Question:
On golfsmith.com, they have a pretty good selection of DIY regripping kits which are very inexpensive compared to the grips I buy at my local shop. Lampkin crosslines cost 6.50 each plus 2 dollars labor charge. Ping corded cost 8.50 each! Extremely expensive. At golfsmith, 13 lamkins crosslines in the kit cost under 30 bucks total.! To regrip my entire set will set me back about 100 bucks. These are hand me down clubs from my father, and the grips are very slick and worn out. I did have one of the irons regripped with a ping corded and the Callaway Big Bertha2 driver regripped witha lamkin crossline. Very big difference in performance with the iron. Haven’t tried out the driver yet. So how difficult is it to regrip on your own? Do I need a vice, which I don’t have? Also, I can’t tell if the ping IS3 Ping grip kit on golfsmith.com is corded or not. Not a very good photo. Thx
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – On golfsmith.com, they have a pretty good selection of DIY regripping kits which are very inexpensive compared to the grips I buy at my local shop. Lampkin crosslines cost 6.50 each plus 2 dollars labor charge. Ping corded cost 8.50 each! Extremely expensive. At golfsmith, 13 lamkins crosslines in the kit cost under 30 bucks total.! To regrip my entire set will set me back about 100 bucks. These are hand me down clubs from my father, and the grips are very slick and worn out. I did have one of the irons regripped with a ping corded and the Callaway Big Bertha2 driver regripped witha lamkin crossline. Very big difference in performance with the iron. Haven’t tried out the driver yet. So how difficult is it to regrip on your own? Do I need a vice, which I don’t have? Also, I can’t tell if the ping IS3 Ping grip kit on golfsmith.com is corded or not. Not a very good photo. Thx
It is not hard to regrip a club. And as you have figured out, you can sometimes save a lot of money if you DIY. A fair labor charge for regripping would be about $3-4, IMO. $8.50 each is producing a pretty decent profit for whomever is doing it. You need some grip tape (double-sided tape), grip solvent (mineral spirits or naptha will work), grips (get an extra just in case), and some way to secure the club (get a rubber vise clamp to use in your vise, costs circa $2-3). You’ll also need a catch pan to catch the solvent; a roller paint pan is one thing that would work for you. A vise works well. Some who regrip their clubs do it w/o a vise, but I think it’s harder for a first-timer to figure out how to do it that way. The instructions in the golfsmith catalog are good. Follow them. In brief, you put the double-sided tape on the shaft, pour some grip solvent in the grip (hold your index finger over the hole in the butt end of the grip when you do this 
, swish it around to get the inside of the grip wet, then pour it out over the tape, activating the tape. What it does is make the tape slick, which allows the grip to slide on. When the tape "deactivates" it returns to its formerly sticky state, which holds the grip on firmly. No reason why you can’t do this. Or shouldn’t. Mike PS: Once you’ve mastered regripping, perhaps you’d give some consideration to making your own clubs. It’s not that hard, actually. Wait until you discover how inexpensive it is to do that, compared to paying $900 for a set of OEM clubs. — Mike Dalecki GCA Accredited Clubmaker http://clubdoctor.com RSG-Wisconsin 2003 Information: http://dalecki.net/rsgwis2003 RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=daleckim I do not patronize spammers. Help keep RSG clean!
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -On golfsmith.com, they have a pretty good selection of DIY regripping kits which are very inexpensive compared to the grips I buy at my local shop. Lampkin crosslines cost 6.50 each plus 2 dollars labor charge. Ping corded cost 8.50 each! Extremely expensive. At golfsmith, 13 lamkins crosslines in the kit cost under 30 bucks total.! To regrip my entire set will set me back about 100 bucks. These are hand me down clubs from my father, and the grips are very slick and worn out. I did have one of the irons regripped with a ping corded and the Callaway Big Bertha2 driver regripped witha lamkin crossline. Very big difference in performance with the iron. Haven’t tried out the driver yet. So how difficult is it to regrip on your own? Do I need a vice, which I don’t have? Also, I can’t tell if the ping IS3 Ping grip kit on golfsmith.com is corded or not. Not a very good photo.
One of teh easiest things you’ll ever try. Look here: http://www.swingweight.com/installing_new_grips.htm
Response:
In brief, you put the double-sided tape on the shaft, pour some grip solvent in the grip (hold your index finger over the hole in the butt end of the grip when you do this , swish it around to get the inside of the grip wet, then pour it out over the tape, activating the tape. What it does is make the tape slick, which allows the grip to slide on. When the tape "deactivates" it returns to its formerly sticky state, which holds the grip on firmly.
Mike’s directions are good, all I’d add is don’t be shy about how much solvent you use. I go ahead and fill the grip up, then pour it out over the tape. You collect and re-use the stuff anyway, so using extra is no big deal. Getting one stuck half way on is no fun. Also, some grips seem to be harder to get on in very cold weather, so if you are working outside in a cold climate, don’t do it with the temperature below freezing, and if you have to work in the cold, keep all the materials inside and get the grip nice and warm (i.e. from a hot air duct or radiator) and all the tape applied before taking everything outside to put the solvent on. PS: Once you’ve mastered regripping, perhaps you’d give some consideration to making your own clubs. It’s not that hard, actually. Wait until you discover how inexpensive it is to do that, compared to paying $900 for a set of OEM clubs.
