Two Saturdays ago, I went to the Discount Hockey store in Woodland Hills to buy a new hockey stick. I wanted to get something at least very similar if not exactly the same as my current Warrior Mac Daddy, 85 flex, Jovanovski blade pattern. Needless to say, the fact that the Jovanovski (aka Lidstrom, aka W02) blade pattern doesn't seem to be sold widely anymore made me a disappointed customer.
I did pick up two other things: more black hockey tape (although it isn't Renfrew, and I think I like these particular rolls better than Renfrew) and the Green Biscuit. I'd seen it before and was curious enough to want to get it, but I never bothered to order it online. I saw some Green Biscuits in the display case of the checkout desk, and I thought "why not?"
As the linked video shows, the Green Biscuit works very well for what it was designed to do: stay flat on less-than-ideal surfaces. The friction of the vulcanized rubber of a hockey puck makes for nightmare-inducing and frustration-building training exercises because the puck won't stay flat as it would on ice. When you as a player are practicing stickhandling and trying to get better control of the puck, you want to increase your pacing. Doing so with a puck on surfaces other than ice or a shooting pad or varnished, smooth flooring is just going to disrupt pacing.
After practicing with this for a week in my garage (the only real space I have at the moment), it's everything that it's advertised to be, and I love practicing with it. This particular version is designed just for stickhandling and passing (they make a shooting version if you want something more durable), and it works wonders for it. There's a split in the flooring of the garage based on how the flooring was laid out, and the Green Biscuit glides over it like it's one continuous piece of flooring. I haven't used it extensively in the driveway, but it's a tiled pattern with space between the pieces, and again, the Green Biscuit slides over it all like I'm really stickhandling on ice.
If there's one thing not to like about it, I guess it's that the product works too well, if that's possible. While regular hockey pucks cause problems on rough surfaces, there is something to be said for learning how to handle bouncing or rolling pucks because those kinds of things happen in games all the time (especially depending on the ice quality). The puck stays flat to the point where you have to actively try to get it to flip up or do something other than slide on the surface. But as a training aid, it provides a seamless practice tool for stickhandling and passing.
Showing posts with label gear talk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gear talk. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Hockey Stick Length
I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned in this space before about how much I love my Warrior Mac Daddy hockey stick. My favorite thing about it is the Jovanovski curve and its square toe. But a couple months ago, I came across this very curious website.
I had been searching the internet for methods of cutting hockey sticks, both in what tools I needed to actually cut them so that I wouldn't need to go to a hockey shop and in where on the stick I should cut it for my height. Yes, I'm fully aware that like most aspects of hockey equipment, the best judge is me and what I feel works best for me, but having very little on-ice experience isn't a great barometer for determining what works for me, so I wanted to see what works best for other people.
At that point, I stumbled upon that Cut Hockey Sticks website, and it really piqued my interest. A lot of the photos were certainly convincing and also didn't look photoshopped. The video was also pretty interesting, but since it looked like an old video, it made me wonder: how applicable is their method of cutting hockey sticks if they're all using wood hockey sticks with what looks like very minimal curves?
I paid more attention after first seeing that website to keeping the blade of my stick down as flat as possible. Since I use sticks with curves, I obviously had to turn them a little bit, or else the blade would come up off the ice. But when I tried to let my blade lie flat while holding my arm straight down, this happened:
I highly doubt it would be good for me (or anyone else) to have to turn their hockey stick this much just to handle a puck with the blade flat on the ice. So let's do what the video did and bring my hockey stick up so that my blade is flat on the ice:
So that looks more acceptable from this angle. How much of my hockey stick will I have to cut to get it to this length?
Yeesh.
If I just absent-mindedly went through and chopped off (mutilated) that much of my hockey stick, I might get a stick that would conform to the video's guidelines, but the flex would be non-existent for someone as not-very-strong as I am. I might also run into other problems using a stick that short while on skates.
Still, the whole premise was something I wanted to pursue and see where it took me. I also have a CCM U+06 hockey stick which I decided would be my dummy test for short sticks. It was an 85 flex with a Couturier curve, and at its store-bought length, it was about an inch or an inch and a half shorter than my Warrior stick. I picked a point on the CCM stick and had it cut. Here are more pictures for comparison:
And just to illustrate the point further, here are two pictures of the hockey sticks side-by-side to better grasp the difference in shaft lengths:
I haven't actually taken out a ruler and measured it, but the difference between the two hockey stick shafts is about 7 or 8 inches.
It's been a few weeks now, and the early returns aren't very promising. I don't know how much is me just getting used to using my Warrior stick or whether I'm doing things "correctly" or any other number of factors.
I've used my Warrior stick for a couple weeks on the ice here in LA during my winter break, and I've pretty much eliminated the problem of the bent elbow on my own. Whenever I would take a stick and puck down to the basement of my house at college, I would get an ache in my shoulder from stickhandling because of how much I bend my elbow, but the problem seems to have gone away on its own, both in on- and off-ice stickhandling. I'm much more mindful of using my top hand when stickhandling, and that seems to have helped a bit.
