Golf gloves are not so old-fashioned wearings developed by renowned golf brands. At the early age of golf, there is no tradition to wear gloves while striking the balls. Wearing a glove while golfing is not recommended, but the players who wear it get advantages over holding the golf club securely. Because after staying a long time in the course, sweating is a common issue for a golfer. That’s why we describe what hand do you wear a golf glove on at a swinging session.
Once palm sweats, it becomes challenging for golfers to keep their club smoothly. They require to hold them so tightly that it gives pressure on the wrist, hands, and forearms, which may cause common golf injuries. When you look at golfers in any golf tournament, you will see that most of them wear gloves on their dominant hand. Some of them don’t wear any gloves, and a few numbers use them on both hands.
Whether wearing gloves in one or both hands depends on the golfer’s preference. There are no specific rules for it. Ben Hogan, the old pro, never wears a glove while golfing. On the other hand, Jack Nicklaus, a legend golfer, won 18 major golf tournaments with a glove. As beginners see the variation for wearing gloves, they have queries about its necessity. That’s why we discuss every issue about wearing gloves by golfers in this article.
Table of Contents
- 1 History of wearing gloves on golf
- 2 Why do golfers wear a glove?
- 3 On which hand do you wear a golf glove?
- 4 Do golfers wear the glove for all shots?
- 5 Why do most golfers not wear two gloves while golfing?
- 6 Are the golf gloves supposed to be tight?
- 7 Why do golfers keep gloves in their back pockets?
- 8 How much do the gloves cost?
- 9 Why Use A Golf Glove?
History of wearing gloves on golf
In the late 1800s, gloves were first introduced to the golf industry to combat clubs’ slippery grip. But the legendary golfers like Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen did not wear any gloves throughout the 1920s and 1930s. At that time, producers used fingerless and backless designs to make gloves. In the 1940s, the PGA pro, Sam Snead, first wear gloves on the golf tournament. However, wearing gloves became popular among golfers through the golf legend Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in the 1960s. After getting a position among pro golfers, manufacturers continuously improve their quality, designs, which gives a typical scenario of wearing a glove in one hand on PGA tour players, amateurs, and even recreational golfers.
Why do golfers wear a glove?
Manufacturers use leather or synthetic materials to make gloves. These types of fabric provide more traction while holding a club wearing it. When golfers get a light grip pressure on keeping the club, they also get better control and consistency on hitting the ball with the clubface. Besides, it protects their hands from blistering. Golfers continuously slide up and down their clubs without wearing a glove, which causes calluses on their hands. Golfers like to wear a glove while putting or chipping for an extended period to eliminate these kinds of hand injuries.
On which hand do you wear a golf glove?
Most golfers wear the glove in one hand, but the question is which hand they should wear. Generally, the lead or dominant hand gets more pressure when a player attempts to swing their clubs. For this reason, almost all wears a glove in their lead hand. The lead or dominant player is the hand that a golfer places closest to the butt of the golf club’s grip and stays in front while aiming a downswing into the ball.
That’s why the right-handed golfers wear the glove in their left hand and the left-handed golfer in the right hand because the lefty places his right hand at the highest edge of the club. Besides, as the lead hand creates more power and speed while swinging, it requires something special, like a glove, to firmly grip the club. Conversely, the trail hand is responsible for giving more control to the golf swing. It helps to feel the club more comfortable and prevents holding the club too tightly if it remains bare.
Do golfers wear the glove for all shots?
Generally, novice golfers feel confused about wearing gloves throughout the round or for a specific shot. Most golfers who use a golf-green glove choose it while swinging with woods, wedges, irons, and hybrids. Besides, for a putting picture, they like to strike the ball with their bare hands. As putting is the slowest shot, everyone wants to feel the putter’s grip with their sensational skin. It also helps them respond more on their putt, and there has no possibility of flying out the putter from their hands.
