Today I will show how to choose the correct golf glove to potentially improve your game with several shots.
The secret is 5 easy tips that will consider all aspects you need to, in order to choose right.
To choose the right glove glove you need to consider:
- Material
- Features
- Playstyle
- Size and fit
- Pricing
Read more below to learn exactly what to keep in mind.
Table of Contents
Why Is It Important To Get The Right Glove?
Many new golfers will just buy a glove at the proshop along with their first club, some balls and some tees. That’s fine when starting out.
But when you progress through the game there will be endless small things to tweak and improve. The right glove will be one of them. It will be more relevant for seasoned golfers, and for some it might even be totally irrelevant. Because not all people use gloves. But more on that later.
Along with the grip, the glove makes the connection between your body and your club. The golf swing is a complex movement, but let’s say you’ve mastered the swing – What will happen if your glove is a misfit? Even with the perfect swing, the glove can cause irregularities in your game.
If your glove doesn’t fit properly, it can lead to a loss of control of the club, discomfort and premature wear of the glove. This can result in headaches over the lack of consistency in your game. Maybe even headaches over the money you constantly have to spend on new gloves.
First of all, it’s a good idea to find out what you actually want. Then you can start to learn about what is important in the fit of the glove. And suddenly you’re golden in this area, and ready to tackle your next challenge in your game.
Golf Glove Material
When looking at the current market of golf gloves, you’ll see different types available.
Leather, synthetic and hybrid versions are the most common ones, and it can be quite a challenge to choose correctly.
If you prefer a nice softness and feel to your gloves, leather might be the way to go. It will have a great fit when you find the right glove. With a great fit also comes the added bonus of increased durability.
Leather gloves are typically made of cabretta leather. This type of leather comes from a special kind of sheep which grows hair instead of wool. The cabretta leather is particularly tough a pliable and therefore perfect for gloves. Leather gloves can be a bit more pricey than synthetic gloves.
The upside of synthetic gloves are better all weather control and the price is usually more affordable. Durability tends to be worse compared to leather gloves. But most synthetic gloves have strategically placed patches of leather in high wear areas – which will help improve durability.
Hybrid gloves are a combination of leather and synthetic material. Manufacturers try to incorporate the best from both worlds. It’s really up to personal preference if you find the hybrids the best choice, or you want to go in one of the other directions.
The main construction of a hybrid golf glove will typically be with leather on all surfaces in contact with the grip. And synthetic material in those places where the gloves are bending or can benefit from air venting.
Features and Build Quality
Golf glove features are quite limited. It all really comes down to what technology is put into the gloves, which attributes they have and what styling is available.
Some golfers will go purely after performance, while others might be more aware of the fashion aspect.
One key thing to look out for for almost every golfer is where reinforcement pads are placed if there are any.
The pads have a direct effect on grip strength and durability which is a concern for most golfers whether it be consciously or unconsciously.
Especially on synthetic and hybrid gloves we can not stress the importance of reinforcement pads enough.
It is normal for most golfers to get a little sweaty hands, especially when the weather is hot. That is why a good feature for a golf glove is improved moisture wicking.
For a glove to be moisture wicking well it is quite important that it is manufactured with the right ventilating pieces and with good quality materials.
There are many features to modern day gloves, but in the end it comes down to all the small things like
- How easy is it getting the glove on and off.
- How is the velcro closure functioning and how durable is it?
- Is the fit of the glove good?
- Will the glove dry fast?
- And so on.
Brian gives a good general overview in the video below.
Playstyle
As every golfer has a different playstyle, every golfer has a different way to use a glove. That is why the impact of choosing a golf glove is very individual.
Some put on the glove when they drag the bag out of the trunk at the course, and take it off again when they prepare to drive home.
Others use only the glove for full shots and take it off for chipping and putting and even when walking to the ball. I find myself in this category 🙂 It’s mostly because I don’t find a glove that comfortable to wear all the time, but partly also because I don’t want my hands to be differently tanned by the sun 😉
On rare occasions, some golfers might wear a glove on each hand, but that is mostly for dedicated rain or winter gloves.
And in some other instances, some choose to play with no glove at all. Despite popular belief it is not well documented that wearing a golf glove will improve your game.
So as you can imagine, using golf gloves are a very individual matter and it can be quite hard to choose the right one.
If you happen to use a glove, one of the most important aspects is how it fits and if the size is right for your hand.
Sizing And Fit
The size of a golf glove is quite important. As you can imagine a loose fit will make it possible for the club to slide in the hand during the swing or at impact. A too-tight fit will be uncomfortable and limit the movement of the hand.
To choose the right glove you need to be aware of a few rules of thumb.
- Your fingers shouldn’t be filling up the glove all the way out to the fingertips, leave a little room. This makes it possible to grab the club which will force the fingertips further out, leaving room for exactly that movement.
- The fit should be snug in the palm. This will avoid material curling up when gripping the club, thus reducing wear in the palm area.
- Check out your old glove size and go from there. Usually a pretty good indication of what size you’ll need going forward. Taking 1. and 2. in consideration with this will leave you with the upper hand. Remember, size can vary from brand to brand.
Use the few rules of thumb and you’re well on your way to choose a good golf glove size.
Pricing
Golf gloves come in all price ranges and a high price point is not always synonymous with high quality.
Read our ultimate guide on golf gloves to better navigate through this jungle.
When choosing a glove you generally have to be aware of three things.
- Price
- Durability
- Performance
As I usually say: you can only pick two of the above. So a good price and good performance is usually paired with less than optimal durability.
You get the picture.
Find the optimal glove for you and it will most likely perform well on two out of three of these factors.
If you find one that does well on all three, perfect. 🙂
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Why Do Golfers Only Wear One Glove?
Most golfers only wear one glove, and why is that? The hand you grab the club with, the one closest to your body, is the hand that will make sure you have a firm grip on the club. The other hand, furthest away, is more of a guiding hand that follows along through the swing.
Naturally you will want the best possible grip on the upper hand, to make sure you don’t lose your grip midswing. A glove will enhance the grip both in dry and surely in wet conditions.
On the lower hand, most golfers don’t use a glove, to enhance the feel. Direct contact between the hand and the grip is better than with a glove layer in between.
Do Golf Gloves Make A Difference?
A golf glove can help in various places. For one it is usually tackier than your skin. This will make for a better grip on the club.
It will also help with the rubbing between the skin and the grip so that blisters will be less likely to occur.
So it will enhance grip and safeguard your hands during play, and that’s about it. It can make a difference to your game if you struggle in these areas. But you could also try and play without a glove to see what difference it makes.
What Is The Best Golf Glove To Buy?
There are countless golf gloves on the market. Every single one is marketed as being better than the other.
We’ve put together an ultimate guide to golf gloves, to help you decide on this matter. It contains a lot of helpful information about the process of choosing a glove, and also reviews of the top golf gloves right now.
On the last note the best golf glove to buy is one that fits you well and helps you in your game, no matter the price tag.
