Golf Grip Size Chart: Hand Measurement to Undersize, Standard, Midsize or Jumbo
Measure from your wrist crease to the tip of your middle finger: under 7.25 in is undersize, 7.25 to 8 is standard, 8 to 9.25 is midsize and above that is jumbo. The chart below converts that into installed diameter, grip weight and the swing-weight change that comes with it. Going standard to midsize takes roughly three swing-weight points off every club in the bag, which is why the set can feel dead afterwards.
By the All Birdies Editorial Team
Two measurements decide this. Hand length from the wrist crease to the tip of the middle finger, and middle-finger length from the base crease to the tip. Under 7.25 inches of hand length puts you in undersize, 7.25 to 8 in standard, 8 to 9.25 in midsize, and anything above that in jumbo.
Grip size is the cheapest variable on a golf club and the one most golfers have wrong. A full set of grips costs less than a single wedge and takes an afternoon, and the difference between the right size and one size out shows up as a face angle problem: too small and the hands get too active through impact, so the ball goes left; too large and the release is muted, so it leaks right.
What follows converts the measurements into a size, quantifies what each layer of build-up tape does to diameter and weight, and lists the grip rules that actually exist — there are fewer than golfers think, and one of them catches oversize putter grips.
Taking the two measurements
Hold your dominant hand flat, palm up, fingers together and straight. Measure from the crease where the palm meets the wrist to the very tip of the middle finger. That is hand length, and it is the primary number.
Then measure the middle finger on its own, from the crease at its base to the tip. That is the tie-breaker. If your hand length says standard but your fingers are long relative to your palm, go up a size, because long fingers wrap further round the grip and the fingertips start digging into the heel pad.
Glove size is a reasonable proxy if you have no tape measure, provided the glove actually fits. Most golfers wear a glove one size too big, which makes it a proxy for how you shop rather than for your hand.
The sizing chart
Glove size Hand length, wrist crease to fingertip Grip category Installed diameter 2 in below the butt Typical grip weight Swing-weight change vs standard Cadet Small / junior Under 6.75 in (171 mm) Junior or undersize About 0.870 in 36–44 g +1 to +2 points Small 6.75–7.25 in (171–184 mm) Undersize About 0.885 in 44–48 g +1 point Medium 7.25–8.0 in (184–203 mm) Standard About 0.900 in 48–52 g Reference Medium-Large 8.0–8.5 in (203–216 mm) Standard with 2 extra wraps About 0.931 in 50–54 g 0 to −1 point Large 8.5–9.25 in (216–235 mm) Midsize About 0.960 in 58–66 g −2 to −3 points Extra Large 9.25–9.75 in (235–248 mm) Midsize, or jumbo if fingers are long 0.960–1.000 in 60–70 g −3 points XXL Over 9.75 in (248 mm) Jumbo About 1.020 in 72–80 g −4 to −5 points Order to the hand-length column and use glove size only as a sanity check. The right-hand column is the one to show your builder, because a set regripped a size up needs head weight adding back if it is to feel like the set you liked. Grip weights vary far more within a category than between brands' idea of a category. A lightweight midsize can weigh 52 g and a corded midsize 66 g, and that 14 g difference is roughly three swing-weight points on its own. Read the weight on the packet, not the size on the packet.
Golfers with arthritic hands or reduced grip strength should size up beyond what the chart says. A larger diameter reduces the muscular effort needed to hold the club and takes strain off the small joints, and that comfort is worth more than any theoretical release benefit.
Build-up tape, layer by layer
Build-up is how you land between sizes, and it is the reason a good builder can hit a diameter no manufacturer sells. A standard installation uses one layer of double-sided tape. Every extra wrap of masking tape on top of that adds roughly one sixty-fourth of an inch to the finished diameter.
Build-up under the grip Finished diameter from a 0.900 in grip Equivalent to Added weight per club Swing-weight change Standard install, no extra wraps 0.900 in Standard — Reference 1 extra wrap 0.916 in +1/64 in About 1.5 g −0.5 point 2 extra wraps 0.931 in +2/64 in About 3 g −0.5 to −1 point 4 extra wraps 0.963 in +4/64 in, effectively midsize About 6 g −1.5 points 6 extra wraps 0.994 in +6/64 in About 9 g −2 points 8 extra wraps 1.025 in +8/64 in, effectively jumbo About 12 g −2.5 to −3 points Upper half only, tapered 0.931 in top, 0.900 in bottom Reverse taper About 1.5 g Negligible .580 core grip on a .600 butt 0.916 in +1/64 in, with no tape at all 0 g None Use this to specify a build rather than to guess at one — tell the builder the finished diameter you want and let them get there, because four wraps applied unevenly produces a bulge that is both uncomfortable and outside the grip specification. The reverse-taper row is the one worth knowing about. Building up only the top half of the grip enlarges the lead hand while leaving the trail hand where it was, and golfers who want a quieter release without losing feel in the bottom hand often prefer it to a straight size increase. Several manufacturers now sell that profile as a moulded product rather than making you tape it.
