Star Grips - 2024 Forum Review

[StrokerAce]

On 3/26/2024 at 12:05 AM, BreakfastBall15 said:

Grips are on and the process was so easy it was a joke. First grip took a little getting used to but after that it was smooth sailing. I’ll never grip without air again. I don’t know if it was my mind playing tricks on me or reality, but the orange felt tackier than the blue and definitely like the tacky feel. I went with 2 layers of tape on the bottom hand (didn’t even have to tape the driver which was nice) on drive through PW and no tape on the other wedges. Good thing is if I don’t like anything I can fix it faster than you read this comment. I ended up alternating (minus woods) and very pleased with how it turned out. The orange on the Ventus blue is a dream combo. I’ll get better pictures later to do it justice. 

did you use an air compressor or tire inflator?

[Alf. S]

On 3/26/2024 at 4:31 AM, Gusset said:

I've got a dozen mid-sized Star Grips that are supposed to show up tomorrow, including the installation gun. I removed the grips off a few clubs in preparation, and it brought up a question: does anyone know how the air installation works when the leftover tape from the previous traditional grip installation is still somewhat tacky? How about removing a Star Grip after installing over tacky tape?

I had been hoping to avoid the mess and raw skin that in my experience is always an after-effect of cleaning off the old tape. I suppose I could just put a layer of masking tape over the leftover tacky grip tape.

Anyone have any experience to provide answers to this one?

I have always used tape and solvent but for the test moved to air. My experience is based on only the last 4 days

I know some people have left the double side tape on but for me my thoughts were no. 

1. The big advantage of using air is that it is easier to remove and re-grip. Leaving the residue tape will make this a lot harder.
2. On my first grip I tried to re-grip with the tape still on and gave up, it was still too tacky
   1. I then re-gripped it without any tape which was OK
3. I usual re-grip with 2 layers of tape on a std grip but on a recent measurement it was indicating mid-size so that is what I have used
4. I ended up using 1 layer of masking tape and slight wetting it with solvent, this gave me the easiest process to mount the grips

If you have to take the double sided tape off, use a head gun or hair dryer to heat the tape and it strips off really easy.

[Alf. S]

26 minutes ago, StrokerAce said:

how did you come up with your color scheme?

The green grips are on the Callaway Epic Woods and hybrids, I picked the green grips to match the black and green heads and headcovers and also the Fujikura green and white shafts. Also matched my old Dritac that came off.

My 5-AW Iron are Srixon Z565 so no real preference on colour but red does match my 2 summer cart bags which are Callaway red and black and Srixon White, red and black.

I was originally going to match my wedges in with my irons but Star Grips sent me 6 extra grips of different colours. After I gripped my Callaway MD5 60° wedge with a blue one which matched the head design colour I realised this would've been better but only having one blue grip I opted for the vivid orange and pink for the 52° and 56°   

Edited March 27 by Alf. S

[StrokerAce]

for everyone using air to regrip: are you using an air compressor or something else?

[Alf. S]

1 minute ago, StrokerAce said:

for everyone using air to regrip: are you using an air compressor or something else?

Ended up buying a new compressor. Convinced myself that this was the future for me. With 3 golfers in the house and me doing the re-gripping, I also like to experiment with grips and try new grips out so justified the $150.

[BreakfastBall15]

27 minutes ago, StrokerAce said:

did you use an air compressor or tire inflator?

Air compressor. Found setting it at around 50PSI was the sweet spot

[BreakfastBall15]

7 minutes ago, Alf. S said:

Ended up buying a new compressor. Convinced myself that this was the future for me. With 3 golfers in the house and me doing the re-gripping, I also like to experiment with grips and try new grips out so justified the $150.

Between doing multiple sets and not having to buy a lot of regripping supplies going forward it should pay for itself quickly. This was my first time doing air and I'll never go back

[widget]

13 hours ago, BreakfastBall15 said:

Something I forgot to mention during my write up about the install was that I had measured the swing weight of my 6 iron with my previous grip and the new grip. Since the star grips are heavier and I used 2 layers of build up tape and a top layer for the whole gripped portion, it brought the swing weight from D1 to C9. I did this by getting the weight and measuring the balance point and using an online calculator so it may not be entirely accurate, but wanted to point that out for those that are keen on a specific swing weight. 

i was about to mention that very important point…even within Star grip line up (tour star+) the weight is different for each colour (54g, 58g, 59g, & 63g…blk, blu, red, & wht)…so going from blk to wht will drop swing weight approx. 2 swing weight points…just something to be aware of as it can affect swing mechanics and feel 

