Oggie Grip

[Eazy_b97 1]

Weight It's not heavy, but it also isn't light. It is a big rubber plug afterall, so that needs to be kept in mind. It's definately heavier than the alternatives of either making your own Handle, adding a comp plug or adding a wodden butt end. 7/10

Balance The balance is different than any other stick with these in. Because it's a thin handle, measuring for balance in the middle of the stick is alot different than from the handle. The stick plays a little heavier than it usually did because the grip is so much thinner. 6/10

Grip It is extremely "grippy", you need to make an effort to get your hand off because the shape. The butt-end wraps in your hands, and the rubber sticks to the palms. 10/10

Feel I haven't noticed and increase or decrease in shot velocity, and passing/ stickhandling hasn't been effected. It takes a few shifts to get used to, but it's not tough to pick up. 8/10

Durability I'll update this as it goes. I was a little worried about it because it's a heavier butt-end and the tenon appears to be plastic, but it hasn't caused problems. I need to add some tape to get a good fit because the first skate it popped out after about 20 minutes of constant wiggling. It hasn't worn my gloves as much at all, but I'll update this as it goes. 9/10

Overall I'm happy with it, I will not go out of my way to buy one again, but it is something I'm glad I tried. If I need a large plug, I'd say I may get one, but thats really my only situation. I do suggest trying it and forming your own opinion, they aren't expensive, it is handy to have a 6" plug around, but use it in the right situation. It can be a dangerous "test" if your cutting 6" off your game stick for an experiment. It has a nice grip on it, maybe a little too tacky for me, but some may view that as a positive. I'd give it a 6.5/10 (not an average). It just didn't add anything I needed and marginally affected the weight/balance in a negative way in my case.

[jcp2 2]

I chose the curved "sword handle" Ergo Grip model to extend an old Mission Dangler shaft that I had cut down for street hockey. I've tried the black Mission L-shaped end plug in the past, but that one just gave my hand cramps after playing for a while.

Weight - Like Eazy-b97 had mentioned, it is heavier than a wooden or composite butt end, so 7/10.

Balance - Since I put it on an old heavy shaft, it didn't really affect the balance. I also replaced the wood blade with a short hosel composite blade, so the entire setup was shaft heavy, very much like a wood stick. Since I like wood sticks, 9/10.

Flex - There is an increase in the perceived stick flex. The shaft as it was before was much too stiff for me, and adding a wooden butt end to extend it back to the length that I wanted didn't help. Putting the Oggie Grip in helped me out with my shot, and there was some more feel to the blade than with the wooden extension. I don't really have a shot to begin with, but it saved the shaft from the dustpile, so 8/10.

Performance - Although there was a slight improvement in my shot and my stickhandling for this shaft compared to before, the greatest improvement was in my stick checks. I was able to get a lot more leverage into moving the stick around and I felt a lot stronger in my one handed sweep checks and poke checks. I'm on defense because I can "skate backwards". We played a team that crushed us last time and with this Oggied stick I was able to break up rushes by their better players with stick checks on a consistent basis, something that I wasn't able to do last game. We won, so 10/10.

Miscellaneous - Although the instructions for cutting the length of the stick showed the model hockey player putting the Oggie Grip next to the end of the shaft with the end of the Oggie Grip at the desire length, and then measuring the cut point, I found that it wasn't the best way for me to determine the shaft cut point. I usually make a small ball of tape at the end of the shaft and put that in the palm of my have with my little finger hanging off of it. Since I got the Ergo Grip, I would be holding the entire grip in my hand. To get the same length of stick to work with, I only needed a three inch difference in shaft length rather than a six inch difference if I had chosen the traditional Oggie Grip and held the stick the same way. 6/10 for having to have to figure this out on my own.

Overall - JR poked some fun at me when I picked one up "You came all the way here for an Oggie Grip??", but it saved an old shaft, and I learned a lot from this experience. Maybe I need to hold my other sticks with a stronger "shaft in entire hand" type of grip to be stronger on my checks. I have some longer sticks that I haven't cut down yet, and I'll give this a try. I'm keeping the Oggie Grip on this stick, but I'm not going to cut down other sticks yet for other Oggies until I sort this out. We won the league championship tonight, so for this particular Oggied stick, 9/10. It's number one in the rotation now.

[kovalchuk71 212]

Oggie Ergo Grip

Reviewer Background:

5'8 160 lbs, Forward that plays both Ice and Inline.

