Buying
and Preparing a New Stick
Buying
a New Stick
Times have changed quickly from the
day of the inexpensive wooden stick. Parents
and players are consistently investing in the modern highly hyped composites.
The problem is that the kids are suffering.
In the past, stick manufacturers would actually put relevant information
on the stick needed for the purchase. Now,
the sticks have an NHL players name on it with little to no information. There are many things to think about before buying a stick:
Type of curve, Lie, Weight, Shaft Size, Blade and Flexibility.
Without keeping these in mind, a parent may buy a stick that is not
suited to their child.
Type of Curve:
Many parents want their kids, especially young
children, to be able to lift the puck. Thus they purchase a stick with a big
curve. This may allow a player to
lift the puck, but may make it difficult to use their backhand. Remember, a good hockey player needs to be able to turn in
both directions and pass and shoot from their backhand as well.
Although some players can master a sharp curve, most cannot.
The stick is also illegal if you can fit a dime under the blade while it
is lying on the ground. Heel
Curve: This is a straighter
looking stick with a slight bend at the heel. Sometimes is easier to handle the
backhand with. Mid Curve: Most
generic sticks come this way. The
curve is in the middle of the stick and looks sharper than the heel curve. Toe
Curve: Not as popular, but is on the market if you look hard enough.
Lie of the Stick: Very few sticks have this printed on the stick any more. The Lie of the stick is the angle of the stick to the ice when the blade is flat. For example:
 |
This
is very important, because if a skater naturally skates bent over, and he is
using a lie 6 stick, the toe of the stick would be off the ice. The puck would
slide under the toe of the stick, and the player would lose the puck.
|
Skater
that skates bent over using a Lie 6 stick |
|
Or if a player that skates more straight up and down has a lie 5 stick, the heel of the stick will be off the ice. The puck would slide under the heel of the stick and the player would lose the puck.
|
Skater
that skates more straight up and down using a Lie 5 stick |
|
If the Lie is not printed on the
stick, then you can check for yourself. There
are two ways: 1. Hold the sticks you are comparing side by side.
Keep the blade flat on the ground. See
if you can find the difference. 2.
(I like this way better.) Take the two sticks you are comparing and hold
them by the blades. Line the blades
up so that they are exactly equal and squeeze the sticks to be lined up.
You will see if the shafts line up or not.
The higher the shaft, the higher the Lie.
Shaft Size:
There are different style sticks to
choose from. Youth, Mid (Youth
Shaft with Adult Blade), Adult. Most
are fairly consistent from manufacturer to manufacturer.
However, choosing the right one will matter. The size of the shaft affects the puck control of the player.
If a young player is using an adult stick, then he will have great
difficulty holding the stick. It would be like playing baseball with the bat upside down.
Try to swing while holding the opposite side of the bat.
Try to get a stick that fits the size of the hand.
Some sticks are more rounded making it more comfortable to hold and makes
it easier to roll the wrists.
Blade:
The blade of the stick comes in
different varieties: a youth blade and an adult blade; a rounded tip and a
square tip; a rounded bottom and a flat bottom.
The differences are sometimes slight.
Adult vs. Youth: The adult blade is longer and wider. At first thought, why not let the kids use this?
The puck will stay on the blade longer.
Think of it like having big awkward feet. The stick would be heavier by
the bottom, especially after you tape it. It
is bigger and harder to handle. Go
with the youth blade for the younger kids.
A mid stick has an adult blade with a youth shaft.
Rounded vs. Square tip: Most players will not notice that much.
However, as you get better at Stickhandling, then the rounded stick comes
in handy when the puck is in the feet or out away from the player.
As you have the stick blade at an angle to the ice, the player would have
more stick hitting the ice than a square and more pointed stick.
However, some players like to use the tip of their stick and can thus use
a squarer ended stick by rotating the blade to the tip and doing a toe tuck back
in to the body. Flat bottom vs.
rounded bottom: Very similar to the
top of the stick blade in comparison. The
flatter the blade to the ice the more stick blade on the ice. This leaves fewer margins for error for the puck to slide
under the blade (if the player slides their bottom hand properly up and down to
accommodate for the blade). However,
the rounded stick may help the less proficient puck handler as they lean over,
the stick still has much of the same amount of blade on the ice. Really, the main concern should be the length and width of
the stick (Adult vs. Youth). The
other two are very slight in nature and the average player may not even know the
difference.