Similarly, while a player puts shots without wearing a glove, the soaked glove gets time to air out the sweat. It also makes the wearings durable because making materials like leather deteriorates if it stays wet for a long time. Conversely, while putting, golfers are trying to contact their clubface with the ball. To create a good contact, they require to hold the club too tightly, and gloves provide more consistency to get a relaxed grip. That’s why most golfers wear the glove while making chip shots.
Why do most golfers not wear two gloves while golfing?
Most golfers who use the glove wear it on their dominant hand, not in both hands. Because when any golfer wears two gloves while golfing, he faces lots of difficulties. Covering your two hands with gloves makes it challenging to manage every essential chore needed to continue a golf session. When they hold their club for aiming a shot, they can’t overlap two hands on the grip. It may also cause the flying of the club after hitting the ball.
Besides, most players like to feel their clubs for enjoying the game. So they try to play with at least one hand leaving bare. However, some golfers wear two gloves when they play in wet conditions. Because due to damp weather, the clubs become wet, and it becomes hard to hold comfortably. To avoid excessive grip pressure, professional golfers always carry rain gloves to secure grip in rainy weather.
Moreover, in cold weather, gloves on both hands help the player keep their hands more workable. If the weather is too hot, they sweat more, and holding the club becomes hard. So only in bad weather conditions, we see some golfers wear two gloves while golfing.
Are the golf gloves supposed to be tight?
Yes, your gloves must fit your hand tightly because if not, you will get more trouble while playing on the greens. You have to feel your gloves like a second skin to hold the club and strike the golf ball confidently. If your glove is loose on your hand, your club may slip while aiming and ends with a wrong or bad shot. That’s why before paying for a pair, you have to check that it fits tightly across your fingers and palm. And the Velcro strap covers only 75% of the back of your wrist area. It is not for your right-sized glove if you get some space left on your fingertips after wearing it.
Why do golfers keep gloves in their back pockets?
Most of the time, golfers keep their gloves on their pant’s back pockets. It helps them to pick it quickly when they want to wear it. If they keep it in the golf bag, it will take time to get it when they need to wear it. Because while playing, golfers have to keep their bags far from where they aim for a shot. Besides, a glove hangs on the back pocket gives a cool look like professional golfers.
How much do the gloves cost?
Golf gloves are one of the less-expensive accessories used during golfing. Depending on the styles and materials, you can purchase a pair for $10 to $45. Manufacturers are used different elegant colors, like white, black with various suitable sizes to make them. So you can quickly get your fitted size with your favorite color when going to any pro shop to buy it.
Besides, leather, synthetic, and hybrid materials are the primary elements to craft gloves that give additional durability. Depending on the fabric, you have to pay a different amount of money. Among these, hybrid and synthetic gloves are less expensive and long-lasting than leather golf gloves. If you want to pick weatherproof gloves, you have to pay a little more than others.
The leather glove is water-sensitive; however, it feels more soft and comfortable than synthetic golf gloves. Perhaps, which type of golf glove golfers pick for their golf game depends on their preference and budget to pay. At present, the most popular glove models are –
- TaylorMade Men’s Stratus All-Weather Golf Glove
- Footjoy Women’s WeatherSof Golf Glove
- Titleist Perma-Soft Men’s Golf Glove
- Callaway Golf Weather Men’s Spann Premium Golf Glove
- Under Armour UA Iso-Chill Golf Gloves
Why Use A Golf Glove?
Final Thought
We hope you will get almost all the answers about wearing gloves to get a natural grip while playing golf. However, some professional player avoids wearing it while participating in Major tournaments. Nowadays, the majority of golfers wear it, at least while chipping. Besides, beginners, recreational, and amateur golfers wear one glove in their lead hand.
You will wear it or not; it ultimately depends on your choice. But the technical advisor of the golf training clubs suggests that if you wear a glove in golf, you will get some advantages in hot and humid conditions. It also protects you from getting blisterings and hand injury for a long-term golf swing practice with a bare hand. Besides, winter gloves allow you to extra grip on your golf club confidently in cold conditions. At last, we want to say, if you have more queries about golf, please visit our website to get lots of information about the types of golf gloves.