A grip company known for what goes on the other end of the club just made its strongest case yet for the flat stick. Golf Pride's Zero Taper putter grip has been quietly earning praise from players who thought they'd settled on SuperStroke for good, and the implications for the putter grip market are worth paying attention to.
Why Did Golf Pride's Reverse Taper Fall Short?
The putter grip category has been SuperStroke's playground for the better part of a decade. The brand's oversized offerings became so ubiquitous on tour and at retail that "SuperStroke" became shorthand for "fat putter grip" the same way Kleenex means tissue. Golf Pride, despite owning the rubber grip market for full swings, has been a distant afterthought when golfers reach for something to wrap around their Scotty Cameron. The Reverse Taper was supposed to change that. It didn't. The grip earned a reputation for muting feel and, for many players, actually destabilizing the stroke it was designed to quiet. Golf Pride needed a reset.
The Zero Taper represents that reset. The grip abandons the reverse-taper gimmick entirely, opting instead for a consistent diameter that sits naturally in the hands. The surface texture walks a careful line: tacky enough to stay connected through the stroke without the sticky residue that cheaper grips leave behind. One tester compared the feel to old-school Cutters football gloves, which is either a meaningful reference point or complete nonsense depending on whether you played skill positions in the early 2000s. Either way, the point lands. The grip feels secure without feeling like you're holding a stress ball.
Is the Zero Taper a Real SuperStroke Alternative?
What matters more than texture is what the Zero Taper delivers through impact. Putter grips live and die on two competing promises: stability and feel. Oversized grips tend to deliver the first at the expense of the second. Your hands stop twitching, but you also stop sensing where the putter head is in space. The Zero Taper reportedly threads that needle, providing the stability that counterbalance-putter players chase while preserving enough feedback to feel the face at impact. For a player running a left-hand-low claw grip, an unorthodox setup that punishes grips with awkward geometry, the Zero Taper accommodated the grip style from the first stroke.
The direct comparison to SuperStroke's Zenergy Tour 2.0 is where this gets interesting. The Zenergy has been the default choice for players who want SuperStroke's stability promise in a more traditional profile. If Golf Pride can peel away even a fraction of that customer base, it changes the economics of the putter grip wall at retail. Golf Pride already owns the placement advantage: when a golfer walks into a golf shop looking for grips, Golf Pride's full-swing offerings dominate the display. Getting those same customers to grab a Zero Taper for their putter while they're already in the Golf Pride section is a shorter putt than convincing them to walk to a separate SuperStroke display.
Can Golf Pride Win Over Putter Grip Buyers?
Golf Pride's 22 percent month-over-month gain in visibility tracks with a brand making moves beyond its traditional lane. Sitting at 33rd globally in a category dominated by soft-goods giants and equipment behemoths, the company has room to climb if the Zero Taper generates the kind of word-of-mouth that putter grips depend on. Unlike drivers or irons, putter grips spread through recommendations. A playing partner mentions they switched. A club fitter drops one on a putter during a fitting. A single positive review from a trusted source can move more units than a tour truck full of staffers.
The putter grip market has been waiting for someone to challenge SuperStroke's grip on the category. Golf Pride's first attempt missed. The Zero Taper suggests the company learned from the Reverse Taper's mistakes and built something that addresses what players actually want: a grip that quiets the hands without numbing the feel. If the on-course feedback matches the early reviews, Golf Pride may have finally built the grip that earns a permanent spot in the conversation. SuperStroke should be paying attention.
