As the Equipment Editor for The Daily Duffer, I’ve seen countless gear trends come and go. From drivers promising 20 extra yards to irons with “feel-enhancing” inserts, my job is to cut through the marketing noise and tell you what actually works. I’ve put hundreds of clubs through their paces on the Foresight GCQuad, obsessed over spin rates and launch angles, and fitted more golfers than I can count. So, when a major champion like Wyndham Clark shows up with a truly unconventional setup, my ears perk up.
The Upside Down Grip: Is it Genius or Gimmick?
The buzz started after the opening round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where Clark was spotted with what looked like an inverted putter grip. GolfWRX forum member ‘XanderSingh’ caught it first, and the internet promptly exploded with speculation.
“GolfWRX member ‘XanderSingh’ brought the topic to our attention in our forums, questioning whether Clark was gaming his flatstick with a SuperStroke Pistol putter grip installed upside down.”
Initial thoughts were that he’d simply flipped a Pistol grip. However, a closer look revealed something more nuanced. It wasn’t exactly upside down; rather, it was rotated. The flat side of his SuperStroke grip, typically designed to face the target – or at least be perpendicular to the putter face – was facing *downward*, meaning the seam was pointing straight up at him.
Now, I’ve fit putters for every type of golfer you can imagine, from scratch players to those who regularly flirt with triple digits. The grip, for many, is the most personal connection to the club. The flat side on most pistol-style or oversized grips is designed to provide a consistent, repeatable surface for the palms and fingers, ideally helping square the face and promote a pendulum stroke. When you rotate that flat side, you fundamentally change the hand-to-grip relationship.
What Does the Data Say?
From a purely technical standpoint, rotating a putter grip like this doesn’t alter the putter’s inherent specifications – its loft, lie, head weight, or MOI aren’t changing. What *does* change is the golfer’s interaction with the club. When I’m on the launch monitor with a golfer, what I’m often looking for more than anything on the putting green is consistency: consistent face angle at impact, consistent path, and consistent tempo. Small variations in how a golfer grips the club can have surprisingly large effects on these metrics.
With the flat top of the grip facing down, as Clark is employing, the natural tendency would be for the hands to either rotate more to the left (for a right-handed golfer) or for the golfer to adjust their wrist angles significantly to compensate. This could, theoretically, promote a more neutral or even closed face at impact if the golfer struggles with an open face. Conversely, it could also introduce new inconsistencies if the golfer’s natural grip is already well-suited to a standard orientation.
“However, it appears that the grip is not upside down but has been installed with the flat top facing down, meaning the seem of the putter is pointing up towards him.”
I’ve tested countless grip permutations in my fitting bay. While I haven’t specifically fit a golfer with a grip rotated in this exact fashion, I have experimented with different grip installations to address specific issues. For example, a slightly open or closed face at address can sometimes be “fixed” with a subtle grip rotation, but these are often very minor adjustments, not a full 90-degree twist of the flat side.
The real question for me, the data guy, is whether this setup actually helps Clark deliver the putter face more consistently square to his intended line. On the greens, even a half-degree open or closed face at impact can mean the difference between a make and a miss from 10 feet. My GCQuad data consistently shows that face angle is king when it comes to putted ball direction.
Hype vs. Reality: The Performance Impact
So, does this unconventional approach “work”? The initial returns for Clark are, well, mixed. While he ranks 60th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season, indicating a generally solid performance overall, his first round at Pebble Beach told a different story:
“It’s an unconventional approach, and while the 2023 U.S. Open champion ranks 60th in Strokes Gained: Putting this year, Clark lost over three strokes to the field on the greens during Thursday’s opening round.”
Losing over three strokes to the field in a single round is a significant deficit. While one round doesn’t define a season, it does suggest that this grip orientation isn’t some magic bullet. It could be that he’s still adjusting, or that the specific demands of Pebble Beach’s greens highlighted a flaw in the setup. Or, it could simply be one bad putting day, which even the best players experience.
In my fitting experience, sometimes golfers make changes that *feel* better, even if the objective data doesn’t fully support a significant performance improvement. This often comes down to comfort and confidence. If Clark feels more comfortable and confident with this grip orientation, that psychological edge might translate into better performance over time, regardless of what theoretical advantages or disadvantages it presents.
Practical Advice for the Average Golfer
Here’s the deal: While it’s always fun to see what the pros are doing, blindly copying their setups without understanding the underlying mechanics or your own tendencies is rarely a good idea. For the average golfer (any handicap, really), I would generally advise against immediately rotating your putter grip 90 degrees based on this. Why?
- **It’s Not a Standard Installation:** Grip manufacturers design their grips to be installed in a specific orientation for a reason – typically to promote consistent hand placement and face control.
- **Risk of New Compensation:** Forcing your hands into an unfamiliar position often leads to new compensations, which can manifest as inconsistency in face angle, path, and speed control.
- **Lack of Objective Data:** Most recreational golfers don’t have access to a launch monitor for putting, so they can’t accurately assess if this change is actually helping or hurting their stroke.
However, if you’re a golfer who struggles intensely with a specific putting flaw – say, consistently leaving the face wide open at impact – and you’ve exhausted other options (putter models, stroke adjustments, standard grip changes), then perhaps an experimental grip installation *under the guidance of a qualified fitter* might be considered. But this would be a highly individualized solution, not a universal recommendation.
The value proposition here isn’t about “cost savings” or “new technology.” It’s about personal preference and potentially unlocking a physical sensation that helps a player like Clark perform better. For the vast majority of us, focusing on sound fundamentals, proper putter fitting (getting the right length, lie, and head style) and practice will yield far greater returns than flipping our putter grip.
Wyndham Clark is a U.S. Open champion playing at the highest level. His decisions are backed by extensive practice, coaching, and a deep understanding of his own stroke. For us mere mortals, let’s learn from the pros, but remember that what works for them, especially something as unconventional as this, might not be the best solution for our game. Stick with a proper fitting, and let the data guide your gear choices.