The core-size row is the trick that costs nothing. Grip cores come in .580 and .600 to match shaft butt diameters. Fit a .580 core onto a .600 butt and the rubber stretches, adding about a sixty-fourth of an inch of diameter with no tape and no added weight. Fit a .600 core onto a .580 butt and you get the opposite, plus a grip that can twist.
What a heavier grip does to the club you already liked
Swing weight is a balance measurement, so weight added at the butt end reduces it. Roughly four to five grams at the grip moves swing weight one point in the light direction, and roughly two grams at the head moves it one point the other way.
Run those numbers through a standard-to-midsize change and the arithmetic is uncomfortable. A 13 g heavier grip on every club takes about three swing-weight points off the whole set. A driver that was D2 arrives back at C9. Nothing about the head changed, but the club feels like somebody removed the head, and this is far and away the most common complaint after a regrip.
The fix is head weight, not a different grip. About six grams on the head brings three points back, which on a driver is a weight-port change and on an iron is lead tape or a heavier tip weight. Ask for it at the time of the regrip and it costs almost nothing; ask for it three weeks later and it is a second visit.
Deliberate counterweighting is the opposite manoeuvre and a legitimate thing to want. Adding mass in the butt end lowers swing weight while raising the total mass and the moment of inertia of the whole club, which some golfers find steadies the transition. It is a feel preference rather than a performance rule, and it is worth trying on one club before committing a set to it.
The grip rules that actually exist
Grips are one of the lightest-regulated parts of the club and the rules that do exist are mostly about shape rather than size. Only one of them has any realistic chance of catching a golfer, and it involves putters.
Limit The wording or number Where it is written What it actually rules out Cross-section Circular, and no cross-sectional dimension above 1.75 in (44.45 mm) Equipment Rules, Part 2 — grips Nothing in a normal grip. Several oversize putter grips sit in the 1.6 to 1.7 in region, which is closer to the line than golfers realise Shape Straight and plain in form, no bulge and no waist Equipment Rules, Part 2 — grips Home-made tape bumps under the lower hand, and uneven build-up that leaves a ridge Moulding Must not be moulded for any part of the hands, other than for a putter Equipment Rules, Part 2 — grips Finger-moulded grips outside the putter Number of grips One grip only per club Equipment Rules, Part 2 — grips Stacking a second grip above the first on a long club Putter exception A putter grip may be non-circular, and a putter may have two grips provided each is circular and they do not overlap Equipment Rules, Part 2 — grips Nothing — this is the exception that makes flat-fronted putter grips legal Extent The grip must extend to the end of the shaft Equipment Rules, Part 2 — grips Leaving a shaft butt exposed above a short grip Anchoring The stroke must not be anchored, whatever the grip Rule 10.1b Long putters remain legal. Pressing the hand or club against the body during the stroke does not Changing mid-round Performance characteristics must not be deliberately changed during a round Rule 4.1a Slipping a wrap under a grip at the turn Read the top row before you buy an oversize putter grip and the anchoring row before you buy a long one. The rest is here so you can stop worrying about the rest. Conformance Grade for a grip build on this site: A is a manufactured grip in a stated size on a shaft with a matching core, installed evenly. B is the same with build-up tape applied by a workshop. C is home-applied build-up, because the bulge risk is real and nobody measures it. F is anything moulded to the hands outside a putter, or a second grip stacked on a shaft.
In practice, the enforcement risk here is almost nil. The reason to care is that the specification describes what a grip is supposed to feel like — even, circular, no waist — and a build that breaches it usually feels wrong long before anybody in a blazer objects to it.
Telling you are in the wrong size without measuring anything
- Fingertips of the lead hand dig into the heel pad when you take your grip. That is too small.
- Wear pattern on the glove concentrated at the base of the fingers rather than across the palm. Also too small.
- You have to consciously squeeze to stop the club turning in wet weather. Usually too small, occasionally too heavy a grip on too light a club.
- Persistent block right with irons that a lie-angle check does not explain. Frequently too large, because the release is being smothered.
- You changed grips and the set has felt lifeless ever since, with no change in ball flight. That is the swing-weight loss, not the diameter, and the answer is head weight.
Quick answers
- Hand length beats glove size, and finger length breaks the tie between two adjacent categories.
- Four extra wraps of masking tape is a midsize. Eight is a jumbo. One wrap is a sixty-fourth of an inch.
- Standard to midsize costs roughly three swing-weight points across the set, and you get them back with about six grams of head weight.
- Core size must match the shaft butt. A .580 core on a .600 butt is a free sixty-fourth of build-up; the reverse is a grip that will eventually spin.
- The only grip limit worth checking is the 1.75 in maximum cross-section, and the only clubs that get near it are oversize putter grips.