Dear Chris,
Nice to hear from you!
Yes, I'm familiar with the Two-Thumb Grip. It's designed by the English putting teacher Philip Gazeley, who also has the website
GolfPutting.com.
Philip describes the history of the grip after he started concentrating on what he says is the "most common putting woe" for golfers:
"The most significant fault has always been the inability to achieve natural stance and posture while putting with the hands not parallel on the grip. This made me consider the possibility of designing a grip which was broad enough for the thumbs to be side by side, allowing a more natural and balanced putting position. After two years of concentrated testing and design, the innovative 2 Thumb putter grip was born, and after its launch in 2005 continues to go from strength to strength worldwide."
The Rules of Golf allow a maximum of 1.75 inches for the width of the grip, and several people (seemingly all at the same time) have designed wide grips to allow a more "neutral" setup posture of the shoulders and arms. By getting both hands about the same height on the grip, this allows golfers to setup without a tilted upper torso and shoulder frame. All of these grips conform to the Rules.
The other grips are
Janis Zichmanis' Pure Pendulum grip
and the
Wishbone grip.
The Wishbone benefits are described as follows:
"The Wishbone GripĒ, used with the Wishbone MethodĒ, will improve your putting and help you fix the yips. Here's how:
-- It will stabilize your hands and wrists during the putt, eliminating the involuntary twists and jerks that you get with the yips to produce a pure pendulum movement.
-- It will naturally align your shoulders during the putt, correcting a major cause of missed putts and a reason some people acquire the yips in the first place.
-- It will convert your tendency to clamp down on the grip during nervous moments from a destabilizing effect to a stabilizing effect.
-- It will improve your speed with all lengths of putts because you will hit the ball more consistently on the sweet spot. You will have better feel with the grip resting squarely in the palms, and your wrists will be stable.
-- Most importantly, it will give you confidence in your putter and eliminate the cause for anxiety over the short putts."
The Pure Pendulum site similarly explains the benefits of leveling the hands and shoulders for better balance and stroke.
I personally teach a grip form (the manner of placing hands on the handle) that levels the shoulder frame, so in principle I agree with the idea behind these grips. I also agree in general that a larger grip in the hands tends to promote less activity in the hands during the stroke (a good thing). Some folks, however, find these grips too wide and perhaps too heavy. Also, those people who just can't get weaned away from using the hands in the stroke will probably not like these grips. They are something of an acquired taste, but I would certainly encourage anyone to taste them and see how they fit for your personal putting.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
PuttingZone
http://puttingzone.com
Golf's most advanced putting instruction -- you're either in the PuttingZone, or not.
