But if you want to choose the perfect golf glove, you need a different attitude. When choosing a golf glove, you are trying to do two things. First, you’re trying to make sure that the glove controls your shots exactly as they should. It’s not an exact science: there’s no room for error in making a shot. But it is still a science. And the second thing you want is for the ball to get out of the glove easily. If the ball doesn’t pop out of the glove with enough force it will not go straight and true, and that means a bad shot.
Many people think that you can tell just by feeling a golf glove whether it will control your shots well and pop out of your hand quickly when you need it to. But that’s wrong: every golf glove is different, even those made by the same company on the same day in the same factory. Whether or not it will perform these two functions well depends on how those functions are calculated in each particular case.
That calculation is made by measuring the coefficient of restitution at impact, which measures how hard the ball will bounce off whatever surface it strikes as it leaves your hand.* The harder it bounces, the easier it will go out of your hand and straight into your target
This post is one of a series describing how to choose the perfect golf glove. We’ve talked about how you should work out your grip, what types of players you are, and the pros and cons of various styles of glove. But there’s still one more piece of the puzzle, one that can make all the difference in the world:
The right glove for your game. This post is going to help you find that perfect glove.
But first, a caution: Golf gloves have changed a lot over the years. The synthetic leather material used by most companies now isn’t very forgiving, so it’s important to use a stiffer glove than you used to. And your old glove might not be any good anymore; they may have changed the design at some point (like I’ve seen my old Titleist Pro V1s change from stiff to soft over time). So if you’re getting a new glove, it’s important to make sure it’s made from the same kind of material as your old glove was.
There are four basic types of golf gloves:
– traditional fit- snug fit- large fit- extra large fit
We’ll talk about each later on, but for now keep these in mind:
Golf is a lot like tennis, except you have to hit the ball not with your hand but with a stick.
What you need from a golf glove is something that lets you swing freely as you swing, and stop the clubface from wandering when you hit the ball. The smoothness of the glove is less important than that. Performing well requires a certain amount of comfort and control, but these qualities are not what the glove is for.
The glove is there to keep your hand in place while your brain tells it how to move.
In general, a golf glove should be light and thin. You want the glove to move with your hand, not against it. If the glove is loose and floppy, you’ll get more accurate shots. But if it’s too tight, it will restrict your hand movement and make you miss more shots.
The author of this blog wrote a book, Golf Tips and Secrets, which I enjoyed. I’ve learned some things, like that the proper grip is important to the game, and that you should use gloves in all weather. I’ve also discovered that if you’re a novice golfer it’s helpful to have a professional instructor teach you the basic skills so you don’t throw your life away.
But there were two things about the book that annoyed me. The first was that it didn’t talk about golf equipment enough. The second was that every page had an endorsement: “If you are into golf, you will love this book.” As far as I can tell, it’s just one more in a long line of golf books with the same blurb on every page.
I wanted to find another book like this one, with endorsements and lots of tips like: “Cast your eyes often on your wife.” And then I found Riverview Golf Course. It’s a small course in Virginia, and they have no website; there isn’t even an email address listed. So I called them up and asked for their address–in fact, I asked for many different addresses, hoping to find something wrong with the phone number or email address or something. They gave me one
Golf is an upper-class sport. The people who play it are likely to be high-income, and the equipment to play it with is expensive. Golf gear, unlike tennis gear, doesn’t come with cushions for your butt and shoulder blades that are supposed to make you more comfortable. These guys don’t need them.
Golfers compete against each other on equal terms: they have the same clubs and balls, they hit the same shots on the same course, and they are in the same place at the same time. They don’t have access to any of the world’s great golf courses or, not to put too fine a point on it, to any of their own backyards. And they don’t even have a chance at home plates.
But they do have some advantages over everyone else. First, they know what the right gear is. If there is something you want but can’t afford, golf will help you figure out how much it costs and whether you can afford it. Second, golf has a complex etiquette that makes it possible to interact with someone without making him feel like he’s being hassled by an incompetent or undereducated person with no real interest in him other than his money or his body or both .
Sometimes a book’s tone will tell you more about what it is saying than the words themselves. Riverview Golf Course is written as a kind of office manual. It is to golf what a business manual is to business: an impersonal guide to a profession.
The point of the book seems to be that golfers are idiots. They shouldn’t go out and buy expensive equipment without first consulting the book, which is even better than the customer service helpline, because the helpline doesn’t care if you’re stupid.
Perhaps the idea is that you should treat golf like your job isn’t enough fun, so you need to show up at work looking like you’ve been out golfing all day too. If so, it’s hard to see the appeal.