Advice: Hockey Parents: When do you replace your kids' sticks?

[jetsmooseice]

My oldest is 8 and has been using a Sherwood Playrite composite stick for about a year and a half now. It's a basic stick, I think I got it for about $50 at SportChek. In reality it is more like a year old given that we barely had a season at all here in 2020/21 due to covid, just practices and scrimmages.

His stick is visually in decent shape but it's starting to show signs of chipping on the toe. He is still young enough that he doesn't have the upper body strength to put real pressure on it, he usually likes to go high with fairly light wrist shots. So that means the stick has lasted for a while.

Is there any point in replacing it before it is literally broken or before he outgrows it?

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[Filthy Dangles]

Sounds like it’s just cosmetic so no. As long as it works and he doesn’t feel any performance problems i would ride it until it breaks. Should probably have a backup stick ready to go though if you don’t already

 

[HansonBro]

Sounds like it’s just cosmetic so no. As long as it works and he doesn’t feel any performance problems i would ride it until it breaks. Should probably have a backup stick ready to go though if you don’t already

This. If you dont already have a back up then the answer is even easier. Also try taping the stick like Matthews to prevent toe chips

 

[Yukon Joe]

I have an 8, 9 and 11 year old playing.

8 and 9 year old have a single hand-me-down stick from their older brother. They're not putting any kind of force on their sticks so far so I'm not at all worried about them breaking.

11 year old has 2 newer sticks form the start of the year. He's never broken a stick but I relented this year to get a back-up stick as he is starting to put more force on his shots.

I don't really like the look, but I have been taping all the boys sticks all the way over the toe in order to prevent any chips.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Thanks for the answers, guys! As with Yukon Joe, my 8 year old doesn't really put any force on the stick so the breakage risk seems remote. I was just worried more about whether there is any problem due to the chipping that is starting to happen, but it sounds like the stick should be fine. Maybe I'll just tape up the toe like HansonBro suggested.

I do keep his old wooden Sherwood around from his Timbits days as a backup stick, so I think I'm covered!

 

[LarryO]

The only thing I would add is that your kid is growing, so if he's outgrowing the stick, you could add an extension end plug.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Agreed with the above.

- On ice or smooth surfaces, play with it till it physically breaks or the kid is too tall to use it any more.

- On asphalt, play with it till the bottom of the blade gets so worn down that it becomes a flat line.

I would add, in respect to a kid getting too tall for the stick -- I think a lot of folks tend to buy sticks that are too long for a kid. At a young age, there's not much point to having a long stick and it makes puck handling much more frustrating to learn. In the end it can actually develop bad habits in carrying the puck. The "nose rule" is a standard for adults, but I would say kids should be marking it from their chin (notwithstanding that you're going to want to buy it a little longer so they can grow into it) so they can more easily learn the fundamentals of puck handling and shoot more effectively.

 

[NewDef]

The only thing I would add is that your kid is growing, so if he's outgrowing the stick, you could add an extension end plug.

I coach u11 and u13 this year. For all players, too long a stick is bad but if the player is a forward and the stick starts to be a bit short, i recommend they keep playing it as it shows them to play the puck close to their body. Too many players rely on a long stick instead as skating into the play. Other than that, a stick should last a good 2 seasons at that age as long as they dont play in the street with it Or hit repeatedly the stick on the ice (yep, my 11yo completely trashed the heel on his warrior as he always hits the ice hard when he miss, i untaped it to refresh the tape and it fell appart... ka ching dad...)

 

[ChuckLefley]

I coach u11 and u13 this year. For all players, too long a stick is bad but if the player is a forward and the stick starts to be a bit short, i recommend they keep playing it as it shows them to play the puck close to their body. Too many players rely on a long stick instead as skating into the play. Other than that, a stick should last a good 2 seasons at that age as long as they dont play in the street with it Or hit repeatedly the stick on the ice (yep, my 11yo completely trashed the heel on his warrior as he always hits the ice hard when he miss, i untaped it to refresh the tape and it fell appart... ka ching dad...)

You can’t make a general statement like that when it comes to sticks for youth hockey players. They all grow at different speeds. My son is in good shape and has grown about five inches and put on about 30 pounds in the last two years. There is now way he could be using the stick he played with two years ago.

 

[NewDef]

You can’t make a general statement like that when it comes to sticks for youth hockey players. They all grow at different speeds. My son is in good shape and has grown about five inches and put on about 30 pounds in the last two years. There is now way he could be using the stick he played with two years ago.

I understand this, there always are exceptions but a few of the best forwards i know play with sticks under the chin and they play close to their skates, are hard to poke and rarely lose the puck. Everyone agree too long a stick is bad for many reasons but yeah, 5 inch short is too much. Dang, that's a growth spurt! At u9 and u11 you never see 5 inch in a year, at u13 it starts and we do have a few bambi that need to re-learn their body. You can flag them on first day of camp. I love those challenges as a coach but for the kids it's a bit overwhelming to go from A to C just because all of a sudden their skating takes a huge drop. Ah, kids, they're all different and I love being able to help them.

 

[ilyazhito]

How often do goalie parents have to replace their kids' sticks? I would say probably less frequently, because there is a more limited range of paddle heights out there as compared to stick lengths for regular skaters. It would probably depend on how durable the sticks are and if the goalie can drop into a butterfly without having undue arm-body gaps and/or exposing the five hole.