Gloves: Recommendations for golf beginners 2023

Playing golf for the first time, well, at least trying to, is strange. It starts with the unfamiliar club position, where both hands are virtually intertwined at the grip. And it ends with the fact that a golfer is wearing a glove.

It is not the glove that is strange, but rather the fact that only one hand wears a glove: the gripping hand, which is important for holding the club. For right-handers, this is the left hand. It grips the club at the upper end, while the second hand, the lead hand, is placed underneath towards the club head. For left-handers it is of course the other way round, they wear the glove on the right and also grip the end of the club with their right hand.

Pragmatic reasons

The fact that only one hand is "shod" has very pragmatic reasons. Anyone who makes a proper golf swing will immediately realize this: the entire club is guided in a circular path at a fast pace and the club head should be accelerated as much as possible. The rest is physics, because this is where centrifugal force comes into play.

An average club golfer reaches a club head speed of around 150 kilometers per hour, while the average professional swings at almost 200 kilometers per hour. It's hard to imagine what a club can do if it slips away from the player at this swing speed and flies off uncontrollably.

The glove helps to prevent this. It is equipped with a non-slip material (leather or synthetic) - especially on the inside of the hand - to prevent accidental slipping. This also explains why the other hand does not need a glove, as it only guides.

Counter-steering

I personally learned why this is particularly important during my golf course. Back then, coach Nic repeatedly emphasized that you should hold the club gently, "like a little birdie", and not with a lot of gripping power like a hammer. Of course, this means there is a risk of slipping, and the glove effectively counteracts this.

But the hand is also protected, although this requires a well-fitting glove. An 18-hole round puts a lot of strain on the gripping hand, even with a loose grip. At worst, blisters or chafing can be the result. Not so with a glove. So wearing them is not just a matter of protecting others, but also yourself.

The accuracy of fit is now the big issue. If you're buying a golf glove for the first time, it's best to get information from your local specialist retailer and try on different models. Is the glove too wide? Are the fingers too long? Then it's better to choose a size smaller. A well-fitting glove is half the battle, which is improved by a Velcro fastener on the back of the hand.

Consider wear and tear

Once you have found "your" glove, also in terms of color and material, or even "your" size, you can also choose other, possibly cheaper sales sources, because money can certainly be an argument. Remember: gloves don't last forever, they wear out. If you go out for a round once or twice a week, you may well wear out three or four gloves per season, as the glove will be damaged over time in the places where the hand is protected.

Generally speaking, there are a large number of manufacturers and differences in quality when it comes to gloves, but the latter are hardly an issue with today's standards. The cheap glove may not last as long as the expensive one, but the bottom line is that the money spent on them will hardly make a difference over the season. You can therefore choose a glove to suit your personal taste in terms of color and material. As already mentioned, the choice is huge.

However, there is a certain difference with rain gloves. In contrast to "normal" golf gloves, these tend to be offered in pairs, as they also act as protection against the cold, but are not as fashionable in an emergency. Of course, there are also reasons for this.

Playing in a downpour

On the one hand, you can also play with normal gloves when it rains (who plays in a downpour?). Secondly, there are many amateur golfers who shy away from the course at the slightest rain cloud in the sky, so they will probably never have the embarrassment of having to use a rain glove (or a pair of them). All this leads to one conclusion: the market for rain gloves is rather small, which is why the range on offer is comparatively small.

The following is a small selection of gloves as examples. No real recommendations are necessary for the reasons mentioned, the main thing is that the glove fits and the material feels comfortable.

P.S.: As with many other things to do with golf, there is also a distinction between men's and women's gloves. In many cases, I think this is pure marketing....