The Godfrey's Seat Grip has been around in the market for a while now, long enough for its efficacy to be well tested. A squidgy foam/rubber seat pad, with two holes cut in it to align with standard seat shapes, it fits onto both rowing and erg seats. This is a thoroughly modern version of a handy accessory which has been known to rowers for a while. The question is, how good is it?
The Rowing Service testers ranged from teenage to veteran, male and female, Henley winners to novice Concept II ergers. The pad got a good workout in both training and erging. Opinion was divided but it was clear that those who disliked the Seat Grip would not have liked any such pad - the make was irrelevant. In practical terms, the construction was sound, and the modern materials meant that it dried out quickly when soaked by thoughtless backsplashing. There was no 100% solid way to fix it in position, but friction on the rubbery underside more than adequately did the job.
The Grip stayed in position well, even on flatter ergometer seats, and was a huge help to those with very little fat over their gluteal muscles. "Brilliant, a god-send", "very comfortable", "can I keep it?" were specimen reactions. Where it scored low was in persuading those who didn't think they needed a pad at all, to change their minds. "Really uncomfortable, gave me an ache in my bum", said one. While veterans had a tendency to find more of a need for it, one lightweight elite oarsman was well pleased by the difference it made, as was a cox who tried it in the stern cockpit of an eight over a long outing.
Verdict: a well-designed example of a useful piece of equipment, though not necessarily to everyone's taste. But if your favourite rower moans of a stiff backside after an hour's steady-state rowing, here's a welcome present to cheer them up.