I can't tell you how many lessons or golf schools I have given where a students have injuries on their hands that need the help and protection of adhesive bandages, better known as Band-Aids. These injuries range from cuts and scrapes to the painful skin cracks from dried skin that need antibiotic ointments on them, as well as keeping the wound covered for healing. Then there is the painful callous from over practicing or bad grips that allows the club to slide. It needs to be covered to buffer and reduce the pain. Whatever the reason, many golfers practice and play with Band-Aids on their hands every day.
And every day they all suffer the same fate. Their bandage keeps coming off. Bandages don't stand the test of time and swings. They need constant changing. Before you know it you have run out of the extra supply you brought to the course. Then there is the problem in the summer with perspiration. Sweat a little and the bandage stops sticking to your skin and tears or falls off. Whatever the reason, bandages are a problem.
There is an answer and it lasts. That is it keeps on sticking like a Timex keeps on ticking. I know this because I use this tape. I just bought a new roll as my old one was getting real small. The sales slogan on the package reads 'Cushions, sticks even in water.' I can attest to that and add, 'Even when you sweat.'
I call it 'rubber tape' or 'flex tape.' It keeps on sticking through swings all day and into tomorrow. It lasts even through your shower. It is flexible and that makes it awesome for covering wounds in the flex joints of your fingers. You can bend or flex your fingers gripping the club, and the tape bends just like your golf glove, for perfect contact.
If you need the antiseptic ointments and a Band-Aid, you put the flex tape right over it. Just be sure to have a good amount of the flex tape touching your skin on both sides of the bandage. Flex tape will stay sticking and protecting until you pull it or cut it off.
This flex tape is made by Nexcare First Aid, a 3M company, and is labeled, 'ABSOLUTE WATERPROOF TAPE.' It comes on a roll 1 inch x 180 inches (5 yards) and is light beige in color. You can purchase it in most drug stores (for around $5.50) in the section where bandages and medical tapes are stacked or hung up for sale.
There is another tape that also works well for staying on. The roll I have does not have a name on the inside of the roll but only the company name, Modern Aids, Inc. The tape is white and is best described as a looking like a gauze bandage on a roll, so I call it 'gauze tape.' This tape sticks to itself and not to your skin. So, when you take some off the roll, you better fold over the end so you can find it the next time you need tape. It stays on most of the time, but can slip off with moisture and perspiration. If it stays on, you usually have to cut it to get it off.
The real downside is it does not flex well when used in the finger joints. But the upside to gauze tape is it is great to wrap around a grip to add size and or increase tackiness and grip control. Many golfers and PGA Tour player, Scott Verplank comes to mind, wrap it around their putter grip. Most players that I know use gauze tape on the putter. They like the somewhat abrasive feel it has for added control. And many who putt with their golf glove off like it in the hot weather for the grip control they get when their hands are sweating bullets.
All in all, many golfers need tape on their fingers for healing protection and often just for cushioning a callous or blister. I am NEVER without a roll of the flex tape and gauze tape in my bag. I occasionally need it myself, but am always giving it to my students to cover their slipping Band-Aids. Either way, the best cushioning and staying-stuck power, especially if you need it in a finger joint, is the Nexcare Absolute Waterproof Tape.
The Surge!