Buttendz Paradox Lacrosse Grip

Pretty much everyone who plays lacrosse puts some kind of tape on the end of their stick as well as a butt end; either a plastic factory one or one they made themselves using tape. After a while, tape gets ruined with rain and sweat and becomes gross, discolored and soggy.  It also is abrasive to your gloves, ruining the palms of your gloves quicker and making them smell bad quicker as well. The guys behind Buttendz, a company from fantastic Buffalo, NY, were inspired by grips on golf clubs to start their company making grips to replace tape on hockey sticks.  Not too long ago, they expanded to the lacrosse market with the Paradox grip, and I tested it out.

Installation of the Paradox grip was pretty easy and only took about five minutes to actually apply.

Step 1: Included with the grip is a small bottle of Buttendz's proprietary application solution.  To install the grip, spray about half the bottle into the grip and make sure it is wet all inside.



Step 2: Place the Paradox on the end of the shaft and pull it on about an inch.



Step 3: Continuously spin the shaft while simultaneously pulling the grip up.  Spinning the shaft or the grip is very important as it prevents it from tearing

Step 4: Leave the shaft sitting for at least 24 hours without using it.  I felt the grip after 24 hours and it still felt a little bit loose, so I'd recommend leaving it a full 48 hours like I did



The Buttendz Paradox is made completely of rubber, giving a very nice grip both with or without gloves on and none of the annoyances of tape, while staying soft and grippy in all weather conditions.  The Paradox is about a foot long, which gives you plenty of room for your bottom hand and extends to around where most people put their top hand when shooting.  I think this is a good length and if you want something shorter you could always cut it.  I did notice the grip was a bit heavier than expected, which some people might not like, but I was fine with.

With NHFS and NCAA rules requiring the butt end to be capped, Buttendz took care of this nicely.  The bottom of the Paradox is closed and it has a very nice knob at the end.  The knob is about half an inch thick going around the shaft and gives you a similar feel to a tape butt end, but with a nicer rubber feel to it.

It is also quite durable. With it on my stick it was hit quite a bit and is still in perfect condition with no marks or tears on it.

The Buttendz Paradox comes in several different color options, including black with a three choices of a colored drip and gray with four choices of colored drip.  The one I tested was yellow, which looks pretty cool with a volt Nike Lakota.  I do wish it was available in some solid colors like just black or just white, but the available colors all look pretty cool and I'm sure Buttendz will expand their color selections in the future.  Coming in at a a price of $30, it is a bit steep but I'd still definitely recommend the Paradox if you're looking for a very good alternative to taping your stick.  Although everything about it wasn't perfect, I really liked how the Paradox performed on my stick and feels great.