' 02 Bowtech grip dimension question...

[Rangeball]

I think I' m on to (not just on ) something...

I have a Diamond hornet. It has a slim grip, very narrow throat, only 1" wide I believe...

While I thoroughly enjoy this bow, I often pick up various model bows when I' m in proshops just to see what you guys are talking about I have often noted that bigger gripped bows, such as ' 02 bowtech, Parker and even Mathews, felt more natural in my hand. A while back I asked here about the possibility of getting a bigger grip for my diamond, to which I was convinced by many not to do it, bigger grips are bad, they impact more of your hand, are more prone to torque, etc, etc. So I backed off and let the issue drop. But something happened yesterday that got me rethinking...

My brother-in-law bought an ' 02 BT Extreme Solo. He was showing it to me at a family function (didn' t get to shoot it) and the minute I put the grip in my hands, I got that " this is perfect" feeling all over again. I remembered many of you lamenting this grip as too big, but it just feels oh so right to me. On the drive home I was thinking about this situation and it dawned on me- perhaps I was making the rookie mistake of listening to advice based on others indivisual physical dimensions. It would be like getting on her and asking " Hey, this extra large jacket feels great, like it was made for me. What do you guys think?" and getting the response " No, that' s much too big. You want medium" .

So anyway, I' m sitting here at my desk this morning trying to get fired up for a Monday, holding an imaginary bow at full draw. My bow hand is fully relaxed, not tension whatsoever. I measured the gap between by thumb and forefinger, 1 3/8" . If I close the gap to 1" , like the grip of my bow, instant hand tension with no way to alleviate it.

So I' m thinking maybe the bigger grips feel better to me because they fit my individual hand size and musculature much better. Does anyone know the thinkness of the ' 02 bowtech grip throat?

[JeffB]

Rangeball..

How funny this should come up.. After a very frustrating weekend shooting my #1 and # 2 bows. I decided to pick up my 2002 bastardized " G-38" (G3.2 Converted to a P-38)...big honkin grip and all....and I shot it better yesterday than I' ve shot in the past few months ..go figure

IIRC, I think Ausie Guy prefers the old grip to the new one..I like the small throat of the new one, but the grip angle is too low for my tastes, so I did not shoot it as consistently. The old grip is a bit higher and promotes a different style grip that is obviously more comfy for you.

Only you can determine what feels best for yourself..Some guys do in fact shoot better with a big grip, especially those with very large hands....use what works!

BTW..the grip throat is about 1 1/8" on the 2002 Bowtechs.

[PABowhntr]

To some extent I agree as well. This is one of those situations where a general recommendation is fine but in order to " fine tune" your choices you really need to try it for yourself.

Case in point, just about everyone that puts their hands on any of the new ' 03 Hoyt grips or the ' 03 Bowtech grips tends to enjoy shooting them because they are so small in diameter and so smooth in your hand. However, their small size does not take into account each individual archer' s actual hand dimensions. The ' 03 Hoyt grips might feel small even for someone with a small hand but then what happens to the person with a larger hand? Well, it would make sense that the larger handed person could probably get away with shooting a slightly larger grip, now doesn' t it?

I had an experience recently with a bow that had a grip relatively narrow in diameter but somewhat longer in depth than what I have been accustomed to shooting. It took a little time but I finally became accustomed to the new style grip. I guess what I am trying to convey is that some grips might work for most people but others might only work for some...

[Rangeball]

I know many took the ' 02 grip off the bows in favor of bare riser or a replacement. Anyone have one lying around they want to get rid of?

I might experiment with putting some material under the diamond grips as well, to see if I can build them up a bit...