Beware the dark side — once you start down that path forever will it guide your destiny . . . — http://home.att.net/~wamontgomery )
Response:
I used to regrip my clubs myself. But I found someone local who does it for 2 bucks each and the time saved is worth it. I would recommend a vice, rubber vice clamp protectors that hold the shaft better, and a utility knife and blades for graphite shafts. Once you have all that, it is easy. Just follow the instructions. Sometimes it is hard to start the grip on the shaft. Again, I used to do this, but it wound up bing cost prohibitive. The extra $30 to have a professional do this (in about 15 minutes) is worth it.
Response:
PS: Once you’ve mastered regripping, perhaps you’d give some consideration to making your own clubs. It’s not that hard, actually. Wait until you discover how inexpensive it is to do that, compared to paying $900 for a set of OEM clubs. — Mike Dalecki GCA Accredited Clubmaker
Another evil darksider ‘trolling’ for his next victim. Mamma warned me about people like you. " Always keep your eyes fixed straight ahead, and keep walking ", she said.
Response:
No reason why you can’t do this. Or shouldn’t.
Mike left out a step that can be a *real* pain, and more likely to be a pain with really old grips: getting the old tape off. Warming the tape gently, maybe soaking the old tape in solvent, and gentle scraping is the way to go for graphite. Heat and vigorous scraping will do fine on steel. It’s not difficult, just takes a while. Thomas Prufer
Response:
I’ll add only one thing to the already fine instructions printed here…. When you put the tape on the shaft…be SURE..to OVERLAP the end of the shaft with tape. A few of my early attempts were faulted because the grip hung up on the bare shaft end. Putting the tape OVER the end allows for a slippery surface and easy work getting the grip started. RG
Response:
Do what Freddy Couples does to extend grip life: sand your grips
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – On golfsmith.com, they have a pretty good selection of DIY regripping kits which are very inexpensive compared to the grips I buy at my local shop. Lampkin crosslines cost 6.50 each plus 2 dollars labor charge. Ping corded cost 8.50 each! Extremely expensive. At golfsmith, 13 lamkins crosslines in the kit cost under 30 bucks total.! To regrip my entire set will set me back about 100 bucks. These are hand me down clubs from my father, and the grips are very slick and worn out. I did have one of the irons regripped with a ping corded and the Callaway Big Bertha2 driver regripped witha lamkin crossline. Very big difference in performance with the iron. Haven’t tried out the driver yet. So how difficult is it to regrip on your own? Do I need a vice, which I don’t have? Also, I can’t tell if the ping IS3 Ping grip kit on golfsmith.com is corded or not. Not a very good photo. Thx
Response:
I’ll add only one thing to the already fine instructions printed here…. When you put the tape on the shaft…be SURE..to OVERLAP the end of the shaft with tape. A few of my early attempts were faulted because the grip hung up on the bare shaft end. Putting the tape OVER the end allows for a slippery surface and easy work getting the grip started. RG
I don’t "wrap" the tape, personally, so this doesn’t come up. I just run a straight piece of tape about 15" long or so, directly over the end, straight down each side of the shaft. Quick and easy and I’ve never had a problem. Of course, I have small hands and want the least amount of tape possible, but I think I’d just buy thicker grips if I had bigger hands, so I wouldn’t have to wind the tape. It also makes removing the tape a breeze when changing grips. All in all, regripping is so quick and easy, I can’t imagine wasting all the time it takes to get somebody else to do it! I’d probably change my own grips even if it cost the same, just so I wouldn’t have the hassle of 1) being without my clubs, 2) taking them to get them regripped and the going to pick them up, etc. Fortunately, it costs next to nothing to change a grip. My only other observation is that lighter fluid works just fine. I see no reason whatsoever to use the ritzy solvents — not even health reasons unless you’re changing a bazillion grips on a daily basis. (And even then, I wonder — those fancy solvents smell really scary, and I suspect they just haven’t been tested for hazardous effects the way petroleum distillates have, so nobody really knows what the freaky stuff will do to you.)
Response:
Look around…you may find a pro shop that does it pretty cheap. I have a local shop that charges me the cost of the grip with free installation (I think they have about a $1 markup on each grip).
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – On golfsmith.com, they have a pretty good selection of DIY regripping kits which are very inexpensive compared to the grips I buy at my local shop. Lampkin crosslines cost 6.50 each plus 2 dollars labor charge. Ping corded cost 8.50 each! Extremely expensive. At golfsmith, 13 lamkins crosslines in the kit cost under 30 bucks total.! To regrip my entire set will set me back about 100 bucks. These are hand me down clubs from my father, and the grips are very slick and worn out. I did have one of the irons regripped with a ping corded and the Callaway Big Bertha2 driver regripped witha lamkin crossline. Very big difference in performance with the iron. Haven’t tried out the driver yet. So how difficult is it to regrip on your own? Do I need a vice, which I don’t have? Also, I can’t tell if the ping IS3 Ping grip kit on golfsmith.com is corded or not. Not a very good photo. Thx
Response:
I used to regrip my clubs myself. But I found someone local who does it for 2 bucks each and the time saved is worth it. I would recommend a vice…
Isn’t clubmaking already a vice? 
Bob Ontario, California Oh….vise, you mean. Ne’er mind.