Notes:
I recorded this video on Wednesday, so “yesterday” was
Tuesday.
Tape overlap: Overlapping this way also creates a dual-layer
at the bottom without using a second strip of tape just to cover the bottom of
the blade. So now the ice needs to wear through two layers of tape instead of
one.
Using a stick without tape: I actually used only one stick
without tape, and it was for at least two on-ice sessions. Easton SY50, wood.
The blade started cracking at the bottom, and over time, the blade’s started
coming apart and now I can start to see the layers that make up the blade of
that stick. It holds together pretty well when I tape it up, but it’s hard to
re-tape it because I have a difficult time getting all the old tape off since
it can get stuck in the little cracks in the wood.
Here’s a video on another interesting way to tape the butt-end of the stick. I tried doing this before, but the “grip” actually felt
worse to hold than a simple wrap-around job.
Cutting sticks: Only one stick, I got cut: the Sherwood
9950. The corners and edges, even after the people who cut it for me sanded the
thing off, felt like they could hurt me any second before I taped them up.
How much tape on the knob? I’ve seen so many people use a
lot of tape going from the top to about a quarter or even as much as a third
the way down the shaft. Personally, both in the interest of saving tape and for
my sanity, I just use enough so that my hand covers it when I hold the stick. There
is another way I’ve seen NHL players which involves creating a spiral that
covers the whole area where the hands would be. I have absolutely no interest
in trying out that particular method of taping the stick, but I’m really
curious about what they’re trying to achieve with that tape job.
It took me a long time to figure out stick taping (only 20 years or so). The biggest thing I learned was to try lots of things.
ReplyDelete1. Wax helps quite a bit, my brother just uses a cheap candle, I like http://www.sexwax.com/item/hw/wax-other/, but there are probably other options
2. Try different colors for your blade. I've found that I like black tape on my blade, it seems to help me know where my stick blade is while I'm catching a pass.
3. I keep hearing people say "Heel to Toe" for taping direction. Personally I like toe to heel. It's a bit odd what I do, and it probably doesn't actually do anything but it's what I like.
I start with a very dramatic angle at the toe (like 40 to 30 degrees) so the tape is closer to the stick than the toe when I reach the top of the blade, then I slowly decrease the angle so it's straight up and down by the time I reach the heel.
Anyway, just try different things no matter how silly they seem. I did the strip of tape on the bottom of the blade for the longest time, but it never seemed to work for me.
4. Top of the stick: I make a knob of tape till it's about 1/4 inch(ish), then twist the tape up until it's roundish and candycane down for about 8 inches. Then I tape back up to the top.
I usually use a longer stick than I should to increase my poke check range. But I need to keep my top hand down a bit for stick handling so where my tape ends is generally where I put my hand for stick handling. The knob helps me know where to stop if I slide my hand up for poke checking (I'm not trying to do this, I swear).
The knob is useful for propping your stick off the ice when it falls to make it easier to pick up. That's one reason goalies usually have such large knobs.
5. Candycane/grip stick. I've never candycaned the whole stick before so I can't say. I tried the grip stick thing and I'm not sold on it yet. But to each their own. It is supposed to make it easier to hold your stick well so you can apply power on your shot. I just suck at shooting so it might be a bit lost on me.
Good luck!
I tried a few things, not a lot, but I get the feeling that I've found some things I like, especially since I'm still at the point where I'm still figuring out what the purpose of a lot of it is, so I'm not as obsessive with it.
Delete1. I've heard that about wax, but what's the point of using it? I just got finished looking through some youtube videos, but they told me contradicting things. Some guys said they get a better grip on the puck while another guy said not to use too much wax or else you'll sacrifice puck control!
2. I haven't actually tried anything besides black tape for the blade, but I don't really have any interest in trying something else. I'll get way to obsessive with keeping it clean if I use white tape, to the point of re-doing the blade every time I play to get rid of the scuff marks.
3. I tried toe to heel. I couldn't really find any physical reason to prefer one way or another, so I chose an aesthetic one, and heel-to-toe won out for me. Yours definitely sounds like an interesting way to tape the blade, but I'm having a bit of a tough time figuring out what that ends up looking like both as you're taping it and as a finished product. I've tried using the strip of tape along the bottom of the blade, but I pretty much only ever use it if I'm practicing slap shots in my fraternity house's basement, where there are tiles that can wear away the tape. (There's a lot of evidence of the work I've done present on that floor.) It's just for durability so I'm not interrupting my practice to put a new tape job on, so you'll never see me use the bottom strip on the ice.
4. I haven't gotten many sticks, but the ones I work best with are usually a bit longer than they probably should be for me. I don't choose longer sticks because of poke checking (though they definitely do help out), but a slightly longer stick actually works better for me, even if it kills my left arm with all my elbow movements. Shorter sticks that feel more comfortable don't work too well for me because my already non-existent shooting ability actually gets worse with those kinds of sticks. When I can find one, I'll try to get a good length shaft stick with a lower lie on the blade (and hopefully with a blade I like as much as that Warrior Mac Daddy) and see if it makes a difference, comfort-wise.
The knob doesn't really help or hurt when it comes to picking my stick up off the ice. I prefer not to use one just to save some tape. Maybe I would use it if I were a goalie, but the times I've lost my stick in the middle of a game, I was able to pick it up knob-less without any hassle.
5. I've touched grip sticks. My hands revolted at the feel of them. It's probably an influence from my brief stint with lacrosse, but with the way I stickhandle on the ice, I don't want any friction on the shaft of the stick so my bottom hand can move up and down quickly. So that's another reason I really don't want to candy-cane the stick to any length because there's really not any one spot I have my hand on when stickhandling since it varies depending on how and where I'm handling the puck.
Thanks a ton for commenting and for the insights!
Wax: it's a personal thing of course, but for me it helps stop my tape from getting torn up, and when I had a wood blade it helped keep the water off the blade so it lasted longer.
DeleteAs far as tape color, some people like the scuffed-up look of white tape after it's been used. I used to use white, but found that I catch pucks better with black.
Taping, I put my paint skills to the test and we'll see if I uploaded this properly: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ode_xezwDPo/UffvXXhjdtI/AAAAAAAABIs/QqDFvRU9Wt4/w357-h244-no/taping.png. There is probably no good reason to do this, it's just what I've found I like. Like I said, play around.
For length a shorter stick + rounded toe helps with close-in puck handling. Same with a shorter blade. I tend to like a longer stick + long blade. I used to like a very square toe on the blade. They are so hard to find that I've had to deal with a squircle toe, I find I don't mind it.
So if you find you are having trouble stick handling in close, those are things to consider.