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.
I hear ya….and you have seen me swing the handle before and I have seen you swing. That being said, we can send a ball down range. My first few swings we tentative to say the least just waiting to see how much the grip moved and just when will I be chasing my shaft on the driving range. By the fourth swing, i was swinging like normal and really did not adjust the grip at all during the round….you seriously need to try one
THP’ers just buy new clubs and get new grips all the time before you even need to change them
I dont disagree with your points. But how much of that only changing once per year, or every 2 years, would change if the process was simple, or didnt require you taking your clubs somewhere? I dont think the cost benefit is as crucial, as the ability to easily do it on your own. I’d love to try out different grips, but the old process of changing grips seems too difficult. This would change my mindset.
I had that bunching with one grip, the one I installed on a steel shaft. The other two were installed on graphite shafts though I don’t know that shaft material contributed to it or not. Removing it and trying it again made no difference, still slight bunching. The only time it becomes an issue, however, as it is on the underside and low on the grip, is when I choke down. Yes, it does take a lot of turns of the "horn" to finalize installation but I can accept that as a trade off for the sense of security it provides given the total lack of slippage or twisting or need for re-tightening I have experienced so far.
For me personally I don’t think it would but I’m lucky enough to be about 5 mins from a great golf store and am there all the time. But again, options are great and love to see companies think of new ideas.
I’ve put on a few grips before and learned that was beyond what my limited aptitude for such things. I read through the directions several times to be sure I had a good grasp on what I needed to do. It took me some time to get a grip off an old sand wedge but I had a better time getting the grip off and the shaft cleaned on a couple of graphite shafted clubs that were not as old. Everything went pretty smoothly (for me) from there. Even though I didn’t find it very hard or easy to remove and install the grip, I felt like I had accomplished something! I like the idea that I could change my own grips and would no doubt become quicker and more adept at it.
I haven’t played a standard size grip in several years. So, I’m probably not the best guy to give this grip a rave review. I like the CP2 Wrap Mid for its vibration damping and feel. I think this grip material is middle of the road on softness and feels like a Tour Velvet. With that said, the grip performed well enough for me in limited play. I’d be very interested to see how it performs in the hot humid conditions in which I play most of my golf.
If you play a standard sized grip, give this a go. It’s tremendously interesting concept. With more grip choices, I can see this getting good traction in the golf community.
I appreciate the chance to try this. Many thanks to Golf Pride and @THP.
Here is what I’ll say, I regripped tons of clubs when I worked there one night a week.
I’ve seen it all too. Really fresh looking grips to grips that looked really rough. I was Lucky enough to be a tester for this grip and can say the process is much easier than I was accustomed to.
Would these make me change grips more often? Probably not, as I am pretty religious to keeping fresh grips on anyway, but would I do them myself now? Sure.
The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the thick white line at the top of the grip. I’d prefer a solid color, but it’s only cosmetic.
I didn’t do all 3 grips at one time (arthritis in my hands) so I didn’t experience this but can see it being an issue.
Only standard.
I was fortunate to be among the THPers selected to test this product, and Concept Helix has the potential to be a game changer.
I had a few discussions with the GP tech rep during my evaluation. I took away a few things from them:
I have changed grips, using both air and solvent, and it’s not one of my favorite things to do, especially with solvent.
I play standard grips with two wraps of tape, so I tried to do the same on my graphite driver and 4h shafts, and my steel shafted sand wedge. My wedge had the Ping Dylawedge grip, so I attempted to add tape at the bottom to simulate a +4 configuration similar to the Dylawedge.
As others have noted, the hardest part was removing the old grip tape. A combination of hot air, rubbing alcohol, grip solvent, and effort took care of them. I had no issues installing the wedge grip over two layers of tape and more at the bottom. The driver was the most difficult – I saw the “bunching” others observed and it took several attempts to get it on the shaft to the point I was happy with it – and I could do only one wrap on that club. The hybrid install (one wrap) was between the other two in terms of difficulty. The tightening with the horn was not difficult, and the grip feels as secure as any I have ever played with. I have about nine rounds, inside and out, on these grips and I have never felt any hint of slippage. I’m a chemical guy and would have thought there would be a difference between tape and the mechanical approach, but I could detect none. I haven’t had to tighten the grips once since installation. They play like any other grips I have used. I don’t plan to remove them until they need to be replaced. Of course, I prefer a rubber grip, so these fit my preferences more closely than those of other testers. I noticed no difference in my shot flight with these clubs. Maybe I’m not nearly as sensitive to grip weights and diameters as I thought.
