The introduction of the one piece composite stick, has added many question to people who are purchasing hockey sticks. I am hoping that I can help and give a little advice to people who purchase hockey sticks and are possibly thinking of switching from the old wooden sticks to the new graphite, composite sticks.
HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT COMPOSITE STICK
SIZE: The size of a stick is important with reference to the length and to the circumference of the shaft.
- Junior: Youth (usually no older than 12 years old)
- Intermediate: Adult women, and tall youth
- Senior: Adult males, strong women and teens
FLEX: The stiffness of the shaft is crucial to get the maximum performance from the stick. It is also known as the flex of the shaft, and there are a couple of different flexes with different purposes, and depending on age, and size, depends on which stick will be right for you. Note that a more flexible shaft is usually better.
- Flex 110: strongest players, very hard shot
- Flex 100: Defense and strong forwards
- Flex 090: strong forwards, equal wrist and slap shots
BLADE TYPE
- Mid Curve: Traditional, best for all around use
- Heel Curve: Best for raising the puck quickly with snap and slap shots
- Toe Curve: Used for fast rising shots, and more accuracy with wrist shots
- Offset Quicker: fast shot release
WHY THE NHL PLAYERS USE THEM Graphite composite materials are paving the way for the hockey stick world and are pushing aside the old wood and aluminum products. Composite sticks, shafts and blades offer many performance advantages to hockey players of all skills and ages. In fact, the vast majority of NHL players have made the switch to composite sticks to improve their performance for the following reasons:
- improved shooting performance and consistency
- consistency in the product throughout it’s life
- Lighter and more consistent weight
- the problem with these sticks is that they don’t last long enough. They seem to break pretty quickly. They’re a little overpriced.
- NHL players do not pay for their own sticks, so durability does not really matter to them.
DOES A COMPOSITE STICK IMPROVE POWER IN A SHOT? Many people believe that the puck can be shot at least 10 mph faster with a composite stick than a wooden stick. This was proven to be wrong at the recent NHL All Star Competition Al MacInnis won the hardest-shot event for the 7th time with a 98.9 –m.p.h shot using a good old wooden stick. All the other superstars competing in this even were using graphite composite sticks. So if you are using a wooden stick now, I do not recommend switching, when something is working good, why try and fix it.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH A COMPOSITE When I switched from my wooden stick to a composite, my entire game changed for the worse. I found the puck made noise when it hit the blade, and that I could not execute the fine slap shot and wrist shot I once had. For some people it does wonder for their game play and for others it just hinders it. So try it out, but do not expect greatness, because true greatness comes from skill, hard work, and extreme amounts of effort.
