Grips are the most personal piece of equipment in gymnastics. More personal than your leotard, more personal than your beam shoes, more personal than anything else you wear or use in the gym. They're the interface between your hands and the bar, and everything that happens on the uneven bars — every giant, every release, every transition — happens through them. Getting the wrong grips is not a minor inconvenience. It's a fundamental problem that affects every skill you have and every skill you're trying to learn. The Reisport Women's Uneven Bar Gymnastics Grips are the right grips, and I want to explain why that matters as much as it does.
The Grip Problem
I've been doing gymnastics for eleven years. I'm seventeen now, competing at level 8, and I've been through four different pairs of grips in the past three years as I've moved up the levels and my bar work has become more demanding. The grips that work for a level 5 gymnast learning her first giants are not the grips that work for a level 8 gymnast working release moves and complex transitions. The requirements change as the skills change, and the grips have to change with them.
The specific problem I was having with my previous grips was the dowel. A dowel grip has a small rod — the dowel — sewn into the leather at the finger holes, which creates a ridge that catches on the bar and helps you maintain your grip through the rotation of a giant or the release of a Tkatchev. The dowel on my previous grips was too thick for my hand size, which meant it was catching at the wrong point in the rotation and affecting my timing. Small problem, enormous consequences.
Finding the Reisport Grips
I found the Reisport Women's Uneven Bar Gymnastics Grips in the Gymnastics Grips collection on ALTOE. Reisport is the brand that serious gymnasts use — they're trusted by Olympians and the Swiss National Team, which is the indicator that the specifications are designed for elite performance rather than recreational use. My coach had been recommending Reisport for two years; I'd been resistant because I was used to my previous brand and change is uncomfortable when you're working on skills that require precise, consistent equipment.
The slim dowel specification was the feature that made me finally switch. Reisport's straight silhouette with slim dowel is designed to sit at the correct position on the finger for the two-finger hole design — reaching to the first knuckle of the middle and fourth finger — which means the dowel catches the bar at the right point in the rotation for a wide range of skills. The double buckle closure provides a secure, customisable fit that doesn't shift during a routine, which is the practical requirement for grips that are going to be worn through giants, releases, and transitions without adjustment.
Breaking Them In
New grips require breaking in, and I want to be honest about this because it's the part of switching grips that puts gymnasts off. Fresh leather grips are stiff and don't conform to your hand immediately. The breaking-in process takes approximately two to three weeks of regular bar work — during which the grips feel different from your old ones and your timing on skills may be temporarily affected. This is normal and expected, and it's the reason you don't switch grips immediately before a competition.
I broke the Reisport grips in over three weeks of training, working through my bar routine progressively as the leather softened and conformed to my hand. By the end of the third week, they felt like an extension of my hands rather than something I was wearing. That's the quality of a well-made leather grip — it moulds to you over time in a way that synthetic alternatives don't.
The Difference on the Bars
Once broken in, the difference was exactly what my coach had told me it would be. The slim dowel was catching at the right point in my giants, which meant my timing was consistent in a way it hadn't been with my previous grips. My Tkatchev — the release move I'd been working on for six months — became more consistent within two weeks of the grips being fully broken in. The connection between my hands and the bar felt more secure and more precise than it had with any previous pair of grips.
I competed in my first level 8 competition wearing the Reisport grips eight weeks after I'd started breaking them in. I hit my bar routine cleanly for the first time in competition — no bail, no missed connection, no timing error on the Tkatchev. That's the result that tells you the equipment is right.
My Recommendation
If you're a level 5 or above gymnast and you're still using your first pair of grips or a brand that isn't working for your current skill level, the Reisport Women's Uneven Bar Gymnastics Grips are worth the switch. Measure your hand carefully and size correctly — the fit is everything. Break them in properly over two to three weeks before you compete in them. Trust the process even when they feel different from what you're used to. The Reisport grips are what elite gymnasts use because they work, and they'll work for you too.
You'll find them in the Gymnastics Grips and Gymnastics Protective Gear collections, the Gymnastics and Athletics ranges, and the broader Sporting Goods collection on ALTOE. Break them in. Trust them. Hit the routine.
— Megan Holloway, level 8 competitive gymnast, eleven years in the sport, and person who hit her bar routine cleanly in competition for the first time eight weeks after switching to Reisport, Guildford
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