Once installed, removal and re-installation is a piece of cake.
I personally would redesign the horn to make it more of a giant wingnut. That would facilitate tightening and loosening. Also, if you lose the horn . . . .
I would play these, especially at the price point, if they offered sensor compatibility and more model options.
Great recap!!
You know, I was wrestling with these questions myself. I think someone who plays a lot of always likes new grips will love this. I also think it’s hugely beneficial for that one club that wears out faster than the rest of the set (hi, driver) and this can be a stand in until you have to do the full set. It’s not ready for a mass takeover of the whole world but it could get there in a short time.
That’s very interesting. I may go back and try that.
This exactly, I put it on my 50* because I use it so much and want to see the durability. So far so good after probably 15 rounds or so.
Join the "velcro" movement
Another area that is overlooked is the person that likes different grips based on weather, but doesnt want to change every 6 months.
Oh snap – that could be perfect. Never even thought of that
If you promise not to tell, I did one install where I cleaned everything off and one install where I left most of the old tape. Both are holding strong so far but I’m still nervous about the one with the tape
Removal of the "traditional" grips and installation of the Concept Helix went very smooth. In fact, it was so straight forward that I was sure I was missing something. As @Molten mentioned in his write up, you can install these while sitting on the couch with no mess, and that’s exactly what I did. The instructional videos were helpful and only took me a couple minutes per grip once I got the hang of it. I did not experience any bunching during the installation process (I have them on both graphite and steel shafts for reference). One thing I did struggle with was removing the Horn from the bottom of the grip after installation, but that could be more user error than design.
On the course, these felt nice in hand and performed as anticipated. I have used GP’s Tour Velvet in the past and enjoyed them fine, but appreciated the added texture the Concept Helix offers. I did experience some twisting or loosening of the grip during play, but a quick twist and I was good to go.
I’ll add more thoughts on these as I go, but at first pass it seems like Golf Pride has something here. These could be a great option for people like me who don’t do regripping themselves or as @JB mentioned, want different grip options based on the weather conditions.
Nice idea but I’m not sure there will be enough of a selection in grips for the foreseeable future.
Yeah, no idea what the timeline on expansion is and I’ll likely be forced to use the old method for a while but once I can make the switch without any compromise, I will.
Certainly will be interesting to see how they do. Seems very niche to me. But I’ve been wrong many times before.
I have been doing club work for about 20 years and have changed too many grips to count. I have done installations with both Solvent and air. The grip removal process was no issue for me, any stubborn tape is quickly removed with a quick hit from the heat gun to soften the bond.
The 3 clubs I chose were Driver, Hybrid and 7 iron. Three clubs I use consistently throughout the round.
After watching the install instructions the first club I attempted to install the grip on took several minutes. I then went through the removal process and that took half the time. After I completed the first grip and was comfortable with the entire process, the remaining two grips took about a minute a piece to complete the installation. I came away very impressed with the design and technology behind the Concept Helix. As far as the look and feel of the grip, I thought the pattern was very similar to the Tour Velvet when completely installed. The feel was on the softer firm side, with enough tack to instill confidence. A few "test swings" in the yard and confirmed for me that the grip would hold in place with no slipping or twisting. I was able to get multiple test rounds in, a couple were in the rain and was very pleased with the performance of the grip overall.
A highlight of the versatility of the install. During one round, my Brother in Law inquired about the grip, he has arthritic hands and uses Jumbo grips. He picked the club up and stated "he liked the feel, too bad it wasn’t bigger". I told him to hold on, popped the grip off, left it a bit shorter than the original install, then twisted it down to make it a larger diameter. Locked it in place and let him swing away. He liked how it felt during the swing, then he and our playing partners joked that I changed the grip like it was a NASCAR pit crew changing a tire. (Not that it would be normal or permitted to do that during a round, but it leads credence to the lack of time it takes to change the grip).
