Why regrip? Think about it: Your grips are the only connection between you and your golf clubs. A worn out, slippery grip forces you to hold the club tighter, which in turn leads to flaws in your swing mechanics.

Fortunately, changing your golf grips is easy. My son regripped his own set when he was eight years old. If an eight year old can do it, so can any reasonably intelligent adult.

What You Need A utility knife (preferably with a hooked blade) Mineral spirits (get the odorless kind) A vice (mine clamps on a table) Double sided grip tape (from Golfsmith or Golfworks) A soft rubber clamp (from Golfsmith or Golfworks) Slip on grips of your choice (again, from Golfsmith or Golfworks

Step By Step Instructions (read all first)

1) Put the club in the rubber clamp, and the rubber clamp in the vice. Tighten until it won't slip if you tug on it. If you have graphite shafts, be careful not to tighten too much. It's not as big an issue with steel shafts - I can't imagine anyone crushing those.

2) Cut off the old grips with a utility knife. Slip the hook of the utility knife under the edge of the grip and pull upward. Split the grip to the end. Then, peel it off.

3) Strip off the old tape with a straight edge knife. Use a hair dryer to melt the glue if the tape is stubborn. If you have graphite shafts, be careful not to damage the fibers.

4) Figure how far down the shaft the lower end of the grip will fall. You want the tape to come within a quarter inch of that mark. I usually mark that point with a small dot with a sharpie magic marker.

5) Apply the tape. There are two ways to do this: You can start at the mark you made and run it in a spiral pattern up the shaft. Or, you can run it lengthwise up one side of the butt and down the other. Peel the backing off the tape so the sticky side is revealed.

6) Put another small strip over the hole on the butt.

7) Put something to catch the mineral spirits under the butt end. I use an aluminum paint tray for paint rollers.

8) Pour some mineral spirits into the grip while holding your finger over the hole at the bottom. Slosh the spirits around inside the grip. Make sure it is good and wet.

9) Hold the grip over the taped end of the club and release your finger, letting the spirits run over the tape. Then, pour more of the spirits over the tape. Make sure that all of the tape is wet and that it is slick. This is critical. If the tape isn't good and slippery, you won't be able to get the grip on -- it'll get stuck and you'll have to cut it off and start over.

10) Push the grip onto the shaft. Hold the butt end of the grip in one hand, and the shaft in the other. Start the grip on the end of the shaft, and then push hard. Do it quickly. Push the grip until it covers all of the tape. Once the butt end is all of the way on, push on the middle to lower part of the grip to extend it to its full length.

11) Most grips have a couple of little marks at the top and bottom ends to help with alignment. Make sure that these align with each other. Otherwise, the grip might be slightly twised, which may affect your swing.

12) You can put the logo up (I do), or down (as most pros do). Just make sure that the marks line up parallel to the shaft.

13) You can change the diameter of the grip (slightly) with a couple of tricks. If you prefer a slightly fatter grip, put a heavy layer of tape on the shaft. The extra tape will make the grip seem fatter. If you prefer a slightly thinner grip (I do), then when you are marking the low point of the grip (step 4), make the mark a quarter inch lower than usual. When you stretch the grip out to reach the lower tape mark, it will become thinner.