On GK Pro's skins match from Nevin Park, the tee pads were quite slick. On hole 3, Ulibarri used a "RipItGrip" mat to attempt to give himself some more traction on the tee pad. It's a product that has consistently sponsored the skins matches for something like the last year or so.
https://youtu.be/yeK035CgRos?t=953
Thereafter, he just uses a towel for traction. Clearly he wasn't satisfied with the something about the mat. Based on the amount the mat rotates, and the fact that he pulls the shot, I'm wondering if it wasn't quite enough traction.
Ulibarri is clearly always looking for a sponsorship opportunity, and it really wouldn't surprise me if he was hoping to forge some sort of partnership with the company. So you really have to look at this as big miss in terms of the ultimate in real world testimonials. (Although, I suppose you can't rule out Ulibarri using it just the once as a way to tease to the company that he'd be interested.)
But it's also very clear that slick tee pads are a huge issue for disc golf, given how often we see rain, or even just residual wetness, creating issues on the tour. Even the tees that are only a year old at Maple Hill were resulting in slip issues during the MVP open. That means that a product that really works could easily be a staple of any bag, especially on wet tournament days. The RipItGrip guys are clearly trying to provide that product, but aren't really being successful. Ulibarri is literally the only person I've seen to even try the product on camera.
So what are the challenges? I'm thinking that the bottom material will perform better or worse with the specific conditions, while providing a consistent grip with the top side material is going to vary based on shoe material and conditions. Still, you'd think if a towel works, that this should be solvable. Clearly a towel doesn't work well enough though, as we don't see every pro use one, even while clearly being affected by slips.
There is also the issue of how the product will wear over time. If you were to use a towel like substance on the bottom, it would likely wear through fairly quickly. You probably have the same issue on the top side, just to a lesser degree.
Size is probably a component here, where it's easier to get consistent performance out of a larger surface area, but that then implies a product that is easily foldable, but still easy to carry in wet conditions without getting other things wet and dirty.
Finally you have the issue of the balance between too much and too little grip. If you create something that is suitably grippy when wet, it might actually hold the plant foot too much in drier conditions, resulting in potential leg injuries.
Obviously, a huge chunk of the solution is just in tee box construction. I think Smuggler's Notch? put in some new paver tee pads that people were raving about. But you still need the tees to perform over time, especially as they have the opportunity to develop that nice patina of biological material.
I'm just curious whether anyone, especially if they have a background in materials, has really thought through this. Maybe the perfect mousetrap is out there.
https://youtu.be/yeK035CgRos?t=953
Thereafter, he just uses a towel for traction. Clearly he wasn't satisfied with the something about the mat. Based on the amount the mat rotates, and the fact that he pulls the shot, I'm wondering if it wasn't quite enough traction.
Ulibarri is clearly always looking for a sponsorship opportunity, and it really wouldn't surprise me if he was hoping to forge some sort of partnership with the company. So you really have to look at this as big miss in terms of the ultimate in real world testimonials. (Although, I suppose you can't rule out Ulibarri using it just the once as a way to tease to the company that he'd be interested.)
But it's also very clear that slick tee pads are a huge issue for disc golf, given how often we see rain, or even just residual wetness, creating issues on the tour. Even the tees that are only a year old at Maple Hill were resulting in slip issues during the MVP open. That means that a product that really works could easily be a staple of any bag, especially on wet tournament days. The RipItGrip guys are clearly trying to provide that product, but aren't really being successful. Ulibarri is literally the only person I've seen to even try the product on camera.
So what are the challenges? I'm thinking that the bottom material will perform better or worse with the specific conditions, while providing a consistent grip with the top side material is going to vary based on shoe material and conditions. Still, you'd think if a towel works, that this should be solvable. Clearly a towel doesn't work well enough though, as we don't see every pro use one, even while clearly being affected by slips.
There is also the issue of how the product will wear over time. If you were to use a towel like substance on the bottom, it would likely wear through fairly quickly. You probably have the same issue on the top side, just to a lesser degree.
Size is probably a component here, where it's easier to get consistent performance out of a larger surface area, but that then implies a product that is easily foldable, but still easy to carry in wet conditions without getting other things wet and dirty.
Finally you have the issue of the balance between too much and too little grip. If you create something that is suitably grippy when wet, it might actually hold the plant foot too much in drier conditions, resulting in potential leg injuries.
Obviously, a huge chunk of the solution is just in tee box construction. I think Smuggler's Notch? put in some new paver tee pads that people were raving about. But you still need the tees to perform over time, especially as they have the opportunity to develop that nice patina of biological material.
I'm just curious whether anyone, especially if they have a background in materials, has really thought through this. Maybe the perfect mousetrap is out there.
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