[BreakfastBall15]

3 minutes ago, widget said:

i was about to mention that very important point…even within Star grip line up (tour star+) the weight is different for each colour (54g, 58g, 59g, & 63g…blk, blu, red, & wht)…so going from blk to wht will drop swing weight approx. 2 swing weight points…just something to be aware of as it can affect swing mechanics and feel 

Yup. Idk what the starwinder standard weight is but the midsize are even heavier (67g for orange and blue). They aren't as heavy compared to the posted weight on their website but still heavier than my previous grips. I'm about to reshaft my irons and wedges anyway so I'm not overly concerned with the 1 round (maybe more) and practice sessions prior, but something I will bring up with my builder to get them all the correct swing weight.

[LeakyValve]

@Alf. S looking great. Love the red. 

[EugeGall]

On 3/26/2024 at 4:05 AM, BreakfastBall15 said:

Grips are on and the process was so easy it was a joke. First grip took a little getting used to but after that it was smooth sailing. I’ll never grip without air again. I don’t know if it was my mind playing tricks on me or reality, but the orange felt tackier than the blue and definitely like the tacky feel. I went with 2 layers of tape on the bottom hand (didn’t even have to tape the driver which was nice) on drive through PW and no tape on the other wedges. Good thing is if I don’t like anything I can fix it faster than you read this comment. I ended up alternating (minus woods) and very pleased with how it turned out. The orange on the Ventus blue is a dream combo. I’ll get better pictures later to do it justice. 

Great job and the combo looks cool  

[EugeGall]

On 3/26/2024 at 4:31 AM, Gusset said:

I've got a dozen mid-sized Star Grips that are supposed to show up tomorrow, including the installation gun. I removed the grips off a few clubs in preparation, and it brought up a question: does anyone know how the air installation works when the leftover tape from the previous traditional grip installation is still somewhat tacky? How about removing a Star Grip after installing over tacky tape?

I had been hoping to avoid the mess and raw skin that in my experience is always an after-effect of cleaning off the old tape. I suppose I could just put a layer of masking tape over the leftover tacky grip tape.

Anyone have any experience to provide answers to this one?

Don’t know about removal on top of old tacky tape, but if you want to easy remove the old tape (and you have one) use a heat gun and the tape peels off easy. 

[EugeGall]

4 hours ago, Alf. S said:

All clubs gripped and Arccos sensors installed ready to go.

First time using air, first club I re-gripped without any tape. Started the set by using masking tape and just wetting the tip of the grip with solvent to get it started, by the time I'd finish I was rubbing a little solvent on the masking tape for the length of it then slipping the grip on. This was much easier and gave me a little more lubrication to manoeuvre the grip for alignment.

Looking good

[EugeGall]

3 hours ago, StrokerAce said:

for everyone using air to regrip: are you using an air compressor or something else?

Compressor 

[BreakfastBall15]

19 minutes ago, EugeGall said:

Don’t know about removal on top of old tacky tape, but if you want to easy remove the old tape (and you have one) use a heat gun and the tape peels off easy. 

I left the old double sided tape on my driver. I'll give it a try later an report back

[Gusset]

On 3/25/2024 at 9:31 PM, Gusset said:

I've got a dozen mid-sized Star Grips that are supposed to show up tomorrow, including the installation gun. I removed the grips off a few clubs in preparation, and it brought up a question: does anyone know how the air installation works when the leftover tape from the previous traditional grip installation is still somewhat tacky? How about removing a Star Grip after installing over tacky tape?

I had been hoping to avoid the mess and raw skin that in my experience is always an after-effect of cleaning off the old tape. I suppose I could just put a layer of masking tape over the leftover tacky grip tape.

Anyone have any experience to provide answers to this one?

Update...the leftover tacky grip tape didn't seem to hinder installation. However a few minutes later I tried removing it, and it was more difficult. It seems a reasonable expectation that the degree of increased difficulty will go up with time. So I threw some frog tape over the tacky stuff before re-installing.

As was mentioned earlier by at least one other poster, the air tool makes installing/removing so easy it's almost a joke. 10, perhaps 15 seconds. All you really need to pay attention to is that you keep your pushing hand behind the shaft, as the instructions say, to minimize potential friction. I wish I'd have known about Star Grips before now.

Haven't played them yet, and I'm not a reviewer here, so I'm limiting my thoughts to the installation side of things. But I will say these seem to be about 1/4 - 1/2" shorter than the grips I'm replacing. I could probably get them to stretch to the same length, but I don't really see a point.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my original post.

