Golf Pride’s new Concept Helix system is here to revolutionize the way you change grips. And Golf Pride’s new installation system is as much about how it works as it is about what it lets you do. Go ahead – forget everything you knew about changing your grips and if you didn’t know anything, no problem.
Golf Pride has been known for developing great new products and compounds and giving golfers exceptional grip options, but there has always been one messy, universal process of installing grips on your clubs. Honestly, I never put a single thought into this process because it has just always been done this way my entire golfing life. You buy a grip, install the grip (or pay someone to install it), and you wait until it is dry. The old process added time and cost to a grip change but Concept Helix changes everything. While I never gave it a second thought, we can all be happy that plenty of people gave it plenty of thought. Now, with Concept Helix, you can change any grip anywhere – in the golf course parking lot, in your garage, or even sitting on the couch – without ever using chemicals or a breaking a sweat. If you haven’t picked up on it yet, Concept Helix is truly disruptive technology (and great for golfers too).
So, what is Golf Pride’s new ground breaking technology? Concept Helix is a new installation system that lets you change a grip in minutes and take it right to the course using a friction and torque-based installation that doesn’t require vices, solvents, or adhesives – just a specific “horn” device and some twisting by hand. Say goodbye to the added installation cost, materials, and waiting time after changing grips… if it works. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but it works, and really, really well. Let’s jump into the process:
Concept Helix system is marketed as super easy to use and is designed to let anyone change a grip regardless of your familiarity with the old process, how handy you are, or what materials you have in your garage. Although Golf Pride has a video series that explains the process in great detail, the process of installing a Concept Helix grip is: (1) remove the old grip (if present), (2) remove old tape and substances (if present), (3) insert the horn into the mouth of the grip and slip the grip on the shaft, (4) use the horn to twist and tighten the end cap, and (5) hand twist the grip and end cap until tight. Seriously – that’s it!
But to really prove this point, it is important to get this into the hands of someone who has little to no experience changing grips and see how it goes. And that’s where my confession comes – I have never changed a grip in my life and I have none of the traditional tools and materials needed to change them at home. In short, I was the perfect test subject to show just how revolutionary the system is and how easy Concept Helix grips are to install.
Eight minutes. Seriously, eight minutes was all it took to go from a worn Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip on my utility iron to swinging a new Concept Helix grip, and the only thing I used was a pocket knife. In fact, the actual installation process of the Concept Helix grip couldn’t have taken more than a minute or two and the old grip removal took the reminder of the time. I’m happy to report that the Concept Helix grip stayed perfectly secured during my range session immediately after changing the grip.
As you might expect, the Concept Helix grips are designed a bit different than ordinary grips to work in the revolutionary system. Despite being different, they were purposefully designed to feel similar to Golf Pride’s ever popular Tour Velvet grips. The proprietary grip formula is currently all rubber (sorry cord and Align lovers) and has a textured pattern to maximize grip. No word on the possibility of other textures, compounds, or options but if I was to make a prediction, it would be that the future of golf grips is bright and the sky is the limit for Golf Pride’s Concept Helix.
The installation of golf grips may never be the same now and it has opened the door to self-installation of grips to any golfer in their own home and at a moment’s notice without any messy installation. You can learn more about Concept Helix by visiting www.concepthelix.com.
"Honestly, I never put a single thought into this process because it has just always been done this way my entire golfing life."
Exactly my initial response, but I can’t think of any downside with this new system besides possibly cost?
I know we’re at the beginning stages of this, but I wonder how/if they would handle:
1- arccos ability/integration
2- those that prefer extra wraps/buildup under current grips
The arccos part would be tricky and currently it does not support it.
The shaft must be clear of all tape and residue to really work. Although I will say that in my opinion this is just the beginning and while I use extra wraps under my wedges, I noticed no ill effects.
I’m not sure if any of the other testers tried this but, as a +4 user I experimented with how far on I installed the grip. Leaving it 1/2-3/4 inch short of the recommended installation length allowed me to have a little more bulk under the lower hand and was still secure on the club.
guess I should have checked the link before asking, these were 2 of the 3 FAQ on the site ?
as a +4 user myself, this is good to hear.
do we know what the tension system itself is? I tried looking around for it and didn’t see it mentioned in detail anywhere. From the video it almost appears like tension wire (I’m thinking FJ BOA or Puma DISC),
any concerns with over tightening? Or losing tension over time?
I will defer to @Molten here, but I haven’t seen any over tightening. I did think of losing tension over time or getting "torquey", but only time that happened is when I didnt tighten enough.
We received 3 grips, and we were to try them on different shafts, like steel and graphite. I didn’t notice a difference on either when installing or removing the Helix. Once I had the old grip cleaned off, and the shaft cleaned up, I think the first grip took about 5 or so minutes to install. Reading the instructions, following each step, was the long part of the first grip install. The 2nd grip went on a bit quicker, and by the time you know all the steps, I think you could get a new grip on and ready to play in 1 minute.
We were also tasked with removing the Helix grip. This process was also pretty straight forward and easy. Not much issue, and as long as you work the grip slowly off, I didn’t have any issues.
I see the real benefit to always using the Concept Helix grips. Once you have these, you can remove and change into a new grip in 2 minutes, or so. I mean really quickly, really easily with no mess.
