During all of the review of the 2025 CrossFit Games rulebook, it appears that the section on ‘Equipment Policy’ might be the biggest change once athletes are on the competition floor. More specifically, Section 7.01 and 7.03 of the 2025 CrossFit Games rulebook has been modified to prohibit the use of grips that enhance grip.
Section 7.01 – General (Equipment Policy) states, “Common support attire that is not allowed includes but is not limited to knee or elbow wraps, gymnastics dowel grips, and tacky non-chalk substances used to enhance grip.”
Section 7.03 – Live Competition – Specific Attire Requirements adds, “The gripping surface of the hand may not be tacky or sticky. Grips must be made of a material that provides hand protection but not additional grip advantage.”
Neither of these clauses were in the 2024 CrossFit Games rulebook. Below are screenshots from the 2024 CrossFit Games rulebook:
Upon reading the 2025 rulebook, Victory Grips owner Vic Pellegrino took to Instagram speculating that rubber-based grips would be banned in competition this year.
Pellegrino ended that first video by saying he was going to reach out to CrossFit to get clarification on the new language in the rulebook.
Last night, Pellegrino received a response from Adrian Bozman, CrossFit’s Competition Director, clarifying the new rule.
According to Pellegrino, rubber-based grips will be banned from all competitive stages for the 2025 CrossFit Games season. Leather or synthetic leather grips will continue to be permitted in competition.
Pellegrino said he submitted a package of grips to Bozman which included rubber, leather and synthetic leather grips. In the email response, Bozman said that all of the rubber-based grips provided would be banned.
But apparently the ban is not limited to just rubber-based grips. In Bozman’s email to Pellegrino, Bozman states, “They [CrossFit] tend to avoid language around specific materials when possible as that level of specificity could leave the door open for loopholes regarding material blends or newly developed materials we could not have anticipated or are difficult to determine via visual, tactile inspection.”
In Pellegrino’s reel he goes on to speak about which stages of competition the rubber-based grips would be banned. He says the grips will be banned at all in-person competitions and refers to Section 7.03 (specific attire requirements at live competition). With that he shares that Bozman’s email states that CrossFit will work with all In-Person Qualifying Events to ensure the language in the rulebook around grips is adhered to.
Now, Pellegrino only speaks to the in-person competitions. However, Section 7.01 is the section covering general equipment policy for all stages of competition. Given that both Sections (7.01 and 7.03) include similar language it appears that the rubber-based grips will also be banned in the CrossFit Open and CrossFit In-Affiliate Semifinals.
As this began circulating on social media, many quickly pointed to Frog Grips and how they are now banned from the CrossFit Games. However, many companies, including Victory Grips, have recently developed rubber-based grips.
In speaking with Sean Coote, co-founder of Frog Grips, he said that most athletes actually don’t wear the rubber-based Frog Grips (e.g. Elite 4.0) due to “the chalked rigs and quick turnaround to starting heats.”Â
The reason is that rubber-based grips work better without chalk. “Chalk-free grips (rubber grips don’t require chalk) in a chalked environment are actually less efficient, like at an In-Person Qualifying Event,” shared Coote. He believes that if an athletes chooses to use them it should be the athlete’s choice.
But regardless of the new ban, Coote said its mostly a non-issue as many of the athletes he knows who use Frog Grips at the elite level already use their other products during competition that are still able to be used this year like the Base Grips 2.0 or the Fibre Grips.
A request for an official statement by CrossFit was not immediately returned. I also reached out to Will Moorad asking how the World Fitness Project will handle grips for its competitions this year. That request has also not been returned.
So at this time it appears that rubber-based grips are banned from the 2025 CrossFit Games season. Hopefully CrossFit will release a public statement clarifying the new language in the rulebook so that all athletes are aware of what is and isn’t legal.Â
In my opinion, having an email read by an owner of a grip manufacturer on Instagram should not be the official communication of such a sweeping change that could impact a significant number of athletes.
This is not the first time certain grips have been banned. Last year CrossFit banned a specific grip made by RX Smart Gear due to a dowel-like effect created by a stitched fold at the end of the grip. RX Smart Gear provided free replacement grips to any athlete who qualified for the CrossFit Games.
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