I launched the grip at the 2005 PGA Show in Orlando and it has gone on from there in tremendous leaps and bounds. We have now sold 161,000 grips and we are distributed in 20 countries worldwide.
When was the 2Thumb grip first used on Tour?
I took it out on Tour in Spring 2005 and David Carter was one of the first Tour golfers to take to it, as was John Bickerton. Monty used it last year when he finished second in the French Open, and then the following week he went to the London Club, was in a tie for fifth after two rounds, and then switched to a belly putter for the weekend [and shot 73-77]. I can't imagine why he changed his putter there and then. Monty has gone on and off the 2Thumb grip since, but he never putts as well without it.
Has there been any 2Thumb success on Tour this year?
Nick Dougherty recently finished fourth at the Irish Open putting with a 2Thumb Light in competition for the first time, which is the best finish he has had in a year, and then at the BMW Championship he topped the putting stats with an average of only 26.8 putts per round. Nick was averaging 31 putts a round earlier in the season, which was 189th on Tour.
I worked with Miguel Angel Jimenez in 2007 and 2008 and he putted very well with the 2Thumb grip and won a lot of money, and then he just decided to change for no reason. I have had several Tour players who have had great success with the grip but then changed for no reason: the product is always the problem and never the player, isn't it?
Unfortunately I don't think a lot of Tour golfers actually understand what putting is all about. They don't realise that centre shafting is probably more accurate than heel shafting, and that it probably helps to put a better roll on the ball. A lot of golfers don't think enough about factors such as shaft length and about getting their bodies in the right position to putt.
Do you have scientific evidence to support your 2Thumb theory?
We proved at Loughborough University beyond any shadow of doubt that when you stand with a narrow putting grip, with one hand above the other, your body is automatically nine degrees open to the target line, and that your shoulders are tilted by five degrees. From that position it makes it very difficult to putt the ball in the hole from 30 feet. These are proven facts, not just numbers I have pulled out of the air.
It is important to have the body standing in a natural position when you putt, which is where the whole concept started out.
You have added the Pro Light to the range for 2009. How has that been received?
A lot of Tour players had been asking me for the lighter grip, but to be fair, they are playing on a lot of greens that are up to 10-12 on the stint metre - very quick - and I can understand why they want that extra feel in the hands, but then you get someone like Nick [Dougherty] who feels the balance of his putter is better with the Light.
The Pro Light is the same weight as a standard putter grip, so what we are working with now is a range of grips. If you are really looking for great feel from the putter head then you need the Pro Light [75 grams], and then we have the Light grip at 148 grams, which probably gives a better balance to a putter. Then we move up to the original 2Thumb [180 grams], and that is best suited to heavier putters such as big mallet-heads.
We also have the Shorty [125 grams], which is ideal for ladies and juniors, but the basic idea is that the grip is exactly the same diameter whatever model you use, and the grips allow the golfer to stand square, with shoulders, hips and feet all in line with each other, and with shoulders parallel to the ground.
There is a lot more to putting than meets the eye. The essence of the 2Thumb grip is that we are achieving accuracy through logic. By standing square to your target line it is easier to play a better, more accurate stroke.
You have also launched the Wrist Brake training aid. Is that your design?
Yes. I wanted to go the next stage. I wanted to design something that would cost golfers less than a tenner, and which would show how much they are breaking their wrists when putting. The idea with the Wrist Brake is that golfers keep the alignment bar and the putter face in line with each other, and when golfers do this they can feel how different it is to their normal putting stroke.