The only negative that I experienced has already been brought up. The task of twisting the grip to secure it does take a toll on your hands. Although minor, it would not keep me from utilizing these grips in any way.
Overall, I am impressed with this concept for changing/maintaining grips. Is it for everyone …. probably not. But it does provide an easy method for anyone to change grips. With the price point where it is, it is a very affordable method to do so as well by yourself. Since this is new technology, I look forward to seeing what other styles of grip textures and colors might be introduced.
You should try taking it off and letting us know if easy or not. I’m thinking it could be an issue depending on the amount of use and the heat you have played in
Not sure if they could do align in this, with how you have to twist the grips on…
It would definitely be complicated!
Haha yes it would. I did have the same thought, and they’d almost have to tell you how many clicks to turn to get it to align. It could be done, but lots of frustration on install, IMO.
Interested to see how this turns out too.
I regrip my entire bag usually at least once a year. Sometimes more if I’m messing around with something like a non-corded grip, midsize, etc. I don’t think I fall into the early adopters bucket for something like this but like seeing some innovation here and looking forward to seeing how this evolves over time, hopefully with more grip types & sizes. I think the price point here is a good choice as well considering some of Golfpride’s MCC line sell for more per unit.
There are thousands of golfers that change grips each year and would love the opportunity to do it themselves, yet don’t want to invest in the materials to do so. This gives that to them.
Not sure a roll of tape and a bottle of solvent is much investment. I suspect most don’t do it themselves because they can’t be bothered. Not sure this device is gonna change that mindset in most personally.
This is absolutely correct, the vast majority of service work I did while I worked there 1 night a week for several years, was regripping clubs.
And a place to hold it, etc etc. Making a simple, affordable and completely clean option for people doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
$1.50 per grip for installation is a great deal, at Dick’s we charged $2.99 per grip installation.
Align would be a nightmare on these…
As @e1iterate & @JB can attest, I’m a religious regripper of my clubs. I’ve done so many grips over the years working at Dick’s, I have no issues with regripping the old school way, and will probably continue to do such (I play the MCC +4 Align grips, so they probably can’t produce my grip with Helix Tech).
I concur with the other feedback, getting the shaft cleaned up for install is harder than installing this grip.
So you’re the guy that’s still using a pencil and paper to do your calculations? You know of this thing called Excel or even a calculator? You have my permission to put your abacus in a closet….
The abacus is old reliable …. can’t put that away.
The most time consuming part was getting the grip tape removed. Once the grip tape is removed, putting on and taking off the grip is very easy. I have never been one to regrip myself, and I would not hesitate to put these on my clubs if they offered cord grips. That being said, I have been playing the Helix grips on a driving iron, wedge, and fairway wood with no issues with how the grips have performed in warm, humid conditions.
I play with two extra wraps on my grips and the Helix feels about the same thickness. This is purely a guess.
With the difference between traditionally installed grips and this offering, (adhesion & friction vs. mechanical compression) I am curious to know if there is any appreciable difference in stress imparted on the golf shaft. And if there is, how does that impact the original design of the shaft bend profile or EI curve.
I’m also in the group who very much likes shot data, and noticed that these grips don’t have any way of attaching the necessary devices. Maybe this is something that could be accommodated in future releases though. Could be as simple as drilling a hole in the centre of the tightening mechanism. And lastly, I’d like to see other grip type offerings; I play the MCC+4.
Great reviews all around from the many testers! Great to see so many first time regrippers!
I don’t have a technical answer to the bolded section, but I can tell you there was no discernible difference in feel while loading the shaft or at impact. It felt like any other GP grip with similar texture. I’d be surprised if there was a discernible difference, but after learning that paint affects ball performance, I’m sure my non scientific opinion means nothing.
I didn’t have any issues aligning the grips when twisting. There’s nothing really to align.
In my hands they definitely feel like a size between standard and midsize, and if anything leaning closer towards midsize.