Available in cadet* fit: No Weather: All

About this glove: If you suffer from arthritis in the hands, it may be time to add some LeviTee to your game. Because pain is no laughing matter.

The LeviTee Golf Glove uses a patented design labeled FST – “Finger Separation Technology” – to ease grip pressure and relieve discomfort caused by holding the club too tightly. Specifically, FST places simple foam pads between each finger, just above the webbing. According to the company, this essentially “increases the circumference of the grip,” reducing pressure by up to 30% as tested on a dyometer.

Even if your hands are healthy, a lighter grip is always good. Tension is a distance and accuracy killer, for one thing, while holding the club in a “death grip” can cause hand, wrist and arm fatigue at round’s end.

If you heard about the LeviTee Golf Glove prior to November 2012, you may well have dismissed it. Back then, the glove was ruled not to conform with USGA rules. That’s changed, however, as the glove is now permitted under rong>Rule 14-3 (Striking the Ball), which allows special equipment if it’s used for medical purposes.

More need-to-know info about the LeviTee Golf Glove: It’s made from cabretta leather, with a flexible lycra mesh on the back of the hand; it tends to run large, so the company suggests ordering a size smaller than your usual (e.g., a medium instead of a large); and it’s available only online at this time (March 2015).

In short, what we’ve got here is another boutique brand making big claims about its innovative golf glove. (Others include Hirzl and Bionic.) With our interest piqued, we took the LeviTee Golf Glove to the course. Here’s our review.

Appearance: It’s not the most elegant glove we’ve seen, but your mileage may vary. The backhand combo of black lycra and an orange velcro tab is a bit on the loud side compared with the standard white or white-with-black model. And the finger pads make the bottom of your fingers look bloated. As with many technology-forward gloves, though, form follows function. Provided the LeviTee glove performs as promised, it gets a pass for appearance.

Comfort: Not surprisingly, putting on the LeviTee glove feels pretty strange at first. We quickly got used to it, however, helped by the silky cabretta leather and stretchable, easy-breathing lycra mesh. Putting hand to golf club brought on a whole new sensation – having the fingers separated is like nothing we’ve ever felt.

Yet again, this came to feel fairly natural after a dozen or so warmup shots. And there’s no doubting LeviTee’s contention that its glove will lighten your grip. We found it basically impossible to strangle the club while wearing this glove.

Feel: More preconceived misgivings gave way to pleasant surprise in this key category. With our fingers spread apart and our pressure so light, we were concerned our sense of touch would be effectively turned off. Not so. Golfers who tend to grip too tightly, in fact, will likely enjoy better feel with the LeviTee glove.

A genuine feel player who relies on the hands to provide subjective info might want to switch to a standard cabretta glove (or no glove) for the touchiest shots. For everyone else, the LeviTee should do just fine.

Tackiness: With the hand placed so softly on the club, tackiness is crucial for the LeviTee glove to work. If the handle twists or slips during the swing, all is lost (including LeviTee’s sales). Fortunately, the glove’s surface has plenty of sticking power – comparable to other high-quality models.

Durability: The LeviTee glove is built to last. It resists scuffing and tearing quite well, and we saw no issues with the stitching. It’s better than most gloves in the $18-plus range, where durability generally takes a backseat to feel.

Bottom line: We’d read and heard a good bit about the LeviTee Golf Glove before trying it, but remained skeptical of how it would perform. We came away impressed, and somewhat surprised that separating the fingers didn’t cause problems in comfort or feel. Golfers with tense grips and/or chronic hand ailments should definitely give this glove a try. LeviTee will leave you smiling.

*Cadet gloves have shorter fingers than regular gloves of the same size; e.g., a cadet medium glove has the same palm fit with shorter fingers than a standard medium.