Fed Kennedy
Legend
Is it true that they are the same weight? How muted is the shock shield?
Shock shield is probably heavier. That said, once you add an OG to the leather they'll roughly be the same weights.
It's also a completely different feeling grip to leather. Leather is much harder. Shock Shield is much more cushiony (it has a strip of medium firm squishy gel). I can't see how anyone liking leather would like Shock Shield or vice versa. You lose quite a lot of feedback with Shock Shield. Good for taking out vibrations from a harsh or stiff racquet though if that's what you want. Also, forget the official thickness specs on the Wilson site. Shock Shield is fat compared to any of their other grips.
See my comments here: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=370707
^ Depends what you mean by arm friendly.
If you're talking about the amount of vibrations travelling thorugh the racquet into your arm, then yes, it filter out more of those vibrations than any other grip I've tried, as it acts as an effect barrier in that sense.
As for tendonitis whether wrist, elbow, or shoulder, that's more swing mechanics, which I can't see a grip affecting too much. The only thing I would wonder about is whether having too soft a grip would cause the person to grip too tight? But I'm no expert on this.
Gotcha. Sounds like it might not be much better than a vibration dampener.
It's definitely better than a vibe damper at reducing vibrations into your arm. Vibe damps don't do much in my opinion other than change the resonance of the strings on impact.
Yes, it is better than a vibration dampener.
Shock Shield and every layer of overgrip serve to reduce a little more shock & vibration.
The question only you can answer is whether it would reduce enough shock to make your current racquet & string setup sufficiently arm-friendly.
You can have both: gel to reduce vibrations, and leather to feel the bevels.
I recently did this on my Head Pro Tour 630 Lite. The gel strips go under the pallet. This also corrects the Head Grip shape to Wilson. Leather can go on top. I actually did not use leather, I used a regular Head grip (soft). For gel, I recommend sorbothane. Check the web -- it is sold in sheets.
I must say the effect is quite perceptible. I have another identical racquet which has not undergone this operation yet, so I can play them side-by-side. The feel has much improved. Low-level flutter is dissipated very effectively. Strong big jolts still come through -- but as a single solid thud now, not a brassy cacophony of little reverbs.
Beware that sorbothane is very heavy. It is a good thing to put it on a Lite racquet, but I would think twice about putting it on a regular Prestige. Especially, since it will be quite labourious to remove it.
I recently called up Sorbothane and was told that one of the companies that manufacturers different types of equipment using Sorbothane is in the process of coming up with Sorbothane grips.
I don't know how close it would be to the original Gosen Sorbothane grips, but at least there will be some sort of replacement, rather than having to resort to cutting short strips from a sheet.
Do you think Shock Shield helps make a racket a little more arm friendly?
Is it true that they are the same weight?
That's it! Give it a go.
You can have both: gel to reduce vibrations, and leather to feel the bevels.
I recently did this on my Head Pro Tour 630 Lite. The gel strips go under the pallet. This also corrects the Head Grip shape to Wilson. Leather can go on top. I actually did not use leather, I used a regular Head grip (soft). For gel, I recommend sorbothane. Check the web -- it is sold in sheets.