Olympian Philipp Grubauer Explains Custom Stick Grip
Hand-Crafted Performance: The story behind the unique double-notch on Grubauer’s Bauer stick.
- Grubauer has used a double-notched custom grip on his Bauer stick throughout his entire NHL career for improved comfort and control.
- His technique involves choking down on the paddle and adding a single tape strip at the base of the shaft to simulate a knob.
- The choked-down paddle grip is a growing trend in the NHL, also used by two-time Stanley Cup winner Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight.
- Grubauer will represent Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics and recently debuted custom-colored True pads and gloves with the Seattle Kraken.
- Goalies can replicate Grubauer's setup using the True HZRDUS 9X4 Pro Return stick, currently available at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports.
Philipp Grubauer will represent Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics and while we have to wait to see if he has a new stick to match the custom-colored True pads and gloves he broke in last month, we know he will have a custom grip on whatever stick he uses.
“I’ve had that my whole career,” Grubauer told us of the unique, double-notched custom grip on the Bauer stick he uses with the Seattle Kraken. “It feels just more comfortable.”
Grubauer explained to InGoal how he likes to choke down on that custom paddle, to which he adds a single strip of tape at the base of the shaft, almost like a knob you’d normally find at the end of the stick. The 34-year-old Stanley Cup winner demonstrated how he holds it:
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