Intro: I recieved these grips a while back from Joe Casasanta at Oggie Grips to test. First off, I want to apologize to Joe and to the Mods at MSH for not finishing out with the review at the time when I recieved the grips.That was a mistake on my part, So I figured I would do a long term review and post it on here for all to see to make up for it.

Sticks: I used a Easton Synergy SL Grip to test this out with. Though hesitant, I took Joes advice that the grip would be worth it. I cut 6" off of it and inserted the grip. I did notice the balance was thrown off a very little bit, but I prefer my sticks to be a little bottom heavy anyway.

Grip Shape: I recieved the ERGO grip from Joe to try on my sticks. The Ergo grip is a very weird grip. Think of a curved stick with a butt end on the top. The grip was very awkward at first in my hand, but as I adjusted to it, I felt that it really conformed to the shape of my hand. While the grip felt great, my only complaint about it was that it felt a bit too thin for my liking. I prefer the classic grips shape over the ergo grip. PP

Texture: The grip itself has a nice rubbery texture. The texture is not too sticky and not too "dull". I felt I could move my hand if I had to, but could keep my hand in place with no effort for optimial control of the stick. The grip also did not discolor or even leave residueon my glove palms, which was a defininate plus. The grip also included little "X" patterns up and down the sides. The X's provided a bit more area to grip the Ergo, which I liked. The grip seemed to move a lot though, which I did not like. It felt too "soft" and would shift in my hands. I could literally take the grip and twist it with my bare hand. I guess its a personal preference thing, but I prefer my grips to be nice and tight. 8.5/10

Performance- All I can is WOW. I was a bit hesitant about cutting 6" off of my stick to put this grip in, but my worries were quickly subdued. The grip does exactly what it claims. You can feel it flex with the shaft and snap back with the shaft. The grip made the sticks flex increase which I was really surprised with. Snap shots/Wrist shots had improved velocity and accuracy. At times though, I felt that the grip flexed a bit too much. I think could be easily fixed though. Overall, the performance was great. 9/10

Stick Feel- This is the one part that bothered me. I felt that the grip took a little but away from the sticks puck feel. It in a sense made the stick feel little "numb".

Durability- I used the grip for about a month, and it held up pretty well. The rubber on the grip looked new, but the butt end started to rip, which was a little dissapointing. The grip itself was not warped or anything, and still felt the same as when I had first got it. 8.5/10

Overall the Oggie Ergo grip is a great innovation for your stick. I felt improved velocity and accuracy on snap/wrist shots and the texture of the grip was amazing. Even though the grip seemed a bit skinny and it ripped after a month, I would use it again. If your stick needs length added to it or you have an old stick, do yourself a favor and buy it. You will not be sorry. If the grip seems a little thin for you as well, go for the classic grip.

9/10

[Neal 41]

Weight I don't find the grip heavy. I'm sure some people's tape creations are heavier. 9/10

Balance On an XN10 shaft with a Mission pro stock composite blade, I found the combo a little blade light. With my heavier shafts and/or a wood blade I found the grip didn't interfere with the balance in any noticeable way. 9/10

Grip This is where the ergo shines. I very, very rarely drop my stick now. Strength and leverage on poke and sweep checks are greatly improved. 10/10

Feel There was a transition period of a 2 or 3 games where I found some maneuvers awkward, but after that I could stick handle and deke as well as I ever could. I'm no David Perron, so take that for what its worth. 7/10

Flex I haven't noticed much difference in flex, but I was adding a wood butt end to all my sticks before the Oggie. 10/10

Performance My velocity on my best shots didn't go up, in my opinion, but the Oggie allows me to get more on all of my shots taken when I don't have time to set up. I find the improvement greatest on my back hand. 10/10

Durability I've been using these grips for a couple years now and have one in all my composite shafts and OPS. I've got 4 currently and 2 of them show some wear, especially around the very top of the blade side, but I'd be surprised not to get another year (or 80 to 100 games) out of each of them. I'm sure that if I was using my old taped creation that ran 6" down the shaft and ended in a big knob that I would have spend substantially more on tape than I have on Oggies. 10/10

Overall I'm very happy with my ergo grips. I won't use a stick without one. I've broken 2 fingers on my top hand and the ergo grips let me play with almost no pain while having a strong grip on my stick, a more consistent shot that is harder and faster under pressure.

[Neal 41]

As an update to my earlier review, I've found that about 3 years or 40-60 games is the lifespan for an Oggie ergo grip. I bought 4 about 1 year before my earlier review and I've had to replace 2 in the last year. I broke both of them in the middle of the curve in the grip.

I still strongly recommend them. I've never had one fail early in its lifespan, only ones with lots of use and wear. I won't use a stick without one.