Gimmick Or Genius? SuperStroke Wrist Lock Putter Grip Review

We test out the unorthadox Wrist Lock Putter Grip from SuperStroke to see if it could change around your fortunes on the greens

SuperStroke Wrist Lock Putter Grip Review

We were more than a little intrigued when SuperStroke announced its new Wrist Lock putting grip.

It is USGA approved and 'engineered to “lock” in the upper wrist to prevent any unwanted motion leads to greater consistency in starting the ball on-line and overall distance control'.

Given there is definite merit in the Arm lock method, used so prolifically by Bryson DeChambeau, we were keen to give this unique approach to it a try. We put it on an old TaylorMade putter and tested it on the excellent practice putting green at Burghley Park Golf Club on a variety of lengths and slopes of putt.

Our first question was, how is this legal? Well it turns out that, under the Rules of Golf:

“A putter grip may have a non‑circular cross-section, provided that the cross-section has no concavity, is symmetrical and remains generally similar throughout the length of the grip. The phrase “generally similar” is interpreted to mean: (i) that the butt (top) end of the grip must not involve a sharp change in slope or dramatic flare on the underside."

So the fact that the Wrist Lock grip has dramatic flare on the side, to make it sit better into the inside of the lead arm, and not the underside appears to be the reason it is conforming under the rules.

It is noticeably longer than a conventional putter grip and has the same no taper concept on the front moving down as other SuperStroke models.

Generally it feels good, although we’d have preferred the shape on top to be more pronounced. We found the lower down you hold it the more naturally it fits, so you might want to think about adding some length to your putter to accommodate this and stop you bending over too much.

It’s design unquestionably helps in applying pressure into the lead arm and increasing the tension in the wrists to stop them breaking down, so your stroke feels a lot more robotic.

As a result, our stroke felt like it was more easy to replicate although we struggled from long range initially. You also need to employ a lot of shaft lean at address to get the top of the grip fitting securely against your arm.

We therefore the ball tended to dig into the ground a little after impact because of how much effective loft we’d taken off from the added shaft lean. That said, with the hands so far ahead of the ball we did feel like they were travelling more upwards and the putter head was attacking the ball shallower, so you may not need to adjust the loft as much as you might think, only 1-2 degrees should do the trick.

This grip would certainly work better if you already employ a lot of shaft lean in your method or if you are quite bent over when you putt.

It isn’t quite as simple as putting it on a normal putter and off you go but regardless of how you hold the putter, this grip could certainly help improve your overall consistency by taking the smaller moving parts out of the equation.

With some subtle tweaks to the make up of your putter combined with this grip you can utilize the bigger muscles for a more repeatable stroke and over time, you will regain the feel required to control distance from longer range.

Undoubtedly worth a try if you struggle to hole your fair share of putts.