Contributors to this thread:
After shooting most of my life with just the side plates on my grip, I've slowly but surely come to realize that if my hand is sweaty or otherwise wet, my grip placement is different and my shot suffers. I've never used grip tape, but I'm considering it now.
Anyone have thoughts on this and what tape you would use?
Try some vet wrap. Inexpensive, available at TSC or any other farm type store.
First try a jersey glove ( one without the grip nobs ) then cut the finger tips off to help keep hands cool . Then put baby powder on the glove. It will then slide to the same spot. This came from Randy Ulmer. Worked for me.
Agree with using a slick glove on your bow hand. Anything that restricts your hand from moving into a consistent, repeatable spot can induce hand torque.
First make sure you are gripping the bow correctly. I often hunt pigs in thunderstorms and have really not had a problem with grip placement. Most of my pig hunting is in hot weather and high humidity and grip has not been a problem.
I use grip tape in the back of the handle where the palm sits,I love it.
Really good for torque.
Bowmania
You need to get your grip placement where it always goes to the same place. If it slides elsewhere when it's wet, then it wasn't in the right place in the first place.
Smooth thin glove will get your hand to slide into a consistent place where you're not torquing the bow. I personally always shoot with a glove: practice & hunting. You may find you like always wearing one. But if not, once you have your hand trained to go to the same spot it should find it even without a glove on.
I would NOT recommend any sort of grip tape.
I put a piece of the rug part of VELCRO on the back side of the handle for my palm
Interesting thoughts here. I'm going to go back to my mechanics and let me hand slide into the spot it wants to and then try my shot sequence again. I'll chime back in later.
Horse wrap works fine, most are now using Wilson racquet tape.
"torque" from grip tape is a non issue. Pretty rare to find a decent shooter that isn't using one type or another.
Funny this thread popped up. I was thinking the exact same thing the other day.
My hand placement is consistent and I shoot well. But when it gets too sweaty and slippery, even when I put my hand in the same place thats touching the top of the grip, the slipperiness causes my hand to push along the grips incline and put more upward pressure where the top of my hand touches the horizontal top part of the grip.
I was thinking some gripe tape may help. Like Bob said, I see a lot of really good shooters using it and they seem to shoot consistent with it.
I bought Duane Prices C4; he had 60 grit skate tape on the grip.
What is "horse wrap"?
Thanks for the input guys. Helps immensely.
Vet tape, like an ace bandage for a horse. Stuff's magic.
Primos makes a thin polyester glove, no friction knobs, in camouflage that puts my hand in the same position every time whether wet or dry. Have to use a "Muff" of some sort in the winter to keep hands warm (Sitka "Whitetail Fanatic" jacket supplies this) but I used to use an around the waist hand muff.
The tennis racquet "overgrips" from companies like Wilson or Babalot work great - good for grip, soak up sweat. You can pick them up for a few bucks at a sporting goods store or tennis shop.
I used lizard skinz 1.1mm wrap for baseball bats on my Hoyt after I removed the side plates.
So far I really like it, for 12 bucks shipped I was able to make 2 wraps around and there is no slippage at all in my hand .
I use some craft foam with adhesive my kids had for school. Costs about $1.79 per square. Cut it to size and put in place with one piece of electrical tape. Lasts 3-4 seasons. Its also warm which is great for those winter hunts (we had 6 months of it this year, out to turkey season).
.5 lizard skin on every bow I own.
I personally want nothing on the grip and think that when it comes to grips less is more.
Lets not confuse target shooting with bowhunting here. Standing on the shooting line with all the time in the world you need the same exact grip every time. These guys can use grip tape to keep everything the same even if they are sweating. They have a routine and their hands are always in the same place to start the draw cycle.
For the rest of the archers, it is best to let the hand slip into the position of least resistance.
I use racquet tape on mine - an unexpected bonus from this past hunting season was how warm it is when it is freezing in the stand. No more cold riser!
Lee
If a bowhunter can't set his hand position the same he needs to do some work.
With all due respect Bob, most bowhunters don't have the luxury of standing straight up with perfect posture. Sitting down, leaning around a tree limb, ect.. all will induce torque if using a friction grip. Can't be helped.
I removed my grips and used golf club tape I think. Works awesome.