The shorter CCM stick actually isn't bad. I was hesitant at first because I really wasn't used to having a hockey stick that short, but I decided to use it at Sabby's clinic one week, and use only that stick. Stickhandling was actually more comfortable with the CCM than with the Warrior. Overall, as I got used to the feeling of it, I found that I could work with it pretty easily. The downfall is that because I had to cut so much off the original, the flex is too stiff, so I can't shoot the puck at all with it. The second problem I is controlling loose pucks, especially off the boards. Surprisingly, there was no discernible difference in defensive zone coverage, and I had plenty of data to draw from because I somehow kept being the last man back on a two-on-one during the Sabby's clinic scrimmage.
It was an interesting experiment, but I'm not entirely sure where to go from here. I still have the CCM stick because it's a useful emergency backup if something ever happens to my Warrior stick. I would like to see if I can use a stick more regularly that's closer to the CCM shaft length. I can't quite say that I "prefer" it because I've found ways to work with both, and especially in recent weeks, I've gotten much more comfortable with my Warrior stick. I don't see any senior sticks sold at that shaft length, and if I cut it, every single stick I can find on the market will have too stiff a flex. I don't see any intermediate sticks either that are sold at that shaft length, and I'm worried about having a flex that's not stiff enough.
I'm not yet at the point where I'm comfortable cutting my Warrior stick even just an inch or two. With the way I'm getting used to it and working really well with it as is, and with me not wanting to risk anything with this hockey stick because it took me forever to find, I'm not willing to do anything to change it just yet. I may cut it a couple inches at some point in the future, but that will be a long time from now.
At this point, I'll take my two goals from last week's Sabby's clinic scrimmage, scored with my Warrior stick, and just roll with it into the second half of intramural season.
I had been searching the internet for methods of cutting hockey sticks, both in what tools I needed to actually cut them so that I wouldn't need to go to a hockey shop and in where on the stick I should cut it for my height. Yes, I'm fully aware that like most aspects of hockey equipment, the best judge is me and what I feel works best for me, but having very little on-ice experience isn't a great barometer for determining what works for me, so I wanted to see what works best for other people.
At that point, I stumbled upon that Cut Hockey Sticks website, and it really piqued my interest. A lot of the photos were certainly convincing and also didn't look photoshopped. The video was also pretty interesting, but since it looked like an old video, it made me wonder: how applicable is their method of cutting hockey sticks if they're all using wood hockey sticks with what looks like very minimal curves?
I paid more attention after first seeing that website to keeping the blade of my stick down as flat as possible. Since I use sticks with curves, I obviously had to turn them a little bit, or else the blade would come up off the ice. But when I tried to let my blade lie flat while holding my arm straight down, this happened:
 |
| !!!!! |
Yeesh.
If I just absent-mindedly went through and chopped off (mutilated) that much of my hockey stick, I might get a stick that would conform to the video's guidelines, but the flex would be non-existent for someone as not-very-strong as I am. I might also run into other problems using a stick that short while on skates.
Still, the whole premise was something I wanted to pursue and see where it took me. I also have a CCM U+06 hockey stick which I decided would be my dummy test for short sticks. It was an 85 flex with a Couturier curve, and at its store-bought length, it was about an inch or an inch and a half shorter than my Warrior stick. I picked a point on the CCM stick and had it cut. Here are more pictures for comparison:
 |
| Warrior stick gets at or slightly above my eye level. Yes, I know that's a pretty long hockey stick for me. |
 |
| And here's the CCM stick after it's been cut. Comes up just below my chin. |
I haven't actually taken out a ruler and measured it, but the difference between the two hockey stick shafts is about 7 or 8 inches.
It's been a few weeks now, and the early returns aren't very promising. I don't know how much is me just getting used to using my Warrior stick or whether I'm doing things "correctly" or any other number of factors.
I've used my Warrior stick for a couple weeks on the ice here in LA during my winter break, and I've pretty much eliminated the problem of the bent elbow on my own. Whenever I would take a stick and puck down to the basement of my house at college, I would get an ache in my shoulder from stickhandling because of how much I bend my elbow, but the problem seems to have gone away on its own, both in on- and off-ice stickhandling. I'm much more mindful of using my top hand when stickhandling, and that seems to have helped a bit.
The shorter CCM stick actually isn't bad. I was hesitant at first because I really wasn't used to having a hockey stick that short, but I decided to use it at Sabby's clinic one week, and use only that stick. Stickhandling was actually more comfortable with the CCM than with the Warrior. Overall, as I got used to the feeling of it, I found that I could work with it pretty easily. The downfall is that because I had to cut so much off the original, the flex is too stiff, so I can't shoot the puck at all with it. The second problem I is controlling loose pucks, especially off the boards. Surprisingly, there was no discernible difference in defensive zone coverage, and I had plenty of data to draw from because I somehow kept being the last man back on a two-on-one during the Sabby's clinic scrimmage.
