Have you golfed with sweaty hands? It’s not an enjoyable experience.
I sweat profusely, especially in the summer, so I’m always concerned about keeping my hands from slipping off my golf club during my swing. One time I came close and tried to stop my swing mid-swing. It wasn’t pretty, and I ended up hitting a horrible shot. But it was better than sending my club through someone’s window!
This affected my confidence on the course until I figured out a couple solutions. I’m going to share a few ideas in a second, but let me first tell you how NOT to deal with sweaty hands while playing golf.
What you DO NOT WANT TO DO is strangle your clubs. Death gripping your golf clubs might temporarily solve your problem, but you’ll create a few more problems in doing so. I know firsthand.
For one, you’ll create too much tension in your arms. This can negatively affect your swing as it’s not as free flowing as it should be. Your swing will be stiff and rigid. It’s hard to hit golf shots well this way, much less be consistent.
The worst part of gripping the golf club too hard was the horrible pain I had in my forearms and hands. I usually experienced this the day after a round. Sometimes the pain would last for days.
It got so bad that I would wake up and couldn’t close my right (trail) hand. I’d have to breathe deep to relax it and use my left hand to work it open and close.
So, if you’re dealing with sweaty hands and losing your golf grip, don’t try to fix it by gripping your clubs harder. Here are some of the things you should try instead.
- Clean Your Golf Grips
- Change Your Golf Grips
- Rotate Golf Gloves During Your Round
- Use Rain Golf Gloves
This is all straightforward, but I do go into more detail on each of these tips below in case you want to know more. After that, I share a few quick tips for dealing with sweaty hands on the golf course.
By the time you’re done with this guide, you should have plenty of ideas for how to keep your hands dry while golfing.
1. Clean Your Golf Grips
There is a lot that impacts the grippy-ness of your golf clubs.
- Sunlight
- Hot and cold weather
- Dirt
- Oils from your hands
Thanks to all these contributing factors, it won’t take long before your golf clubs feel slick and as if you need to compensate by gripping your clubs too tightly.
Your first instinct might be to change your golf grips, but unless your grips are a couple years old, that’s not the route I’d take first. That could set you back $150-$200. Save your money for now and try this instead.
Clean your golf grips. Yes, that is all there is to it.
Cleaning your golf grips is easy. All you need is some warm soapy water, a soft brush, a bucket of clean water, and a towel.
Start by scrubbing your grips lightly with your brush and soapy water. Then dip your club in or rinse it with some water. Then pat it dry.
That’s all there is to it.
Odds are your clubs will feel like new, and all it took was a few minutes and materials you probably already have lying around the house.
How often should you wash your golf grips? This will depend on the season, where you play, and how much you sweat. Washing your grips every 5-10 rounds is a good starting point, I think.
Wash Your Golf Grips During the Round
Another tip for how to deal with sweaty hands while golfing is to wash your golf grips throughout your round. This will also lengthen the time you can go between deep cleanings as suggested above.
How do you wash your golf grips while you play? What do you wash them with? The most common suggestion I’ve seen (and have been given) is to spray your golf grips with Windex.
Windex will break down the dirt and oils on your clubs. Just give your clubs a couple spritzes every couple of holes and then pat them dry with a towel. Another suggestion I’ve been given is to clean your clubs with apple cider vinegar.
Here’s what I plan to do next season. Maybe you can try it out too and let me know how it works for you.
I have the Grooveit brush (available at Golf Galaxy). It is a heavy duty brush that also works as a squirt bottle. The brush is too stiff for your grips, but you can put Windex in the reservoir and use then squirt that onto your grips. You can use Windex to clean your club heads too, so this will save you a little space in your bag.
I’ve seen some people suggest that you spray your hands with Windex too. Not only will it make your golf grips tacky again, but it will clean off the oils from your hands and make your hands grippier too.
2. Change Your Golf Grips
Okay, now it’s time to give you one of the more expensive solutions to golfing with sweaty hands in hot humid weather – change your golf grips.
If cleaning your grips isn’t making your golf grips tackier or tacky enough, it might be time to switch them out for some new ones.
This is what I did. My golf club set is old – most of the clubs are 15 years old. They had the original grips when I bought them, so instead of cleaning them, I decided to swap them out.
Changing your golf grips is easy. If you’re handy, you can switch all the clubs in your bag in just a couple hours. But it will set you back $150-$200 between the new grips and supplies.
There are all types of golf grips to choose from.
- Corded
- Wrapped
- Hybrids
There are different sizes, such as normal, midsize, and jumbo. You can also get hard and soft or squishy grips and anything in between.
If you’re unsure what types of grips to buy, I suggest going to your pro shop and asking the people there. They can help you figure out what is best for your needs.
