Grip Aid Transcript
LISA: Hey there! My name is Lisa Belcastro and I'm so excited to share with you inexpensive ways to make sports more accessible to athletes with disabilities. For over a decade I have been working in the disability sport community as an adapted physical education teacher, volunteer, and advocate. Like many who run disability sport programs, funding is often limited. Even on a shoestring budget we must find creative ways to accommodate the needs of every athlete in our program. No one deserves to be left on the sidelines and we're here to make sure that never happens.

Today, we'll be talking about how to provide athletes who may struggle with grip a simple tool to participate in a variety of activities. Manufactured grip aids can be expensive and rather limiting. I have found an inexpensive and easily customizable tool that can be used for an assortment of sporting equipment such as hand weights, a cricket bat, tennis racket, or a body bar. 

All you need is a long sock and one gear tie, which is easily found at any hardware store. Once you have your supplies, you're ready to put your grip assist to action.

First you need a sock and a pair of scissors. You're going to cut off the top of the sock. You're going to slide it onto your athlete's hand. You want to make sure it goes up the arm. 

Next, you're going to need your implement and your gear tie. For this demonstration we've chosen a scoop. You're going to secure the gear tie to the implement by wrapping it around once and cinching it off.

Then you're going to put the handle of the implement into your athlete's hand. You're going to gently wrap around their hand once, back around the implement, and then gently wrap it up the athlete's arm. It doesn't have to be tight and it shouldn't be tight. There you go.

I told you that was going to be easy! In just a few simple steps we found ways to increase independence and accessibility. Athletes now have access to a variety of activities and it can all be built for just five dollars.

I'd like to thank the U.S. Department of State, especially the Sports Diplomacy Division and the University of Tennessee Center for Sport, Peace, and Society.

We hope this project design serves you and your athletes well. Be sure to tag us on social media with your builds. Links to our social media accounts are available in the description.