Are there any non-tacky, soft feeling grips?

Discussion in 'Grip' started by Sevex, Sep 21, 2016.

  1. Sevex

    Sevex Regular Member

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    I know the trend across the badminton world is for the tackiest grips imaginable but are there any which aren't?
    My hands seem to have there own natural grip when they sweat which makes the current trend for tacky grips useless and/ or painful.

    My hands stick to them like glue stopping me changing grip quickly during a rally and when I fit a new grip there is a noticeable drop in performance. Plus the most tacky, the Karakal PU grips stick to my hands so badly either my skin rips or the grip does after about an hour of play. The Yonex high soft graps are better but not particularly hard wearing, although at least the grip always breaks before my skin... Again they just start off too tacky.

    Currently I am using a tournagrip over grip. This is fine after about four weeks of use as it loses its tackiness and they don't totally wear out in this time. But as soon as I have to change it, when it has totally worn out to the bare wood, I am back to the tacky problem.

    Years ago (2006-2009) the Karakal pu grips were pretty much perfect, they had a soft texture with a very slight grip so I am looking for something like that :) I have tried towel grip but prefer pu style grips out of preference.

    Does anyone have any recommendations for non-tacky grips or a way of removing tackiness? Thanks if you do!
     
  2. druss

    druss Regular Member

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    You can find some fake yonex grip on ebay, I tried them once and they are very dry and non tacky. Not sure if they still have them or not though.
     
  3. Bugbait

    Bugbait Regular Member

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    Sorry about your predicament but when I read the above I couldn't stop thinking...Spiderman!

    Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
     
  4. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Towel grip?
     
  5. Sevex

    Sevex Regular Member

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    Not quite that tacky :p

    Thanks for the suggestion Visor and Druss. No luck finding the right "fake" grips yet. Towel grip does work for about a week or two. I was just asking to see if there was anything non-tacky and a bit more durable out there. The best I have found myself are tournagrip tennis overgrips. They are overly tacky for two or so weeks then settle down and last for about six months, which is a decent enough ratio. Admittedly after six months they look a little worse for wear, often wearing down to the bare wood!

    Ironically I have the opposite problem with shoes, I can never get enough grip! Although that is partially down to the floor and a tendency to make larger powerful movements rather than smaller faster chasse steps.
     
  6. druss

    druss Regular Member

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  7. visor

    visor Regular Member

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  8. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Give the racquets to somebody else to use in the interim. Or use secondhand grips....:D
     
  9. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Good idea! I can sell my old ones to him for say 80% discount!
     
    #9 visor, Oct 11, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2016
  10. maxout

    maxout Regular Member

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    #10 maxout, Oct 11, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2016
  11. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    s_mair and maxout like this.
  12. maxout

    maxout Regular Member

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    Only grips this first time ... I am trying all the RKEP thin grips from G08 to G11. Let everyone in the family try and choose the ones they like best ... to each his/her own. :p:D

    Will keep the socks in mind.
     
    #12 maxout, Oct 11, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2016
  13. DuckFeet

    DuckFeet Regular Member

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    I was going to suggest g08. Yellow. And email him direct to avoid ebay fees for a small discount.
     
  14. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    +1 for RKEP G08.
     
  15. Sevex

    Sevex Regular Member

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    Thanks, everyone :) The fake Yonex ones look promising as do the RKEP grips. Soft cloth feel definitely sounds promising. Second hand grips don't quite work, it is quite tricky to apply one. I tried moving a nice non-tacky one from a racket I broke to a new one and it really didn't feel right. I'm also not quite sure selling pre-sweated on grips is every going to catch on.

    As for socks, I have plenty of those after forgetting socks on a trip to Glasgow to see friends and play badminton. So I had to buy a load more, having just purchased some new ones the previous week specifically for badminton... I'll keep the RKEP ones in mind for when they all wear out in about five years time :p Although I'm not that fussy with socks, unlike grips.
     
  16. maxout

    maxout Regular Member

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    Sevex, avoid the fake Yonex grips, they are really crappy and you will be paying a "premium" for the fake brand name. Better to try RKEP straight away.
     
    Sevex likes this.

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