most girls in my group got them around old level 4-5. i tried them when my teammates got them and absolutely hated them, i refused to get grips until after a year of level 7 when my coaches told me they wouldn't move me to 8 if i didn't get grips. I had giants, and release moves without my grips and had no intentions of ever getting them. To this day i still hate grips and i actually rip more with my grips than i did without. I think it's completely personal preference with grips and obviously it's more common to love them, but i never push the girls i coach to get them if they don't want them because i know how much i hate using them.