A lot has been said and written about Bryson Dechambeau this year. He has taken the golf world by storm, putting his money where his mouth is and delivering huge distance gains translated into wins. It’s something in the golf world that I think is reminiscent of Tiger Woods first breaking through into the pros. Not everyone was happy to see Tiger bombing drives 50 yards by them, and there are many reiterating the same chatter now about Bryson. Now I am not saying I think Bryson will win 13 more majors (he could) due to his new distance advantage, but it indeed has shown to help in a small sample size tournament year.
Mad Scientist at Work
Bryson is a mad scientist in many ways. He does think outside the box. I’m not sure if Bryson has ever actually seen or looked inside the box. He eats, sleeps, and breathes golf. You can tell how much thought goes into what he does and the hard work he puts into turning those ideas into life. It is truly inspirational. There are many naysayers out there that have been and will continue to bash this way of thinking, but maybe there is something to it.
When Bryson built his own set of same-length clubs back in college, people were shocked. The brilliant part was that he made it work, winning the US Amateur and the college NCAA individual championship in the same year. When he turned pro, he signed with Cobra and went to work coming out with his own set of single-length clubs for the masses. Now I have no numbers to prove how well those clubs have sold, but I can tell you this, I have never seen a set in play by any person on a golf course, and I tend to be around a lot of golfers.
Sometime later, Bryson changed grips to JumboMax. Initially, with an older (much heavier) model, he has now changed in the last couple of years to their flagship model, the JumboMax JMX UltraLite. I was intrigued to learn more about these grips because of Bryson’s success. I wondered, are these like the “single length irons” too radical for the masses? Or are these something that Joe amateur at the local Municipal course can try out to help their game?
I went to the JumboMax website here: they have a nice new feature to fit you for the right sized grip. Answer a few simple questions about your golf glove size and find what is best for you, because after all, one size does not fit all!
They’re Huge!
Once I could get my hands on some of these grips, I must tell you a lot is going on here. First, let’s address the elephant in the room. They are huge! They are larger than any mid-size or jumbo grip you have ever tried before. Obscenely large! Every time I show them to someone, they all say the same thing, “holy cow, these are enormous, hey these might feel nice.” What is interesting about the size for me is how they are constructed. They don’t feel squishy. They feel firm like a standard grip would. Yet, for the size, they are NOT heavy. All that added mass does not translate into added weight in the UltraLite series.
JumboMax has found a way to construct these grips so that the grip’s integrity is solid and yet still light, which I believe to be the greatest asset and advancement in these grips. How light, you say? Well, I performed a test on my current grip of choice (and we all have our unique favorite), the GolfPride TourWrap 2G. My scale weighed my current grips at 52 Grams. I then weighed the JumboMax JMX UltraLite, and they came in at a staggering 42 Grams! How is something so much bigger, 10 Grams (20%) lighter? I don’t know what sorcery they used to create these things, but it was effective.
Size (err Weight) Does Matter
Before I even start talking about swinging with these grips and my performance and feel, why am I spending so much time on the composition and weight? Well, with grips, there are two fundamental keys: #1, what feels good in your hand, and #2, How much does it weigh (how does it influence your swing weight). With number 1, everyone is different. Some people LOVE grips with cords… Some people LOVE wraps. Some people LOVE tacky grips. Convincing them to change is a challenge, and with these JumboMax JMX UltraLite grips, you are not asking someone to take a step of faith. You are asking them to take a giant leap of faith.
Regarding swing weight, I find golfers are about 80/20, understanding science. The 80 percent being the ones that do not know or care to understand swing weight and how it can affect their game. I go into a lot of detail on swing weight in a previous article here, so if you are interested in learning more, I suggest you give it a read.
Houston We Have A Problem
Depending on if you currently use cords, wraps, tacky, etc., each of those grip types and vendors will have a unique weight. You must know how much your current grip weighs because it will be a factor if you change to the JumboMax JMX UltraLite. For me, the difference was 10 Grams. At first, I ignored this difference and installed the new grip on my current driver. I went out on the course and started swinging. I didn’t mind the large diameter of the grip, nor did I feel like the club was going to slip out of my hands. The grip felt tacky enough to feel secure. That wasn’t the problem at all. The problem was that I now have a giant fade that wasn’t there before. It was not a ball flight I was going for, and I was not happy with the results.