I was able to test these with real swings, and I didn’t notice much loosening of the grips. Even if you do, you can use the horn to retighten them right on the course in between shots. So I don’t see this as an issue. When I took multiple swings, and would try to retighten, it might have gone one click, maybe. But otherwise, I have no hesitations about these sliding around on the club.
This is seriously incredible!
I would be very curious to try these with a different grip. These felt a little gummy vs what I’ve ever used in a GP grip, so there was that. Installation though seriously took just a minute or so. Not quite as fast as the solvent method, but I could change this in the parking lot and be ready for a round of golf by the time I walked my bag to the cart.
Well, all righty then…
I was selected to try these grips out as well and let me tell you, it really IS as easy as the other THP’ers are saying to install and remove these grips.
Remove the old grip, grip tape, and adhesive.
Install the horn into the end of the new grip.
Slide it on the club shaft.
Make sure it’s seated on the club.
Remove the horn, turn it over, and twist it in the end of the grip.
Squeeze the end of the grip a little bit, listen for the ratchet sounds, and tighten a bit more.
DONE.
I didn’t notice any weight difference between a set of new cheap grips I put on my son’s clubs and these, or the ones I took off of my clubs to make way for these.
There is no need to worry, “do I have enough solvent”… I had that happen with my son’s clubs when I regripped them.I didn’t have enough solvent and the grip got stuck half on and half off. Thankfully I was able to remove it without damage. It was the first time I had ever regripped a set of clubs. Everyone said use mineral spirits. I used Xylol instead. Same thing to me… nope. Not enough working time. But that was then (in February this year) and I didn’t know about Concept Helix.
Now, it’s as easy to regrip a club as falling out of a boat. Into the water.?
it was so easy, I did my 3w, 7i and AW.
Then I was showing my son about it and he removed the AW grip and reinstalled it in minutes. He had never regripped a club ever. We did this in my kitchen.
I literally can’t wait until these grips are released and I can buy a full set.
I can’t wait until they come in different textures.
I can’t wait until they come in different colors.
I want them on my clubs.
What is below is pure speculation. I don’t know if these grips will be released in different textures or colors, but if they are, the below is possible.
I want to be able to change my grips because it’s raining.
I want to be able to change my grips to match my shoes.
I want to be able to change my grips to match my shirt.
I want to be able to change my grips to match my bag.
I want to be able to change my grips to match my playing partners grips.
I want to be able to change my grips because that’s the color scripting for the THP event of the day!! @JB see what I did there?
So many possibilities exist with these and these grips are awesome!!! And I want more!?
My only internet golfer hesitations are wanting tape wraps for dialing in fit/feel and the white cap at the top. I know with Arccos sensors I did not like the cap feel. But these are almost too interesting to not try. I will grab a couple and explore. Installation looks slick. ?
This was my main drawback too
I didn’t see any issues with over tightening and I got mine about as tight as I could using just my hands. The videos from GP show that it is possible to over tighten a grip but the fix it just loosen the end cap and re tighten. No rush of ruining the grip as far as I can tell
8 minutes for a first timer! Wow that’s awesome. I saw this in person as @Bcape9 had them on a couple of clubs when we played a few weeks ago.
Love everything about these except the non Cobra Connect compatibility
Once you get them on, you twist the top with the horn, and twist the bottom of the grip, and that locks it on the club.
Yes
It is super easy and I did it while watching TV. I could have changed most of my bag in the time it would have taken me to drive somewhere so this is huge for me. The worst part is the tape removal in my eyes but that could also be a thing of the past soon
I had a tag that I had cut off the screw on for another club, I used some 3M 4200 adhesive and attached it to my driver grip.
Only issue is the removal of old tape, still gonna need those stinky chemicals….
Only the first time though…
I put one on my 50* wedge and use it a lot and have not noticed any issues at all. Have never had to retighten teh grip at all.
I only game’d them 1.5 times so in terms of performance I’m interested to see where it goes. They worked well while using them but I could see them not staying on easily if it was a botched installation. The ones we had were very cushiony and not what I’m used to from golf pride. I wonder what other options there will be going forward. However, the idea that grips could be switched in the parking lot if it is rainy or super humid in a matter of seconds is awesome and should be the future of golf grips.
I’m in agreement about the grip itself. I like the MCC grip, in midsize, so I would prefer that material. But when talking about the Helix technology, i found it to work great, and didnt encounter the issue of the horn not going on the grip far enough.
I didn’t use any chemicals to get the old tape off and my clubs where all a year old when I removed the tape. Just get a hair dryer and heat it up to loosen the glue and it will peal right off. Once you do that go to the cupboard and grab so Extra Virgin Olive oil and a wash cloth, put some (2 table spoons of oil) on the washcloth and rub the tape residue and it will come right off. Then just use some rubbing alcohol and to remove the oil and your done. Was super easy and I have never done grips before in my life.
Its more than people think, but if people didnt have to deal with tools necessary, it would definitely increase.
I know @JDax and @e1iterate can give an estimate in how many grips they did at Dicks when they worked there. Its way more than people think.
Grip can’t explode like a grip installed with an air compressor.
You’re also not damaging the grip this way.
According to Golf Pride (and most other grip companies used on tour) if you use a cord for example, high pressure air can cause deformation and even ripping of the individual cords. It is one of the biggest reasons it is not done at the highest level this way.
Compound that with the idea that not needing to be next to a tank to change your grips and this alleviates both issues.