Boccieri Secret Grips Review

Dr. Teeth

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Boccieri Secret Grips

As many of you know I am a big believer in backweighting my clubs. There are many benefits that I have found that backweighting provide for me. Some of these benefits are increased consistency, it helps me to keep a smooth tempo, keep my swing on plane, and slow my transition at the top of my backswing. All of these things help me to make more consistent contact. There are many ways to backweight your clubs and there are many companies that offer products that make it simple to do. However, none of the options are as simple as putting on a grip. That is the approach that Boccieri Golf has taken with the Secret Grips.

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From Boccieri

• .60” Core Diameter
• Tour Profile - Built Up Lower Hand
• Extra Length - Approx. 1” To Allow For Choking Down
• Grip Installation Alignment Aids, Front and Back
• 40% Heavier Grip Compound
• Multi-Directional Control Series Grip Pattern
• Inter-Changeable Cap Weights: 3g, 9g, and 17g
• Grip Weight: 77g, 83g and 91g respectively Plus or Minus 2g Tolerance
• Conforms to Appendix II Design of Clubs, Section 3 Grips of the UGSA
• Can Be Installed on Any OEM Products

Initial Thoughts and Info

In hand these grips feel much like many of the non-cord grips out there. In fact, they compare very similarly in feel and tackiness to my Lamkin Performance Plus grips. When you take a full grip you will immediately notice a difference in the length of these grips as compared to the standard grips. First off they are about 1 inch (I measured ¾ inch longer than the standard grip). This was done intentionally to allow the golfer to choke down on the club and still have their hands on the grip. In addition to being longer, these grips are also thicker than a standard grip. I would put these grips somewhere between a standard and midsize grip. The grips are also contoured differently than your normal grip. Mr. Boccieri commented that when he was around tour players they always requested their grips to be built up under the right hand (for a right handed golfer). In fact this is the same request I have when having my grips put on. I always ask for two wraps plus an additional two wraps under the right hand. This Tour profile was included automatically to the design so for someone like me I don’t need to give any additional instructions when gripping my clubs. Just the normal one piece of grip tape, put the grips on and go.

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Finally, the reason we are here. The other features are great, but what makes these grips truly unique is the weighting system. The Secret Grips are made out of a heavier, more dense material, which according to Boccieri allows them to be made 40% heavier. The grips alone weigh 74 grams, whereas a Tour Velvet weighs around 50 grams. The Secret Grips feature a removable Cap Weight that goes on the end of the grip to add additional weight. These Cap Weights come in 3 different weights: 3 grams (aluminum), 9 grams (copper), and 17 grams (tungsten), to bring the overall weight of the grips to 77g, 83g and 91g respectively. These Cap Weights can be removed and transferred allowing the golfer to purchase new grips without having to spend the additional money on new Cap Weights as well. Also, by offering varying weights the golfer is able to customize the feel of the different clubs by changing the weights and ultimately balance points as they desire.

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Overall

These grips are great! They have a very consistent feel to them and are not too hard or too soft. They also provide sufficient grip, something that is very important to me seeing as I live in the Pacific Northwest. I love the way these grips are contoured. Having the lower hand built up feels so natural and helps to quite my right hand down. At first I was a bit hesitant about having the longer grip, but I have to say that it is really nice to have a little substance under your lower hand when you are choking down and trying to make a finesse shot. I cannot speak on wear seeing as I have only been playing them for a little under 2 months, however, they look like they would hold up just as well or better than any other grips. They backweighting is great. I have already stated that I am a fan of backweighting my clubs, but the Secret Grips just make it so easy, I mean it could not be any easier really. The only negative I can say is I have had three clubs lose the Cap Weight. They were in the bottom of my bag, and it wasn’t hard to re-glue them back in there, but they did come out on their own.

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One immediate affect I noticed the Secret Grips had on my swing was I was taking very consistent divots after I installed the grips. I feel like my swing has become more repeatable, which is allowing me to bottom out my swing at a more consistent spot each time. This improvement in my swing mechanics has definitely improved my ball contact and I am seeing a really nice ball flight since installing the grips. Another area of improvement has been in the scoring area. The concept of backweighting works so well with finesse shots as it forces me to get big, stabile muscles involved in the process, rather than just getting handsy. This is especially evident in those 50-70 yard shots. I think Boccieri has some real winners here, in fact I think this is probably where they will end up making the biggest impact on the market. It is hard to convince people to go out and buy a set of clubs from a lesser known company, but with the Secret Grips you can “Heavify” your own clubs. This is a great product that will help many golfers improve their games. As of right now it is not available, but it will hopefully be available soon.
 
Unreal review Teeth. Fantastic!


Boccieri does it again with a great concept and fantastic product!
 
Very cool! I have been thinking Boccieri would have to design something to allow flexibility with the backweighting. While I am 100% in agreement with the concept, I never thought that the 1 size (i.e. only 1 level of backweighting) would fit all. I hope there is a way for Boccieri to release new clubs with this grip and then somehow allow for the 3 weights to be included with each club, or for the retail shop to custom fit the consumer and then install the appropriate weight.
 
Great write up and review Dr Teeth!! The more I see and learn about Boccieri Golf, the more intrigued and impressed I am. Looking forward to when these are available to the masses and getting the chance to try them.
 
How do these compare to Boccieri's actual Heavy Clubs? I know he puts weight in heads to keep the balance in check with the weighted grip.
 
Great review. I'm very intrigued by these grips, and would certainly love to try them out.
 
Fantastic review! This is something I would love to try. Especially on my driver!


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Great review Dr. T! My only question is whether or not they are heavy enough that you start losing the feel of the head? I know in testing the Heavy Driver that the counterweight is offset a little by the slightly heavier head weight where you can still feel the weight of the club head. Same with my heavy putter. The head is heavy but it is offset of course by the counterweight, but I can still feel the head in my stroke.
 
