How many times have you heard teaching pros say something to the effect of “grip the club like a bird: tight enough it won’t fly away, but not so tight you crush it.” Strangling the club is a common problem, and it leads to mechanical flaws, funky tempo and general stress on the hands and wrists.
A new glove on the market, the LeviTee Golf Glove aims to ease your grip with technology, rather than with cute analogies about wildlife.
Technology and Design
The LeviTee Glove features foam pads stitched into the glove, between the fingers. They are about a half inch long and fit snug to the “webbing” between your fingers.
According to the designers, the LeviTee Glove promotes a lighter, looser grip which allows for more swing speed. The Glove is supposed to assist the player with their grip pressure. It accomplishes this by stimulating the fourchettes of the hand, which in turn leaves the golfer’s hands feeling better after the round is over.
When I asked a rep from the glove company about the science and physiology behind the design of the glove, he said, “Having those pads between the fingers enables you to NOT put maximum pressure on the club. They almost act as absorbers and take the pressure off the grip. We do not have a scientist telling us this, we base this on feel, which we think is important.”
The LeviTee is typically worn on the left hand for a righty, just as a normal glove would be. But the company’s rep says that opinions are mixed on whether or not wearing two gloves would double the results.
“We have had tour pros, teaching pros, and many other top golfers chime in on this question and it comes down to an individual’s preference,” he said. “Some say wear one on both, others say wear one on your off hand. But it comes down to what is comfortable for you. I have tried it every way possible and only feel comfortable with a glove on my left hand and I am a righty.”
The pads between fingers designed to lighten the grip on the club.
The major issue with the LeviTee is that it’s not approved for play by the USGA, rendering it a training aid limited to use on the driving range.
According to LeviTee, “The USGA has come back to us saying that it is non-conforming, but told us that if there is a medical reason for someone to use the glove, it would be ok. We are working with a hand surgeon and other hand therapists who have been saying the same thing. Our glove is great for people with arthritis and other hand problems.”
How a tournament committee would rule on this is unknown, but it’s a hurdle for the LeviTee to overcome.
As for the construction of the glove, it’s made of cabretta leather on all the surfaces that will come in contact with the club and Lycra on the back of the hand. Overall, it’s a pretty standard glove, with the addition of the finger pads designed to control grip pressure. The glove comes in standard sizes, but without the cadet sizing of many other gloves.
The LeviTee is made of cabretta leather and Lycra and sells for $19.99.
Performance
According to their website, gettheglove.com, at $19.99, the LeviTee Glove has several benefits, all stemming from a lighter grip on the club. After an extensive review of the glove that included five lengthy sessions on the range and a half-dozen rounds of golf, I can weigh in on each of their claims.
Claim One
The LeviTee Glove” helps to avoid the “death grip.” By doing so, the athlete gets the proper grip pressure and the results will include a straighter and longer ball flight. More distance with less effort.
LeviTee Website
My Take: This is a wide-reaching and typical claim made by almost every training aid out there. Hit it longer, hit it straighter. I believe there are a lot of aspects to the golf swing that affect “longer and straighter” but I will admit that I played some of my best golf of the year in the time I was practicing and playing with the LeviTee Glove. Could that be the fact I was simply practicing more in the process of reviewing the glove? Maybe. But the fact is that the glove did lighten my grip, and as a self-confessed strangler of the club, I was impressed by the outcome and I was hitting my irons better than I have in a long time.
As soon as putting on the glove, I noticed that the pads add support to the grip because instead of squeezing your fingers together, you can focus more on the pressure on the grip itself.
I have to agree with their idea that it’s less about science and more about a comfort level with that added support between fingers. If nothing else, it lets you feel like you’ve got a good grip on the club, thus lightening the grip. It also serves as a reminder on each swing to loosen the grip, so whether it’s a mental thing, a physiological thing, or a combination, the bottom line is it helped me reduce my grip pressure.
The LeviTee Glove’s is designed to help golfers with arthritis and soreness after playing and practicing.
