How to Buy a Hockey Stick
Choosing a hockey stick is second in importance only to your skates. A good stick will provide great "feel" while handling the puck.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Hockey Sticks
- One Roll Each Black Sticky And White Cloth Athletic Tapes
- Hockey sticks
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Note that hockey sticks are made of wood, graphite or a composite of wood and fiberglass.
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Consider that replacement will eventually become an issue. Wood sticks are much cheaper ($20 to $30, as opposed between $30 and $90), but when they wear out or break, the entire stick needs to be replaced. With the other types of sticks, you can just replace the blade, which comes in all types of shapes and sizes, depending on your style of play.
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Understand that all of the sticks' shafts will have different amounts of "give" to them and that every player will have a different opinion about how much flex is just right. Generally, younger players need more flex, and older, stronger players need less.
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Buy the right size. When you're standing in shoes, your stick should come at least to your nose. As a rule of thumb, a shorter stick allows an offensive player more control of the puck, and a longer stick enables a defensive player to reach out and check more easily.
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Know your correct "lie," which is the angle of the blade to the stick. When you're in the ready position, there shouldn't be a gap between the ice and your blade.
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Tips & Warnings
Start with a wooden stick if you're a beginner. It will be much less expensive, and it will give you a chance to experiment before you get a more permanent shaft.
Try the stick out in the store. Don't be afraid to test the flex out.
Make sure you have two sticks if you're playing a real game, hockey sticks sometimes break.
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Comments
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DavidG
Dec 11, 2006
Chosing a stick is a personal decision. There is no Right or Wrong. but you should experiment with many styles and lengths and curves. Each player develops their own skill set and choosing a stick can inhance or limit a players "options" with the puck. I appreciate the comments that people have shared about sticks so far but skating is the most important aspect that players should be focused on. The trouble with sticks today is there are too many choices- Just because you can use a Forsberg blade with your Sakic shaft doesn't mean squat! Buy a straight bladed wooden stick and practice with that- It will help you more than one of these space aged sticks with a curve from the future! -
Aug 08, 2006
I've been coaching hockey for 6+ years at the collegiate club level. I've noticed the following about sticks: 1. Way too many players are right-handed. Too many people are not being taught the very basic idea that the top hand provides all of the control and touch, so it should be your dominant hand. I have a whole team full of righties who can all shoot hard, but can't hit the net, catch a pass, or handle the puck. It's easier to learn to play hockey shooting left than right. 2. Too many of those righties are using one-piece sticks. Newsflash: one piece sticks don't make you better if you're not already a good player (i.e. playing at least at the AA travel level). One piece sticks are for people who have good soft hands. If you don't have good hands, the stiffness of the blade makes it much harder for you to handle the puck and so it makes you worse, not better. 3. Stick length: too many kids use sticks that are way too long. When you handle the puck, your top hand should be about hip level. If' it's higher than that, the stick is too long. This isn't as big a problem, but keep in mind that unless you're 6'4" like Mario Lemieux, your stick shouldn't be as long as Mario's. I still get plenty of kids who are 5'9" and using sticks that are almost taller than they are.
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Feb 21, 2006
As a general rule, if you're playing defense you should have a longer stick. Not only will it allow you more range when you're stick checking, but a longer stick allows more leverage for harder slap shots from the blue line. On the contrary, shorter sticks allow for more stick handling control and more accurate wrist shots. And while it really comes down to preference, I prefer a square toe to a round toe (the shape of the tip of the blade); usually the square toe has a bit more area on the blade, making it easier to tip and/or knock shots down.
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Feb 21, 2006
As a general rule, if you're playing defense you should have a longer stick. Not only will it allow you more range when you're stick checking, but a longer stick allows more leverage for harder slap shots from the blue line. On the contrary, shorter sticks allow for more stick handling control and more accurate wrist shots. And while it really comes down to preference, I prefer a square toe to a round toe (the shape of the tip of the blade); usually the square toe has a bit more area on the blade, making it easier to tip and/or knock shots down.
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Jan 26, 2006
Even though the curves are called "left-handed" and "right-handed", they are named backwards. You control the puck with your top hand, therefore if you're right-handed, you should shoot left (with the right hand at the top of the stick). The bottom hand only provides power for your shot.