Flexibility:
The flex of the stick is usually
printed on the stick. The younger
and weaker the player, the lower the flex should be.
The stronger and heavier the player, the higher it should be.
The flex determines how much the stick will bend when pressure is put on
it. This particularly comes into
play when the players get older and start taking slap shots or have a stronger
snap shot. The stick bends and
whips back into place snapping the puck. If
the stick is too stiff, then the effect of the slap shot is lost.
The stick will simply hit the ice and all momentum from the wind up is
lost.
Remember that the kids do not need
the highest end stick. It is true
that you get what you pay for, but you still do not need the highest end.
A beginner player can easily get by with the lower end sticks.
They do not have the ability to flex and handle the puck effectively to
make the higher end worth it. The
mid level player can easily handle a mid level stick.
My 2 sons (9 and 8) certainly do not need a $200 stick.
Now that they play squirt travel hockey, I have stuck more to the $65 -
$75 Composite stick. When they were
mites, they used wood. As you get
to be an adult or older player, you may need to find a stick that will last.
The mid level sticks will break too easily. I need to use the highest flex possible 110 - 120 and a lie
6. If I use a 100 flex, the stick
gets whippy in a matter of weeks. Whippy
meaning that it lost its tension in the shaft, and the stick no longer snaps
back.
Preparing
a New Stick
Now that you have purchased a new
stick, do you actually prepare it the right way?
Many parents try to get the most out of the stick and do not cut it down
enough. The sticks can be very
expensive. When preparing the
stick, keep many factors in mind: Height of the stick, what type of Tape to use,
and what type of Knob to make.
Height of the Stick: The height of the stick can vary from
player to player. However, I like
to tell people to cut the stick in a general area of the Adams Apple to the
nose. If the player has the stick
cut just below the nose (while on Skates), then the player will have a chance to
grow into the stick a little. This
does force the puck further from the body making it harder to stickhandle in
small areas. However, it may help
with slap shots and other shots for a longer stick will be more flexible for
younger kids. The stick at the nose
height can also create bad habits in hockey players, for it forces them to have
their top hand on their hip. This
will hinder their ability to turn, pass and shoot.
A small stick usually makes for quicker hands and better puck handling in
tight areas. It naturally puts the
player's hands closer together. However,
this may hinder their shot, for most players do not have the leg strength and
balance to get low enough to get a good shot off.
Type of tape:
Most players use the colored thin
regular tape. This allows them to
make their blade colorful. It is
also fairly easy to tape. The other
alternative is the thicker sticky black tape.
The regular tape is easy to apply, but wears out much faster then the
sticky tape. The sticky tape is not
all that sticky, but it does help cushion the puck better as it hits the stick.
A few secrets: apply a strip of tape to the bottom of the stick before
wrapping the blade. This doubles
the tape layer on the bottom of the stick making it last longer. You can apply Wax to the bottom, front and back of the stick
to keep it from collecting snow or absorbing water. I like to go heel to toe when taping. You can roll a puck from heel to toe on the front and back of
the stick blade to get the tape to adhere to itself better.
The Knob:
This is one of the most important
parts of the stick. The top hand is
the dominant hand and needs to be in control.
Many parents and players make their knob too big.
This is the same as the shaft of the stick. The knob needs to be able to fit into the player's hand.
There are rubber knobs on the market, but they are often too large for
the younger players. Many older players actually shave down their knobs to make
them more rounded and smaller. This
helps with rolling their top hand. I
suggest that you try a thin strip of tape that is rolled into a string.
Wrap the tape around the stick to form a handle.
Single layer only. Then
cover the thin strip with one layer of regular tape (Choose your own color).
This should make it a small knob, but big enough to get the stick off the
ice. The knob itself is to be
covered to keep it from going into other helmet cages, help get the stick off
the ice (younger kids), and for better control (most important).
In conclusion, do your research on
the stick before you buy one. Try
to get a similar stick to your last one. This
will make the transition to a new stick easier. Your backup stick should be the same height, lie etc.
Your off-ice stick for shooting and stickhandling should be shorter than
your on-ice stick (you are not on skates).
You can always lengthen the stick again with a wooden implant handle.
Do not be fooled by the price, a mid level should be fine for most
players. Most important, the stick
does not make the hands better. Practicing
your stickhandling, passing and shooting will.