Claim Two
The LeviTee Glove promotes a lighter, looser grip which allows for more swing speed. The Glove will assist the player with their grip pressure.
LeviTee Website
My Take: As I mentioned earlier, there’s as much a psychological element at work here as a physical one. I knew I was wearing a glove to help my grip pressure. In turn, I was aware of it, thanks to feeling the pads between my fingers. Whether it was physical or mental, my grip lightened while wearing the glove.
Claim Three
The LeviTee Glove is the only glove that stimulates the fourchettes of the hand, a sensitive portion of skin between the fingers. Golfer’s hands feel better after the round is over.
LeviTee Website
My Take: This is one area where I can certainly credit the glove. Before trying it, I was struggling with pain in my wrists, forearms and elbows. I found that the tired, achy hands I would typically have the day after a long range session or after 18 holes diminished greatly. This was especially noted on a golf trip where I was playing more than usual and day after day. I believe that the lighter grip on the club translated into less stress on the hands, wrists, forearms and elbows.
Claim Four
Tension starts in the hands and the tightness creeps into all the other muscles, inhibiting any real dynamic swing. The LeviTee eliminates the tightness.
LeviTee Website
My Take: Again, it’s hard to argue with results. The more I played with the glove, the better I played. Now, I’m not going to go so far as say the LeviTee Glove had anything to do with me realizing my shoulder turn was awful, or that I had been taking it away too fast. But I guess that’s the key to far-reaching claims and goals, they’re hard to prove or disprove.
The feel of the LeviTee Glove is comparable to many high-end players gloves.
Claim Five
The LeviTee Glove relieves “arm pump” that is prevalent in other sports namely motocross, waterskiing, and baseball. It is a condition that develops from squeezing to tightly by holding the handlebars, tow-rope, or bat.
LeviTee Website
My Take: Sure enough, most of the pain I’d developed from over gripping eased after a few weeks playing primarily with the LeviTee.
The LeviTee Glove is available at gettheglove.com
In addition to the stated goals of the glove, I have to commend the feel and durability of the LeviTee Glove. I am a glove snob and will only buy high end, typically Titleist’s Player’s Glove or FootJoy StaSof. First, the LeviTee features a thin, soft cabretta leather, with Lycra on the back of the hand. Playing in the heat of the Northeast summer, the LeviTee held up better than either of my typical gloves in the humidity, not having to be changed out at the turn due to getting soaked (I credit the Lycra for some moisture management) and even after a pretty fair amount of play, the glove still has life in it (although the typical wear marks for me on the thumb, forefinger and heel are nearly worn through). In both comfort and durability, this glove far exceeded my expectations.
Conclusion
If the LeviTee was approved by the USGA for play, I would seriously consider making it my standard glove. But therein lies the biggest drawback for on this $19.99 product.
Bottom line is that the LeviTee Glove succeeds in three primary areas. First, it forced me to lighten my grip, thanks to the mental reminder as well as the physical assist from the between-finger pads. Second, I found that my hands and forearms were less tired and achy after playing with the LeviTee. Third, it accomplished these while offering a good, well crafted, durable and comfortable glove.
Overall, for someone who struggles with grip pressure, this is a product worth trying, but remember that it should be treated as a driving range training aid, since it’s yet to get the USGA stamp of approval.
I was tried the glove and I agree with you , it works. Helped my game. I love this glove, I bought it from the website and they delivered it right away. Good review
Ron, thanks again for doing the review of our golf glove. I just wanted to add a quick note from a study our hand surgeon has conducted with our glove.
They did a test with 40 individuals and measuring grip pressure. Without the glove the average grip measure was measured at 100-110 lbs. And while wearing our glove the average grip pressure was measured at 80-85 lbs.
There is more to come, so I will keep the community posted
I’ve found that the light grip does help quite a bit, as does ensuring that the club is in my hands. I used a golf with marks for where the shaft should be held for a while too. It does help!
I stopped reading here: “The major issue with the LeviTee is that it’s not approved for play by the USGA, rendering it a training aid limited to use on the driving range.”
