Sometimes, our customers send us things that really make our day, if not the whole darn month! This testimony sent to us from owner/operator Jenni Hallock is one such joy.

We spoke with her and got her permission to reproduce it in its entirety. She told us, “You have to save your hands to swing bars. To the kids and to me, it’s a huge deal. I’ve got to tell them how awesome their grips are.”

Amen to that, Jenni!

Thank you so much for making the time to let us know how our grips have made a difference in your gymnastics life and and in the lives of the gymnasts under your guidance now!

“Hi There! My name is Jenni Hallock. I am the owner and head coach of G-4orce Athletics in Palestine, TX. I’m writing because I want to share a testimony with you about your grips and what they meant to me as a young gymnast and what they mean to the young gymnasts I now coach at my gym.

I’m currently 34 years old. I started using dowel grips at age 10. I continued to use them until my career as a gymnast was completed at age 16. I remember how excited I was to get my first pair of dowel grips. I don’t recall what brand they were, but they weren’t Ten-o. I used them only a short period of time before I began slipping off the bar. My coach and I tried to fix them, but I kept “pinging” off the bars. It just wasn’t happening for me. It wasn’t in the budget to buy another pair of grips, so to stay safe, I had to go back to a beginner pair of grips for a while.

A few months later, for my birthday, I got a new pair of dowel grips. This pair of dowel grips was different.These grips were red, white, & blue. I also had some matching wrist bands that went with them. These were Ten-o grips. I remember being nervous about using them. After all, my last experience with dowel grips didn’t go so well.

Let me say this, this new pair of grips allowed me to do tricks and swing on the bar like never before. I loved them! 

We purchased a size 0, couple of size 1’s, and a size 2 over the years. I am one of those people that keeps certain things that are important to me. For some reason, I have kept all of my Ten-o grips, some are over 20 years old. 

When I was preparing to open my gym last summer in 2017, and got the bars set up, we couldn’t find my daughter’s grips. Well, I went over to my trophy case and pulled out my old grips. She and I were trying to see if they would fit her and if they were in a condition to even use. I checked to make sure they weren’t overstretched, as I know that if they are they can get caught and lock up. Thankfully, they weren’t! And, she really wanted to swing some bars!

I first put on my size 2 grips from 1997. I took the grip brush to them, chalked them up and I did a kip fly away. My daughter went next with my size 0 grips from probably 1993? It was pure adrenaline!

When I first opened my gym in August 2017, some of my kids had grips some didn’t. I ordered a couple of pairs from you guys. — I’m getting to the point of this story I promise. — Do you know what those girls do now? They literally will argue over wearing “those grips.” Those grips that are my grips from 20 years ago. Seriously!  They love how they feel when they are doing bars. The girls will pout when “those grips“ are taken by another gymnast already at bars. Sometimes I take them and hide them, because I really don’t want them to wear them. I want them to wear their own grips and get them broken in. I had put mine out there for display never to be used again. The girls still do it, though, they try to be sneaky because they know they’re not supposed to. Of course, I make sure to not leave any in there that are too worn out or overstretched, for safety’s sake. Crazy kids! I’ve never seen grips that last like yours do!”

On the left, one of the new Ten-o 501 Blues Grips Jenni ordered for her girls since she opened her gym. On the right, one of Jenni’s old grips from the 90’s her girls keep stealing from the case, lol.

“They want to wear them because they can swing bars on them unlike any other pair in the gym. I can’t go on enough about the quality of your grips. We don’t have to use anything, but chalk on the new ones we’ve ordered from y’all or my old grips when I let them use them.

What’s funny is that some of the girls have grips from another company and they are slicker than climbing a mountain in high heels. Even being over 20 years old and somewhat used, my old Ten-o grips are the best grips in the gym. Some parents don’t have the money for new grips, and this being a new business and I don’t own a credit card,  I wasn’t in a place to purchase them for the girls until now. I couldn’t care less about ever trying another brand of grips. As far as I’m concerned, you are the only company I will ever purchase grips from. I just really felt I needed to share this story with you guys.”