slippy grippy

[The Meggy]

Advise gratefully received on this one. I've been shooting for a number of years now with a synthetic golf glove on my bowhand, which I generally find gives a nice secure feeling. However, recently I have had some trouble when shooting in the rain. I shoot a hoyt with the narrow straight grip type found on many modern compounds - I've even removed the side plates as I prefer the feel - and position the line of the grip down the thumb pad side of my palm such that the lifeline is to the left of the grip (seen from behind) as generally recommended by many pro shooters. It works great normally, but if the grip gets wet, my hand wants to slip so that the lifeline is right over the line of the grip - not at all ideal I find. Maybe it's just down to the particular brand of glove I'm using now, but I would still like to try something else. I'm especially keen to have a go with some sort of tape on the grip - ideally something that would work better in the rain and not come unstuck, and which would maintain the thin profile of the grip.

Sorry for the long explanation, but what do other people use to give a good secure grip which still works in the rain? Thanks everyone, The Meggy

[Exarcher]

I always used KARAKAL tennis raquet grip tape.
It's self-adheisive but I found a bit of Evo-Stick made it more secure.
It's nicely cushioned, moisture absorbant and makes a great no slip handle. I hope this helps.

[T101]

yes i too have krakal on front of my grip but i think it may be 2 thick and you would loose the feel, u could try over grip (for raquets) this quite thin and may give you the best of both worlds.

[archery_mum]

Hi Graham, Have you tried a little strip of moleskin. I use Schol moleskin from Superdrug. It's only a couple of pounds. I found that it was thin enough not to change the feel of the grip.

[T101]

er the krakal is fine for me but my advice was for the meggy, but thanks for lookin out.

[Nightimer]

I found sticky back velcro works fine.
I use the "wooly" side not the side with the hooks on!!
I put a length down the edge of the handle and it works fine in the wet and the dry.

Nightimer

[The Meggy]

Thanks for the ideas everyone , think will give the schol moleskin a go as it is important to me not to make the grip any bulkier. The raquet overgrip sounds like an interesting option so may look into that also.

[Jerry Tee]

OK so this may not be what you asked for but, the change in position might be caused by some thing that a dry grip masks. You have to ask your self why it is slipping and if your hand position and wrist alignment is right, wet or dry? and are your torqueing the bow?

[The Meggy]

That has occured to me Jerry and I do know what you're saying, however, if I let the bow grip slip when wet it ends up in a horrible position which doesn't feel right at all, and which forces my bow arm and wrist into bad positions also. Basically it affects my whole form. I can say that when shooting normally with a dry grip, I have no problem, my hand does not feel like it wants to move at all, and I also have the feeling that I am pushing directly into the centre of the grip i.e. I don't feel one side or other of the grip pushing harder against my hand. And it seems to work... Also I think you have to consider the large number of top archers, both recurve and compound who also find that things are better with some tape to improve grip - why is that?

So I do understand and appreciate your point - obviously you are a thinking archer. While I guess I can't resolve your question exactly (I'll probably keep thinking about it too!), you'll have to forgive me if I don't go down that road too far - I'm going to go with the tape.

[Jerry Tee]

Given your thoughts and consideration of the problem you are correct not to actively go after an alignment solution, no forgiveness is needed.
Many years ago when I was playing badminton ( to a high standard though I say so myself ) sports shops used to sell a little resin filled bag which was used to dry the hand ( sweat) and absorbe the moisture from the grip of the racket. If they still make those one might be useful to you.