pvr
Leather Skates
- Jan 22, 2008
- 4,712
- 2,113
So, i've been pondering for some time what exactly makes a shot "heavy". I'm not talking about shot speed. I think we can all remember with fondness Byfuglien's shot, which while not extraordinarly fast or hard, was often described as "heavy". It would make a certain noise when it hit the goalies' pads...that "thud" that few shots make.
After watching the Hogs a few times this season, I've come to the conclusion that Kyle Beach has a heavy shot. Aside from an elite release, his shot just sounds different when it hits the pads (though not quite like Byfuglien's sound). It certainly is a fast shot, but again I think that's different than what I'm trying to describe.
Speed seems to be an easy thing to measure nowadays, with radar. But the heaviness of a shot...what makes that? Is it maybe that the puck follows less of a curved flight through the air, or that it loses less of its velocity than other shots might after it's left the stick, or perhaps that the puck spins more than a typical shot. All of these things could be measured by high speed video, with puck spin measurable perhaps by painting a line on the side and counting revolutions per second.
Has anyone else noticed this, and are there any other ideas as to why this phenomenon exists?
After watching the Hogs a few times this season, I've come to the conclusion that Kyle Beach has a heavy shot. Aside from an elite release, his shot just sounds different when it hits the pads (though not quite like Byfuglien's sound). It certainly is a fast shot, but again I think that's different than what I'm trying to describe.
Speed seems to be an easy thing to measure nowadays, with radar. But the heaviness of a shot...what makes that? Is it maybe that the puck follows less of a curved flight through the air, or that it loses less of its velocity than other shots might after it's left the stick, or perhaps that the puck spins more than a typical shot. All of these things could be measured by high speed video, with puck spin measurable perhaps by painting a line on the side and counting revolutions per second.
Has anyone else noticed this, and are there any other ideas as to why this phenomenon exists?