Jarick
Doing Nothing
I have a different philosophy on open curves...to me, they aren't open to help get the puck up but because you want to play them with the blade closed. That means you want a higher lie than recommended, because it will be flat on the ice when you close up the blade.
Now when you do this, you're kind of trapping the puck between the blade and the ice. This lets you load up the stick while maintaining contact, which you can then release towards the target (i.e. snap shot). The open blade means that the puck won't just slide along the ice, because the blade face is more closed. Basically it changes the angle that you hold the stick so that your wrists are more rolled over and you can use the ice to help flex the stick for a more powerful shot.
Try that with a neutral face curve and the puck will weakly slide along the ice. You'll lose power. Now there are disadvantages, because in "standard" stickhandling position, the toe comes off the ice. That's why those curves have a rockered heel, to help with stickhandling. But less blade on the ice means less blade to make or catch passes, and stickhandling overall is trickier.
Wrist shots required a different technique as well, since you'll need to cup the puck, otherwise there's not enough blade on the ice to roll the puck heel to toe, which is why you get that wobble. You need to just nix the traditional wrister and embrace the snapper.
Slap shots aren't affected as much because you want the blade face closed upon impact anyway. Depending on the curve, loft, lie, and stick length, you'll have to adjust where you hit the puck and how open you leave your blade on contact and follow through. In general the puck will raise up a lot more with the same technique.
The Sakic and Drury have nearly identical lie, length, rocker, and toe. The difference is that the Sakic curves and twists open in the middle while the Drury just kinks and opens at the heel. The Sakic tends to be easier with stickhandling and puck protection as well as accuracy, while the Drury tends to give you more velocity on shots and can be easier to use for catching/receiving passes. This is my experience using those curves extensively.
Sorry for the book but it's fun to think about curves...I literally lay awake at night or daydream about them in the car or at work.
Now when you do this, you're kind of trapping the puck between the blade and the ice. This lets you load up the stick while maintaining contact, which you can then release towards the target (i.e. snap shot). The open blade means that the puck won't just slide along the ice, because the blade face is more closed. Basically it changes the angle that you hold the stick so that your wrists are more rolled over and you can use the ice to help flex the stick for a more powerful shot.
Try that with a neutral face curve and the puck will weakly slide along the ice. You'll lose power. Now there are disadvantages, because in "standard" stickhandling position, the toe comes off the ice. That's why those curves have a rockered heel, to help with stickhandling. But less blade on the ice means less blade to make or catch passes, and stickhandling overall is trickier.
Wrist shots required a different technique as well, since you'll need to cup the puck, otherwise there's not enough blade on the ice to roll the puck heel to toe, which is why you get that wobble. You need to just nix the traditional wrister and embrace the snapper.
Slap shots aren't affected as much because you want the blade face closed upon impact anyway. Depending on the curve, loft, lie, and stick length, you'll have to adjust where you hit the puck and how open you leave your blade on contact and follow through. In general the puck will raise up a lot more with the same technique.
The Sakic and Drury have nearly identical lie, length, rocker, and toe. The difference is that the Sakic curves and twists open in the middle while the Drury just kinks and opens at the heel. The Sakic tends to be easier with stickhandling and puck protection as well as accuracy, while the Drury tends to give you more velocity on shots and can be easier to use for catching/receiving passes. This is my experience using those curves extensively.
Sorry for the book but it's fun to think about curves...I literally lay awake at night or daydream about them in the car or at work.