It was an interesting experiment, but I'm not entirely sure where to go from here. I still have the CCM stick because it's a useful emergency backup if something ever happens to my Warrior stick. I would like to see if I can use a stick more regularly that's closer to the CCM shaft length. I can't quite say that I "prefer" it because I've found ways to work with both, and especially in recent weeks, I've gotten much more comfortable with my Warrior stick. I don't see any senior sticks sold at that shaft length, and if I cut it, every single stick I can find on the market will have too stiff a flex. I don't see any intermediate sticks either that are sold at that shaft length, and I'm worried about having a flex that's not stiff enough.
I'm not yet at the point where I'm comfortable cutting my Warrior stick even just an inch or two. With the way I'm getting used to it and working really well with it as is, and with me not wanting to risk anything with this hockey stick because it took me forever to find, I'm not willing to do anything to change it just yet. I may cut it a couple inches at some point in the future, but that will be a long time from now.
At this point, I'll take my two goals from last week's Sabby's clinic scrimmage, scored with my Warrior stick, and just roll with it into the second half of intramural season.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Stick Taping
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.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Hockey Journal 7-24-13
Last Wednesday, I went to the rink early to get my skates sharpened before my hockey lesson. It had been a year since I got my skates sharpened, but I never really noticed that drastic a dip in performance, and I skated for some pretty intense workouts frequently over the course of the first year of owning my first pair of skates. Pretty much, the only real problem I sometimes had with them was stopping, since I wouldn't stop very cleanly sometimes, even to the point of traveling another 5 feet in a very choppy motion while I tried to stop. But largely, I had no problems sharpening my skates in August and not doing so since then.
While the guy behind the counter was sharpening my skates, I was going through the stick rack. Lots of Eastons. Lots, and lots of Eastons. They were shelved blade up, so I got a good look at the blades of the sticks since they were right in front of my face.
Then I found it. A Warrior Mac Daddy stick.* Jovanovski curve. I had a to wait a few days to scrounge up enough money (thanks, Mom!) before I could buy it, but I got it at a marked-down $75, and the shop gave me 10% off too. After having it for a day and about to take it onto the ice tonight for my hockey lesson, I'm so ridiculously happy with it.
I can't find any info on specs for the materials used, and I'm an amateur at best at identifying them, but it's a one-piece composite (not sure if fused or true one-piece), 85 flex, and as mentioned a Jovanovski curve. I've been looking for a stick with a square toe curve for a while because I have a terrible time getting the puck off the boards with rounded toe sticks. The only other square toe I could find these days is on a Getzlaf curve, but I've only ever seen those available in separate blade + shaft combos (and I don't have the money for the two pieces together). A nice bonus with this stick is the long blade, longer than any blade on any of my other hockey sticks, so I should get much better at receiving passes than with my Sherwood 9950 or Easton SY50.
I'll be doing a separate product review of the stick in the future, and I'll also be doing a video of how I tape my sticks using this Warrior Mac Daddy as my guinea pig. I can't wait to take it out on the ice tonight.
*I don't particularly vouch for that review, but it's literally the only video on this stick I can find on Youtube or on a Google search. Also, I don't really care much for the name "Mac Daddy," but that's what it's called.
While the guy behind the counter was sharpening my skates, I was going through the stick rack. Lots of Eastons. Lots, and lots of Eastons. They were shelved blade up, so I got a good look at the blades of the sticks since they were right in front of my face.
Then I found it. A Warrior Mac Daddy stick.* Jovanovski curve. I had a to wait a few days to scrounge up enough money (thanks, Mom!) before I could buy it, but I got it at a marked-down $75, and the shop gave me 10% off too. After having it for a day and about to take it onto the ice tonight for my hockey lesson, I'm so ridiculously happy with it.
I can't find any info on specs for the materials used, and I'm an amateur at best at identifying them, but it's a one-piece composite (not sure if fused or true one-piece), 85 flex, and as mentioned a Jovanovski curve. I've been looking for a stick with a square toe curve for a while because I have a terrible time getting the puck off the boards with rounded toe sticks. The only other square toe I could find these days is on a Getzlaf curve, but I've only ever seen those available in separate blade + shaft combos (and I don't have the money for the two pieces together). A nice bonus with this stick is the long blade, longer than any blade on any of my other hockey sticks, so I should get much better at receiving passes than with my Sherwood 9950 or Easton SY50.
I'll be doing a separate product review of the stick in the future, and I'll also be doing a video of how I tape my sticks using this Warrior Mac Daddy as my guinea pig. I can't wait to take it out on the ice tonight.
*I don't particularly vouch for that review, but it's literally the only video on this stick I can find on Youtube or on a Google search. Also, I don't really care much for the name "Mac Daddy," but that's what it's called.
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