Consume
everything you need to know about what’s out there. featuring product reviews, news and features.
little things mean a lot A
t this time of year, with all the Christmas cash spent, we all tend to batten down the hatches and pretty much make the gear we have got
last until festival time. But there a few things that can help
matters along through the second half of the season. Here’s a couple the PUSH team have found useful.
glucotabs
During training or competition, sometimes an energy boost comes in handy. Glucotabs are glucose energy tablets. With four grammes of carbohydrate ( almost entirely glucose) per tablet, Glucotabs crunch up pretty quickly in your mouth (think slightly soft Refreshers for the texture). The flavours are pleasant – raspberry and
my preference orange – and the taste doesn’t hang around in your mouth for too long. There’s nothing complicated going on with these tablets - no caffeine or anything fancy. Just what it says on the tin – glucose. Depending on your personal preference you might find these easier on the stomach than some of the energy gels that are around. The other thing I liked with Glucotabs
is that they come in a robust refillable plastic tube which does a good job of stopping the tablets breaking up
– they have been in my kitbag for over a month. The tablets also seem to be quite widely available in pharmacies and supermarkets and they are not expensive – 50 tablets for around £3 or 80p for a tube of 10 – bonus. Just one warning that applies to all
these types of products - your energy needs during and after exercise and how your body responds to various sources of energy is complex. So it is wise to at least understand some basic principles of nutrition before you take anything. Have a look in our iMprove section for some practical guidance.
malik stick tape
Tape is just tape isn’t it? Well actually no. Over a long and very un-illustrious career I must have used enough tape to wrap up the London Olympic stadium several times over. At times I’ve probably been guilty of playing with a stick that was more tape than stick. Now the days of Redgra and wooden sticks are mostly behind us, there is less need for repairs – but tape still comes really handy for minor grip issues and the odd small mending job.
This Malik brand cloth tape is
expensive as tape goes (I paid an eye- watering £4 for a 10m roll) but it’s by far the best I’ve used. Firstly, it’s very sticky
– big tick! Then it’s thin, but very tightly woven making for a robust tape. The edges are also tidy so they dont roll up if you use the tape on a grip. If you are using the tape to attach a
grip, or even to create a grip, the other good news is that the stickiness doesn’t bleed through to the outside of the tape. The end of the tape sticks down really hard too – again no ruckling up. I do know a handful of players who
just use tape as a grip, that’s not for me, but this Malik tape makes an excellent extension to the grip in the right-hand zone and also does an good job for finishing a grip at the top of the handle. And, yes, it’s available in a choice of
bright colours (red shown above) which keep the stick looking neat long after all that white tape has turned a grubby gray.
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