open end of the grip with another finger and shake the grip, ensuring grip solvent covers the entire inside of the grip.

Next, use the small hole in the butt of the grip to pour the grip solvent over the grip tape you applied in the previous step. Place a paint tray or other dish underneath the shaft to catch excess grip solvent, which can be reused on other grips.

Immediately after applying grip solvent to the grip tape, put on the new grip. Make sure any alignment pattern is roughly in line, squeeze open the end of the grip, and push it down the shaft until the butt of the grip is touching the end of the shaft. Immediately put any final adjustments on the alignment pattern, as you have about 60 seconds to make any necessary adjustments before the grip begins to settle into place. Allow the grip to finish drying for 24 hours before using.

Once you have the hang of it, regripping one club should only take about five minutes. If you’re regripping an entire set, budget about an hour.

Grip-make Super Stroke recommends replacing your grips every 30-40 rounds. For many regular golfers, that cadence aligns with their golf season, in which case replacing your grips every off-season makes sense. Also factor in how much time you spend practicing, as those reps put just as much wear-and-tear on your grips as live rounds.

Regripping your clubs is a great way to breathe fresh life into them, or make a new-to-you set of clubs truly feel like your own.

• Images: Mats Silvan/Moment via Getty Images