the great towel-grip thread ;)

Discussion in 'Grip' started by jerby, Jun 11, 2008.

  1. jerby

    jerby Regular Member

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    Hi All,

    Now, for the past motnh's I've been a towelgrip-lover. The absorption, the feel, the durability. It's just wonderfull stuff:p
    But, as I've searched, there's not really to much talk about it.

    But, as we all know, not all towelgrip is equal
    I have no intention of doing a dinkalot-like review, simply because not all brands are that easily available here, and because I simply don't have so many funds ;)

    So, I would like to ask everybody for their input, but first hear me out...

    I have played with Victor, yonex and now X-B-Born towelgrip.
    And what annoys me most, is that every colour/brand has a different thickness and feel to it:

    the white and black victor feels roughly as thick as the average stuff. the white feels softest, and the black a little less.
    The yellow stuff is really a but-ugly colour (very pale), much thinner and also very slippery.
    The blue (another ugly type of blue) was a thick as the white/black, but slippery and not veyr absorbing.

    In all, victor is not my favorite brand when it comes to towelgrip.

    Now yonex makes excellent stuff, the turqoise colour I was slightly below average thickness, good absortion, and good softness.

    And, what My stock is mostly: X-B-Born towelgrip in White, red, black, blue, lightblue, mintgreen and orange.

    Now, where to start....
    The lightblue grip is as thin as the yellow victor, but is not smooth, a bit rough (from the start) feels quite good, but it's not very cushiony.
    The red, mintgreen, darkblue and black are the four colours that are almost identical, medium thickness, soft and good absorption.
    The orange was way to thick, but cushioned and absorbed like mad.
    Now white was my favorite, average thickness, very soft, very absorbent, and not slippery at all.

    So, in short, every brand and every colour varies a lot, so what are your experiences? where have you bought them? and in what pretty colours? :p

    My x-borns came from http://www.bts-sportshop.de/
     
  2. Hagane

    Hagane Regular Member

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    I have actually weaned myself off using towel grips, as I don't sweat enough on my palms to gain enough grip with them :p

    I had used Yonex AC402EX towel grips in Yellow, Black and Blue. Didn't notice much differences between these 3.

    My comments overall:
    1. The Yonex towel grips are quite thick and smooth, often, too little grip for me.
    2. Once the towel grip gets sufficiently "padded down", it is much better for me, smaller grip, and better gripping feel.
    3. I can't tell any differences between the colours.
    Have used each of the grip until they were padded down, normally through extended plays without having sweaty palms, just constantly getting pressed (like carpets under heavy items :p)

    I'm now experimenting with the AC404EX.. which is a rougher, thinner towel grip. This one is not that bad, however, it should be noted that it's a short grip, so you can't have that much overlap on it.

    Still testing :)
     
  3. jerby

    jerby Regular Member

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    heh, in europe, all I see is 402... lucky you ;)

    Just a small tip from me: (I wish my camera would've worked)
    If the playing, sweating, and maybe the grippowder makes your grip flat and slippery, do the following:
    -get a used birdy
    -stick it feathers first on your grip (completely ruining the shuttle) (the cork should be normal to the grip)
    -use it like a comb/brush and move it along side the grip.

    tadaa, your grip is fuzzy again, and your shuttle completely ruined :p
     
  4. gsloh

    gsloh Regular Member

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    Won't a used toothbrush (might be a bit icky to some of you =p!) have the same effect on the towel grip as the used birdy?
     
  5. Fengwei

    Fengwei Regular Member

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    Nice thread. Very useful. I'm a fan of towel now aswell. And you guess who made me a fan? ;)

    As a side note: "So that's what you were doing last time! I thought you just had a nack of ruining those used shuttles on your grip, but it actually does have a purpose to it... Thanks for the tip, hehe :D"

    @Gsloh: I don't think a (used) toothbrush is as rough as the used bird. The bird is much stiffer and the texture is naturally stronger.
     
  6. jerby

    jerby Regular Member

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    well, the beauty of using a birdy is that
    you can find them anywhere in the gym, and the stiffness of the feathers makes it easy to use...

    I did once see a pro carrying around a horse-hair brush.. Looked quite effective...

    Disclaimer: the birdy-stuff works great, but I can ensure you, you will get stared at....(especially by normal-pu-grip-users ;))
    :rolleyes:

    Another thing, in a match, when you want to change the shuttle, this is not a good time to make your grip fuzzy again... It's never ended well for me :eek:
     
  7. azabaz_ipoh

    azabaz_ipoh Regular Member

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    this is the one that i use. pretty good. just nice the thickness and grip. i dont overlap it too much so it pretty much hugs the handle tight. love the colours. linus helped me get some from singapore. :)

    towel grip that i use.jpg
     
  8. MusclePower100

    MusclePower100 Regular Member

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    i ordered hi-qua towel grips from www.mybadmintonstore.com they are $30 canadian for a big roll. i like the feel better then the victor and the yonex ac402ex.
     
  9. SpendorK

    SpendorK Regular Member

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  10. micae

    micae Regular Member

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    Babolat towel grips are really confortable, thick and tacky. But the durability isnt good (as all the towel grips)

    Now i'm using my own towel grips... less esthetic, even less durability (i change it every 5h of play) but as confortable and 10x cheaper...
     
  11. h4n5ip

    h4n5ip Regular Member

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    Tried this yonex towel grip.
    It's little bit slippery.
     
  12. azabaz_ipoh

    azabaz_ipoh Regular Member

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    yeah, rough it out a bit as often as you can. i just scratch it with my fingernails. some use the shuttlecocks. :)
     
  13. jerby

    jerby Regular Member

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    where can you buy a roll of babolat tolwegrip?
    I can only find 2-piece packs (and $10 is a bit much if you ask me...)

    and spendork, very nice...almost 1980's-like :p
    doesn't that white seem bother you?
     
  14. SpendorK

    SpendorK Regular Member

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    Nopppppppppppppp :)
     
  15. Sternschnuppe

    Sternschnuppe Regular Member

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    your own? any photos? :)
     
  16. h4n5ip

    h4n5ip Regular Member

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    is that yonex 3 colors towel grip good enough?
    is it slippery?
     
  17. micae

    micae Regular Member

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    i'll upload some pics when i get back from work tonight :)
     
  18. SpendorK

    SpendorK Regular Member

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    So so only.
    Sg$3.50 for grip that last 6 session is good value for money.
    A bit slippery when too wet. :)
     
  19. micae

    micae Regular Member

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    My towel grip

    here is my towel grip...

    dont be fooled by the looks though, it degrades quite fast! :p
    i bought the towel at zellers for 13$, bought 3 packs of large hockey tape and i got 36grips + a small sport towel for all the sweating! :cool:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  20. micae

    micae Regular Member

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    babolat is my 2nd favorite grip... tried to find some rolls, but all i could find are white rolls (online that is)...unfortunately, i have an obsession with red thus the reason why i switched to DIY grips

    however if you go to your local sport shop and ask for a roll, i'm sure they could order it for you (works best in small specialized racket shops --> better customer service!)
     
    #20 micae, Jun 18, 2008
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2008

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