[BreakfastBall15]

14 minutes ago, Gusset said:

Update...the leftover tacky grip tape didn't seem to hinder installation. However a few minutes later I tried removing it, and it was more difficult. It seems a reasonable expectation that the degree of increased difficulty will go up with time. So I threw some frog tape over the tacky stuff before re-installing.

As was mentioned earlier by at least one other poster, the air tool makes installing/removing so easy it's almost a joke. 10, perhaps 15 seconds. All you really need to pay attention to is that you keep your pushing hand behind the shaft, as the instructions say, to minimize potential friction. I wish I'd have known about Star Grips before now.

Haven't played them yet, and I'm not a reviewer here, so I'm limiting my thoughts to the installation side of things. But I will say these seem to be about 1/4 - 1/2" shorter than the grips I'm replacing. I could probably get them to stretch to the same length, but I don't really see a point.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my original post.

I also noticed that these grips were shorter than my previous grips. The first one I put on I didn’t think was on all the way until I held an old grip side by side 

[BreakfastBall15]

So I just experimented with removing the grip on my driver that I left the sticky tape on. Was able to take it off and put it back on within 15 seconds. What took the longest was starting the grip and putting the gun in the grip.

Took the PW out to the backyard and we have an open field/pond just beyond our fence to get some swings actually hitting balls (don’t tell my wife). Didn’t use a glove and the grips felt fantastic. Even with the 2 layers of build up tape on the bottom hand there was still a bit of taper but felt similar to my old grip. Might mess around when I put them on the new shafts with another layer of tape. 

As far as swing weight, I couldn’t tell a difference but I’ve also never messed around with different swing weights and I only hit 3 shots. Gonna try and get to the range tomorrow for an actual session. 

[Rob Person]

Loving the grip pics!!

Has anyone selected grips to match the weight balance of the club? Or just based on color coordination aspects?

[BreakfastBall15]

1 hour ago, Rob Person said:

Loving the grip pics!!

Has anyone selected grips to match the weight balance of the club? Or just based on color coordination aspects?

I went strictly off color. Didn’t even think of weight

[LeakyValve]

Forgot to put it in here. Wrote it all down during filing for the install and just remembered I had it. 
 

I did weigh all the grips to see how close they come to the +/- tolerance of 1 gram. 
 

my Green grip came in at 60 grams. Should be 67

grey came in at 64. Couldn’t find the weight on the site (might have to go on the desktop site)

orange came in at 63. Should be 67

white was 61. Should be 63 

black was 55. Should be 54

most of my blues were 57,58,59. And it should be 58

 

happy with the tour star 360’s but the sidewinders are all under by a bit. 
 

My clubs are back today so it’s off to the sim for some testing tonight!!

[Rob Person]

7 hours ago, LeakyValve said:

Forgot to put it in here. Wrote it all down during filing for the install and just remembered I had it. 
 

I did weigh all the grips to see how close they come to the +/- tolerance of 1 gram. 
 

my Green grip came in at 60 grams. Should be 67

grey came in at 64. Couldn’t find the weight on the site (might have to go on the desktop site)

orange came in at 63. Should be 67

white was 61. Should be 63 

black was 55. Should be 54

most of my blues were 57,58,59. And it should be 58

 

happy with the tour star 360’s but the sidewinders are all under by a bit. 
 

My clubs are back today so it’s off to the sim for some testing tonight!!

That's not a huge discrepancy in weight, but still makes for curiosity as to why. Misprint on their end?

[LeakyValve]

@Rob Person I wonder if it just has to do with the molding process 

[BreakfastBall15]

16 hours ago, Rob Person said:

That's not a huge discrepancy in weight, but still makes for curiosity as to why. Misprint on their end?

 

11 minutes ago, LeakyValve said:

@Rob Person I wonder if it just has to do with the molding process 

Very curious as well.  I think all of us had the weight discrepancy from the site but they were all within 1g of each other. I’m going to include that in my final review. Regardless I’m not sure if they changed materials or processes and didn’t update the weights on the website or what. Again not a huge deal for me but many would be frustrated with it

[Shrek74]

On 3/28/2024 at 10:12 AM, LeakyValve said:

Forgot to put it in here. Wrote it all down during filing for the install and just remembered I had it. 
 

I did weigh all the grips to see how close they come to the +/- tolerance of 1 gram. 
 

my Green grip came in at 60 grams. Should be 67

grey came in at 64. Couldn’t find the weight on the site (might have to go on the desktop site)

orange came in at 63. Should be 67

white was 61. Should be 63 

black was 55. Should be 54

most of my blues were 57,58,59. And it should be 58

 

happy with the tour star 360’s but the sidewinders are all under by a bit. 
 