Another option is to buy a couple different golf grips and test them out. That is what I did. I replaced the grips on my driver, 4 hybrid, 5i, 7i, and 9i. I tried different brands, sizes, and types of grips. After playing them for a few rounds, I figured out which grips and sizes I liked best. Then I changed them all to match.
This is a bit expensive, sure, but it’s the only way I know of to find the best golf grip, regardless of whether you’re dealing with wet hands on the golf course or just need to change them due to wear and tear.
3. Rotate Golf Gloves During Your Round
When I first started playing golf, I only used one pair of gloves. My gloves would get soaked with sweat as I played, especially in the summer. At that point they didn’t work very well. My hands moved around too much, creating friction and callouses. And my grip wasn’t as strong or tacky as I wanted it to be.
So, I started playing with two pairs of gloves, and at times I even played with three pairs of gloves. I rotated between them every couple of holes. This prevented any one pair from getting too wet and it’d give them a chance to dry out a bit before I needed to use them again.
To dry my gloves out, I attached them to the outside of my bag. Since it was 70-90 degrees out, my gloves would usually dry out quickly.
4. Use Rain Golf Gloves
Another trick to dealing with hot and humid weather while golfing is to use rain gloves. These are often made with special material that becomes tackier the wetter they get.
I use FootJoy RainGrip gloves (available on Amazon). These have an autosuede knit palm that gets stickier the wetter they get. They’re also breathable and flexible, and they dry fast too.
I like them because they come in pairs, and I often use both when I play – especially in the summertime. They also have tee holders which is handy, as well as a snap on ball marker.
More Tips for Dealing with Sweaty Hands While Golfing
The tips above are my best for golfing with sweaty hands. But here are a few more quick tips if you’re struggling to grip your golf clubs due to sweating too much.
Speed Up Your Routine
Everyone needs to have a routine before they swing. This puts you in the moment and lets muscle memory take over. It’s key to having a more consistent and free flowing swing.
However, if you take a couple of minutes to go through your routine before you swing the ball, that is a lot of time for sweat to build up – especially when it is hot outside.
So, one thing you might consider doing is figure out a way to shorten your routine. Make sure your hands and clubs are dry and tacky. Then quickly go through your routine and swing the club.
The faster you can go through your routine, the less likely it is that you’ll sweat enough to prevent you from having a strong grip on your clubs.
Keep a Separate Towel for Drying Your Hands
Golf towels are good for cleaning your clubs or wiping the sweat off your face, but they’re not necessarily good for keeping your hands or grips dry. They don’t absorb fluid as well as regular towels. They often push it around instead.
You’ll want something more like a kitchen or bathroom towel that absorbs moisture. That way you can actually dry your hands while golfing.
Try a Grip Powder or Spray
There are several products out there you might try using to absorb moisture. Here are some of the products golfers use to deal with sweaty hands.
- Baby powder
- Antiperspirant
- Rosin bags
Your mileage will vary with these. I suggest testing them out, maybe on the driving range, to test how well they work for you.
There are also products out there specifically made for golfers – anti-slip powders, topical lotions, and so on. I have no experience with any of these. The good news is that most of these products are cheap enough that you can test a few of them out to see what works for you without breaking the bank.
Use Sweatbands
This is straightforward – try wristbands around your forearms to see if you can stop or reduce the sweat running down your arms to your hands.
These might not keep your hands from getting sweaty while you golf, but they might reduce the amount of sweat that runs to your hands from your forearms.
Keep Yourself Cool
This might seem silly or too obvious a tip, but odds are there is at least ONE THING you can do to keep yourself cooler as you play golf. This applies to me too.
For example, one thing I plan to do next summer is to use my umbrella as I play. I bought it so that I could play in (light) rain. But then I saw an older guy use it to shield himself from the sun.
I thought that was a pretty smart move.
It’s still going to be hot outside but reducing how much sun you’re exposing yourself to will help manage how much you sweat.
On top of that, you want to make sure you have plenty of water. You might even bring ice packs with you.
The cooler you can keep yourself, the less you’ll sweat. The less you sweat, the easier it will be too grip your golf clubs.
Conclusion
One of things I struggled with most when I was first getting into golf was how sweaty my hands got and how hard that made it to grip my golf club.
As a result, I gripped my golf clubs too tightly and dealt with lots of tension, an inconsistent swing and, on occasion, pain in my forearms and hands.
But I didn’t know what else to do. What was the alternative – to grip the club lighter than I wanted and possibly lose it during my swing?
I ended up figuring out how to deal with that problem. For me, it was changing my golf grips, using rain gloves made for golfing in wet weather, and rotating between a couple of pairs of gloves during every round.
This has allowed me to loosen my grip on my clubs without fearing that I’ll let go of my club during my swing. In turn, I have a more confident and free flowing swing. I don’t deal with any more pain in my forearms or hands either.
If you’re anything like me and want to deal with your sweaty hands while golfing, I encourage you to give these tips a try. I think they’ll work for you just like they worked for me.