Tru-Grip: Canadian made gymnastics grips
Tru-Grip was founded by Dr. J. Y. Mah, an orthopedic surgeon in Hamilton, Ontario.
Dr. Mah became interested in gymnastics while watching his son train and compete. He noticed that gymnastics was not only helping his son physically with strength, flexibility and spatial awareness but it was also teaching him valuable mental skills like patients, perseverance and goal setting. As Dr. Mah was often sitting in his office bored while on call for the hospital, he decided to start making use of this time and began making gymnastics grips for his son and his son’s friends. This soon turned to him supplying gymnastics grips across Canada.
Recently I, Kevin Lytwyn, have been fortunate enough to take over this business from Dr. Mah. I was a gymnast for 20 years and enjoyed representing Canada at World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Pan Am Games and many other international events. I have recently retired from gymnastics with the completion of an engineering degree but am glad to stay in touch with the sport by both coaching gymnastics at Gymnastics Energy in St. Catharines and by making Tru-Grip gymnastics grips.
A word of caution:
Gymnastics is an awesome sport but it can be dangerous. Grip inspection and maintenance is very important for safety. Grip inspection and maintenance is up to individual athletes and their coaches.
Some tips for general grip inspection and maintenance:
- Length of Grips: Over time the leather grips are made of will stretch. If grips get too long the athlete could be at risk of getting grip lock. It is highly recommended that athletes purchase new grips if their grips are getting too long. Please consult individual coaches if this is a concern.
- Cracks along the Leather: Over time cracks can form around the perimeter of grips. This often happens when grips are at their end of life. These small cracks can quickly result in a grip snapping while in use. This can be very dangerous. If you notice a crack on the perimeter of your grip, it is highly recommended that you order another pair of grips immediately. Please consult individual coaches if this is a concern.
- Slippery Leather: Over time grip leather smooths out and can become slippery. This can make it difficult for an athlete to stay on the equipment. Some athletes use water on their grips to help chalk stick better or a wire brush to make the leather surface rough and grippy again. Although these methods can allow for better grip, they wear the leather down faster and can lead to grip failure. Please consult individual coaches if you have this concern.
- Fraying Thread or Delamination of Glue: From frequent wear and tear, the threads that keep a grip together may start to fray and the glue that helps hold parts of the grips together might start to delaminate. Sometimes this can be repaired by a shoe cobbler if the leather is still in good condition but athletes do so at their own risk. Please consult individual coaches if you have this concern.
- Dowel Falling Out: The dowel is essentially the hook that helps an athlete hang onto the bar as they swing around. Often the dowel is glued in place and sometime this glue breaks down and the dowel falls out. Some athletes use superglue to repair this issue but athletes do so at their own risk. If you have this concern please consult with individual coaches.
Location
10 Elmwood Ave.
St. Catharines
Contact us
Phone: 905-317-7905
Email: kevin@tru-grip.ca