Taping Ice Hockey Sticks

Video Transcript

"Now, I'm going to show you how to tape your stick. The first thing you need to realize, is that there is different colors and different kinds of tape that are used on, to use on the blade. We have cloth tape right here, which is probably the most common kind of tape, to use on the blade. There's also friction tape, which is more stickier on both sides of the tape, but I'm going to be using white tape today, but a lot of people like to use black ,and black helps hide the puck. Some people say black hides the puck a little bit better. To start off, I personally, like to take a piece of tape about the length, almost the length of the entire blade, maybe about an inch or two shorter. So maybe about like this, and place it on the bottom of the blade, because the bottom of the blade is the part that gets most chewed up, when you're playing, so it helps protect it a little bit better. This is a personal preference. You don't have to do this, something like that. Now, a lot of people discuss whether it's better to tape a stick from heel to toe, or toe to heel. I personally, like toe to heel, but like I said, it's a personal preference, so you're going to start off by placing the tape, maybe about an inch away from the edge of the blade. Come around the other side of the blade. Cross over like that, and just keep repeating it. You want to make sure that the tape is very firm on the blade. You want to press down hard with your thumb, and keep moving the tape around the blade. Once you get to the edge of the tape, you've first put on. You're going to cut off the tape, and that's a quick way of taping the stick. It doesn't always have to be this length. Some people like to tape a shorter amount. Some people like to tape the blade, like cover the entire blade. It's a personal preference, and that's a general way of taping the blade, and for the other part of the stick, this is again a personal preference. Some people just like to have a little bit, maybe six inches. I went down a little bit further, but this is just to help you hold the stick in your hands."