Sports Product Review

For decades, hockey players have taped their own grips onto their sticks. Why? Conventional rectangular sticks are created in cookie-cutter fashion, without regard to the hands they are made for. Wouldn’t it be remarkable if something came along that eliminated the need for painstaking shaving of the stick with a file and forming the grip with tape? Wouldn’t it be awesome if there were a product that could be installed quickly, and was more comfortable and more effective than conventional tape? There is. And the folks at Oggie Grips, (www.oggiegrip.com) want you to try it.

One time on the ice is all they ask. And they swear you’ll be hooked. We tried out their Classic and Ergo Grips (pictured) and have to say, we agree. Oggie grips insert into hollow composite sticks and give you an unbelievable hi-tech grip that is more comfortable than tape. But beyond comfort, most players complain that once they cut their stick to size, they lose the original flex. Pop in an Oggie grip and the flex is back, better than ever. The proper flex within Oggie Grips is achieved by the use of grooves that run down both sides of the grip as well as the composite material. This is not a kick point, which is typically found near the blade of the stick, but a flex that properly arcs out the curve within a stick shaft when a player shoots.

Oggie offers another option as well, which they call their Sticky Grip Foam. Sticky Grip allows you to create your own grip using various die-cut shapes to form a desired pattern under the comfortable, cushioned foam wrap.

Hockey nuts, I know. You tape. Tape has worked for years and you don’t see any reason to change, do you? I wonder how many goalies said that same thing when the first masks were invented. Things do change. People get smarter. Technology improves. You can move with the times or get left behind. Oggie Grips would like to bring you along for the ride.

Source: Oggie