Great write up Dr. Teeth and great concept Mr. Boccieri!
I'm looking at trying out a few of the 'heavy' clubs and what clubs I don't replace I'd be interested installing these grips on those.

But another point and maybe you can comment on this Dr. Teeth... Part of the reason the back weighting in the Boccieri clubs works so well is because it counter-balances the heavier clubhead....
 
Fantastic review Dr Teeth!!!!!!! I need to look into these once they're available. Sounds like it's working and is a great concept.
 
Irons too.
Great review Dr. T! My only question is whether or not they are heavy enough that you start losing the feel of the head? I know in testing the Heavy Driver that the counterweight is offset a little by the slightly heavier head weight where you can still feel the weight of the club head. Same with my heavy putter. The head is heavy but it is offset of course by the counterweight, but I can still feel the head in my stroke.
 
Epic review. They do make so good equipment
 
Seriously one of the absolute coolest ideas I've seen, I'm ultra intrigued by this, backweighting made easy!
 
Any idea on the selling price on these? I am thinking $12/grip with 1 backweight? Then $9 for replacement grips without the weight?

Thoughts/guesses...
 
sweet review - im definately a tinkerer so this will add to my hobby in the off season lol
 
Nice review! Curious, like some others, how well you can still feel the head weight.
 
Very cool concept, thanks for the review Dr. Teeth! I have been interested in trying back weighted clubs for awhile now, and this looks like the best way to do it yet.
 
Great review Doc !
I am seriously thinking about trying the backweighting thing.
 
Now my interest is peaked. While I've found it near impossible to buy a club just to test it out despite the reviews on here, buying a few grips to give a go isn't a big deal and much less of a commitment if you don't like them. Whats the availability of these?
 
Thanks for all of the responses. I want to answer a few questions that were asked.

How do these compare to Boccieri's actual Heavy Clubs? I know he puts weight in heads to keep the balance in check with the weighted grip.

The main difference is the fact that you can install these on your own clubs. I am playing the TM TP MCs and I LOVE these irons. When I was at the demo day the Heavy Irons were the big winner though. THis has allowed me to take my favorite clubs and make them more like the Heavy Clubs.

Great review Dr. T! My only question is whether or not they are heavy enough that you start losing the feel of the head? I know in testing the Heavy Driver that the counterweight is offset a little by the slightly heavier head weight where you can still feel the weight of the club head. Same with my heavy putter. The head is heavy but it is offset of course by the counterweight, but I can still feel the head in my stroke.

I definitely dont feel like I am losing the weight of the head at all. The back weighting on the Heavy Clubs is 50 grams and the Heavy Driver is only 5 grams heavier than the average driver and the irons are 8 grams heavier. These grips are about 20-25 grams heavier than standard grips so for me they don't make me feel like the club head is substantially lighter. That being said they definitely drop the swingweight. My clubs went from a D2 to a C8.

Great write up Dr. Teeth and great concept Mr. Boccieri!
I'm looking at trying out a few of the 'heavy' clubs and what clubs I don't replace I'd be interested installing these grips on those.

But another point and maybe you can comment on this Dr. Teeth... Part of the reason the back weighting in the Boccieri clubs works so well is because it counter-balances the heavier clubhead....

I touched on the fact that the heads on the driver and irons are 5 grams and 8 grams heavier respectively and the backweighting on those is 50 grams, as compared to about 25 grams on the Secret Grips I have installed. That being said, I have thought about adding a bit of weight to the head just to see how I like the feel.
 
Any idea on the selling price on these? I am thinking $12/grip with 1 backweight? Then $9 for replacement grips without the weight?

Thoughts/guesses...

Don't hold me to this, but Mr. Boccieri said he was thinking around $12 for grip with backweight and then $6 for replacement grips. That could change, who knows.

Now my interest is peaked. While I've found it near impossible to buy a club just to test it out despite the reviews on here, buying a few grips to give a go isn't a big deal and much less of a commitment if you don't like them. Whats the availability of these?

I have no idea when these will become available, however, I do know these are a top priority for Boccieri, so I would expect to see them reasonably soon.
 
Nice review. While in general, I think we've got a winner, I do have a major concern over the weights coming out. Seems odd that this would happen at all--much less on multiple clubs--with as much thought as Mr. Boccieri puts into his products. Hopefully this will be addressed/corrected before the grips come to market, otherwise a golfer might as well go with something like the Tour Lock Pro or Balance Certified backweighting systems, and play them in their grip of choice. Maybe some sort of locking mechanism just needs to be incorporated into the design?

Still, I like the innovative spirit of Boccieri golf...definitely a company and product line to keep an eye on.
 
Good review budd, I love your love for back weighting and that it works for you
 
Nice review here and great information Dr. Teeth thank you! I would absolutely be concerend as well with the weights becoming loose or dislodged going in and out and to the bottom of the bag a lot... I'm sure this has been addressed and won't be an issue but it is in my mind.

All in all my first couple slow swings with the heavy 3w and I really like the concept. I too need tempo control and transition consistency... Hopefully this will help!
 
Nice review. While in general, I think we've got a winner, I do have a major concern over the weights coming out. Seems odd that this would happen at all--much less on multiple clubs--with as much thought as Mr. Boccieri puts into his products. Hopefully this will be addressed/corrected before the grips come to market, otherwise a golfer might as well go with something like the Tour Lock Pro or Balance Certified backweighting systems, and play them in their grip of choice. Maybe some sort of locking mechanism just needs to be incorporated into the design?

Still, I like the innovative spirit of Boccieri golf...definitely a company and product line to keep an eye on.

I have let Mr. Boccieri know and I am sure they are working on it. I think it is more of a glue issue.
 
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