My clubs are back today so it’s off to the sim for some testing tonight!!

Those are huge discrepancies to deal with as a builder or whatever. 7 & 4 grams are multiple swing weights. I hope it's not this way for everyone.

[LeakyValve]

@Shrek74  so I personally didn’t notice too much difference for my irons. They were all pretty close. I prefer a bit of a heavier club for the hybrids. And the driver felt good too. However. If you could. Can you explain swing weighting? Because I am out to lunch on it 

[edingc]

Glad to see everyone off and running with this test! I have had Star Grips for a long time now, going on year three and round 200-plus with my current set of undersized black grips that are built up back to a "standard" size with one piece of blue painter's tape plus one extra piece under my lower hand.

Looking forward to reading more comments as you all get further along.

 

[BreakfastBall15]

4 minutes ago, LeakyValve said:

@Shrek74  so I personally didn’t notice too much difference for my irons. They were all pretty close. I prefer a bit of a heavier club for the hybrids. And the driver felt good too. However. If you could. Can you explain swing weighting? Because I am out to lunch on it 

@Shrek74 I’m also curious as well. Would adding lead tape to the club head counteract the swing weight difference? I know it would add total weight regardless but I’m curious about swing weight 

[Shrek74]

5 minutes ago, LeakyValve said:

@Shrek74  so I personally didn’t notice too much difference for my irons. They were all pretty close. I prefer a bit of a heavier club for the hybrids. And the driver felt good too. However. If you could. Can you explain swing weighting? Because I am out to lunch on it 

Swing Weight simply put is how heavy or light a club feels when you swing it. It's not a static weight, but the feeling of the club during the swing. For some, a D5 swing weight feels light. For others, they can't move something that heavy. It's player dependent.

But when clubs are built, they are built to a certain swing weight. If you look on Golf Galaxy and find a set of irons, in the specs section it will show what the swing weight is supposed to be come stock. Some are fine with stock weights (D2 usually for steel, D0 usually for graphite), others can feel the difference and need a certain swing weight to get the most from their clubs. Every part of the club affects swing weight, from grips to heads and even to ferrules and the amount of epoxy used. More weight at the grip end = lighter swing weight. More at the head end = heavier swing weight. It's a balancing game that can be affected by these types of variances in the weight of every piece that makes up the club. So these grips being that varying in weight and that from from their listed weight can be disruptive to many golfers.

Here's a link that has more details: https://www.tgw.com/golf-guide/what-is-swing-weight/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_channel=nonbrnd&utm_campaign=15495878395&SITE_ID=W0209&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzZmwBhD8ARIsAH4v1gWce-8AkilqMKuO3d03OYP1JWo1_lr6j7Ii_5qV3E_ebhbOeeBxdUYaAuBZEALw_wcB

[LeakyValve]

Quick and dirty first swings and impressions!!

(I will be doing a solo sim session for a video to do some talking about the grips in play and do more extensive testing)

I finally have my irons back from being adjusted and got the chance to go play a round in the sim mainly to verify my numbers. But it goes without saying I was also testing the grips. In a nutshell. They felt seamless. Not in the literal sense, being that they are indeed “seamless,” but I didn’t notice a big change from the mccs corded feel to the tour stars. I may put on more wraps later in the year but for now I’ll keep things as they are. The sidewinders are very very sticky. And with a glove there was zero movement in my top hand with a glove on. Since I set every tour star 360 the same way I have a nice place for my hand to sit on every iron. I was worried about this being a leftie as it seems like wrap grips are made for righties. 
 

I didn’t feel like the Tour Stars helped in terms of dampening or vibration reduction. Basically if you hit a stinger. You’ll know. But I think this is true for any grip no matter how big or small. I could also still tell with the sidewinders when I’ve hit the centre of the face and when I was a bit off in the heel or toe. That’s a plus from me on the feedback side of things. 

One thing I did notice was the butt of the club. Before I installed my sensors for my shotscope I had put the clubs back in the back. Upon pulling them out I noticed the ends were covered in whatever little bits and pieces of dirt and dust are in the bottom of the bag. Hopefully with some playing time the grips lose that initial super sticky coating and things just rub off, but time will tell. 
 

All in all I’m happy with how things felt. I’m anxious to try things without a glove and when they are wet!

@Shrek74 wicked. Thank you!