Sorry. No way I’m spending $20 on a glove I can’t use to play golf. It’s a gimmick.
We are working with the USGA to be conforming to their rules and regulations and they have been extremely helpful in the process. In the meantime, the 50 million + world wide golfers who don’t play in tournaments can benefit from our glove. Like I tell everyone I meet, just give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised.
I love this glove!! Nice feel on the club and definitely helps me grip lighter–
It was ok, wish they came out with a model with padding in palms too.
Corey, with all due respect, you have to say that. But I have to wonder why you chose to market a product the USGA should not (and has not) agreed is legal.
I say “should not” because there’s no doubt in my mind that this is against the spirit of the Rules of Golf. And I won’t lie and pretend I have arthritis in order to play this glove.
It has nothing to do with the 50+ million golfers who don’t play in tournaments – it’s not legal, so you can’t use it in your member-guest, your weekend foursome, or your play alone for handicap posting.
I’ll take a pass on wasting the $20. It’s illegal and, thus, DOA.
Non-conforming is definitely a deal breaker. I would think you would have the rulings ironed out as you were developing the product, not scrambling to get the USGA to reconsider after it was produced.
The fact that many people like it is an even a bigger negative to me. I’m afraid I would get the thing, really like it, and then not be able to use it because it would be illegal in regards to recording scores for handicap, club events, league events, etc.
Okay Corey and Peter – let’s let other people comment.
Almost all training aids are illegal…treat this as one and maybe the thing will be approved down the road. Lots of swing training devices cost a lot more than $20.
I tried to order a glove but there was a glitch in the ordering system. Corey was awesome to deal with and even offered to send me a glove for free for my troubles. I don’t know how good the glove is yet, but their customer service is TOP NOTCH.
Thanks Corey…I will get one of your gloves somehow!
Save yourselves twenty bucks and just grip the club less tightly. Besides, great golfers have squeezed the club pretty firmly throughout history. Ben Hogan said that what you didn’t know about Sam Snead’s “hold it like a bird” was that the bird was a hawk.
Well, After reading all the comments thus far. There seems to be a lot of mixed feelings about The LeviTee Golf Glove.
I see that The glove is not approved by The USGA for normal play. Well, So what! That’s just a formality for now. In fact, The Bionic Glove went through the same thing some years ago. So, I believe this LeviTee Glove will be approved in due time. There is much to be said about playing by the rules of Golf. One is there are a lot of Rules, OMG !!!!! LOL.
I could be mistaken but, I think there are more rules in golf than in any other sport. Yes, We play golf by these rules. All of them, Like it or not. So, You can’t use The LeviTee Glove in what is called “Normal Play”. Does that stop you from using The Glove as a training aid, NO! Ask yourself, “How many training aids have you purchased to help you with your swing over the years? Like most golfers, Probably quite a few. So, What is stopping you from using this one? Don’t be foolish and miss out what this Glove can do. Certainly, If there is a product out there that works then I’m going to take a look at it. As a Golf Coach many of us have all kinds of training aids that help our students understand the swing. Some we have made up on or own, most we have purchased. Grip pressure is very important for relaxing the swing. We all know that, Tension is the killer of all golf swings. Stay relaxed and you have better Control of the club. Stay relaxed and you get better Balance. Balance creates Tempo. Balanced-Tempo creates faster club head speed which creates Distance. You can’t get any of this without being relaxed. Bottom Line—- The LeviTee Golf Glove works!!!!! Really!!!! Try it, You will not be disapointed. Use it on the range for training, Then use your regular golf glove in the tourney or match……whatever you do. Stay Relaxed!!!!!! Get the Glove and feel the difference.
Because of serious nerve damage in my left hand, I have always been very picky when it come to gloves. I shattered my arm and elbow in 2001.
I bought one of these gloves at the LA golf show, and it is the most comfortable glove I have found so far. My hand always hurts after golf, but the Levitee glove certainly allows me to play with much less pain.
I have tried for a few hours trying to find a place I can buy the LeviTee glove and can’t find one. Could you please let me know how to order some gloves. Thanks Mike Meehan