Why do Golfers Wear One Glove?

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There are too many personalities and characters in the game of golf to make a general statement that covers them all, and there are some players that prefer to play without gloves, Fred Couples, for example.

The main reason for wearing only one glove is to have a grip in the right place. In order to get the best pendulum effect on your swing, the inside hand should have a better hold of the club.

The best way to guarantee this will be to have the outside hand with a loose grip. Therefore a slight difference of not having a glove is all that is needed to make the balance happen.

Why Not Wear Two Golf Gloves?

As mentioned above, little things like grip make a big impact on your game when thinking about each stroke of each hole, in which case having one glove provides just enough of a difference.

Also, the friction on the inside hand causes blistering on unprotected hands, more often than not.

Think about this. Imagine being out on the course. What does your dominant hand need to take care of? It needs to write the score, grab the tee, grab the ball, select a club, and do a whole plethora of other duties to make a round of golf as smooth as possible.

 

Do any Professional Golfers Wear Two Pairs of Gloves?

There are some players that will double up their gloves. The most famous of players would be none other than Tommy’ Two Gloves’ Gainey, who got the nickname for wearing both gloves on the pro circuit.

As was touched upon earlier, it has been traditional for players not to wear gloves on their dominant hands, and most golfers are just more comfortable that way.

Even stranger to see would be to see anyone putting gloves on at all; however, there are no rules against wearing gloves on the course at any moment in time, which could be a fashion statement for those following in the footsteps of Tiger.

 

On Which Hand Should a Glove Be?

The traditional practice is to have a glove on the non-dominant hand, and this is to provide extra grip to help the off-hand keep the club steady and true all the way until completing the closing follow-through.

This is to help prevent friction heat causing blistering or other injuries on a player’s hand, along with keeping slick hands from sending a club flying.

Some schools of thought will say that wearing both gloves will inevitably lead to injury, either of the ergonomics being thrown off or because of other swing deficiencies.

 

Can Two Gloves Help with Your Grip?

As mentioned in the section earlier, there are going to be separate trains of thought when it comes to whether or not to wear both gloves.

Traditionally, one glove has proved to help players avoid injuries, not just blisters and hand injuries, but also caused by non-ergonomically friendly movements caused by having both gloves on.

Another point of view would be those that think that the first glove is for injury prevention on the gripping hand, while the other glove would help provide additional stability and protect against abrasion and friction.

As with most things, these facts will lead to a person needing to test out both and find out which two gloves are better than one.

 

What are the Pros of Wearing Just One Glove?

The main pro will be the prevention of injury from abrasion caused by cuts or cracks, but also from friction-caused blistering and other injuries caused by repeated swinging actions upon a gripping hand.

The next will be the tremendous difference in grip between not having a glove on and having one on, and there becomes this sense of confidence that the club will not slip, causing a mistake on the shot.

Many bad shots come from the club twisting or slipping in a player’s grip, causing the club to catch earth early or send a ball slicing into the next hole’s fairway.

 

Final Thoughts on Why Golfers Wear one Glove

The usage of gloves to prevent friction blistering and other hand injuries in many other sports, most similar to Baseball and Softball. These two sports have players swinging at hundreds of balls throughout the year in both practice and in play.

Studies have shown that wearing these gloves significantly improves hand health and prevents blistering and hand injuries.

Unfortunately, there are players like Fred Couples that do not wear gloves or Tommy ‘Two gloves’ that wear both. It really comes down to the individual’s comfort preferences.

If you want to keep your on-course image safe, practice with different combinations of gloves on the driving range. There you can mess up and not affect the players around you or your scorecard.

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