Let’s Do This Right!
It was then that it hit me, those 10 grams of weight drastically changed my club swing weight, from a D2 to a D6. What does this mean? In general terms, it means the head of the club feels heavier than before and will tend to lag behind you in your swing, causing the clubface to remain a bit open at impact and giving you that fade you were not used to seeing so pronounced. If the clubhead ends up lighter than before due to a heavier grip, it will tend to get past your hands, turning over, and more hooks will come off the clubface.
I decided that if I was going to do this right, I needed to pay attention to the weight changes and fix this with some lead tape. I ripped off the grips from my clubs and added lead tape to the shaft under the grip tape. Once re-installed and balanced, I had achieved the desired result, the same swing weight!
Finally Success!
I went back out to the course and gave them another whirl, and my hunch was right, the giant fade was now gone, and I was back to hitting the ball straight again. I felt that I had solved the first problem I found, but this worried me for the average Joe amateur. Most people do not have all the tools to change their grips, and if they do, even fewer know about swing weight nor have scales to test and adjust. If you bring your clubs to a local golf store and ask them to change the grips for you, trust me, unless you are requesting precise swing weights, they are just going to slap on whatever you have and not bring up the potential of throwing off your swing weight. If you are going to try the JumboMax JMX UltraLite grips or any other grip for that matter, ask the shop to weigh your current grip and the new grip, it makes a difference.
With all that said, I also changed the driver grip on the head of Golf Aficionado’s publisher. I gave him the regular golf store experience; I just slapped the new grip on and sent him on his way. What was shocking to me was that he loved the grip and the performance! The swing weight change did not affect him as negatively as it did me. Now every golfer is different, and his faults are certainly not mine. I suspect he fights a hook, so the heavier feeling head helped straighten him out!
From interviews and watching tournaments with Bryson, I understand a bit of what he is trying to do with his golf swing and equipment. He is trying to remove as many human variables as possible to produce a more repeatable, robot-like swing. I suspect that is what draws him to the JumboMax JMX UltraLite grips. They remove feel. Your hands are forced to become more passive in the swing due to the grips’ sheer size. If that is something you struggle with, overactive hands, you may love these grips.
Some Work Required
I first hit balls with these grips for about a week before taking them out on the course for a full round. They felt great on the range, I was hitting them all straight, good contact, and nothing seemed off. When I finally did bring them out on the course, I found an issue. That lowered “feel” hurt me on a few shots. On one shot, I had hit a drive through the fairway a couple of yards deep on a dogleg, and now I had a low hanging tree in my way. No problem, I thought, I’ll take out my trusty 4-iron and punch the ball under the branches like always. With the new grips, I felt like I didn’t have the familiar feel I am used to, to manipulate the club and my hands forward for a low and crisp impact. I think this is like anything else. It would help if you practiced the feel shots too, I think you would eventually figure it out and get used to hitting these shots. However, you have to be willing to put in the time for the change, something Bryson Dechambeau has undoubtedly done.
A barrier I noticed that would impact the adoption of these grips is the price. As of this writing, a set of 13 grips costs $175.00. That is $13.46 per grip, folks. My current grip costs $5.99 each, so the JumboMax JMX UltraLite grips are over double the average price. Now I do not know how long these grips last. Maybe they last twice as long as my current grip, which would make the price comparable? Without using them for six months, I won’t know for sure.
When SuperStroke Grips came out for putters, they came out at a higher price on par with the JumboMax. What didn’t hurt them is that when people buy SuperStroke, they buy one grip for their putter, not 13 grips for their entire set. If you had to pay that premium for the full set, I don’t think SuperStroke would be as popular as they are today.
Yea or Nay?
All in all, so far, I like the feeling and performance I get with the JumboMax JMX UltraLite grips! When I accepted this assignment, I was skeptical. I didn’t think I would like them as much as I do! Shots feel straighter and easier to hit repeatedly. I think the more I play with them, the more accustomed I will become, and those little adjustments needed will turn into some lower scores!
Are you thinking about making the switch? Just remember there will be a financial commitment, along with a practice period needed to adjust to the JumboMax JMX UltraLite grips! Awaken the mad scientist inside yourself and give the JumboMax grips a whirl.