As a coach I love using thick or fat grips when training. I feel it takes much stress off the elbow and shoulder joint. As an athlete the worst thing I ever wanted them to feel was joint stress or pain because of weight room activity. I had all types of modalities to use log bars, thick bars, ez curl bars (long and short ones!), fat gripz, thick cable pulldown bars (straight and V grip) and my pull-up/chin-up handles were thick too.
Even though now you get more use out of the hands and forearms and maybe not the specific musculature you are intending to work the stress relief on the elbow and shoulder joint will pay dividends as the athlete’s career advances and it’s a really great thing to have strong hands too!!
To even understand this more, take something thin like a pencil or fork handle and hold it out with a straight arm in front of you. Now, take something thicker like the barrel of a baseball bat or something with that thickness. As a result, most likely the thinner object probably was felt more in the elbow joint. The thicker object stress was felt in the hands and forearms. Correct?
Using different types of equipment or hand grips/placements with different athletes will no doubt help aid in getting them stronger faster. Put tension where it is supposed to be… on the muscle. Don’t hinder the joints.
Attack your day!!!