stick handling help needed

[Pat]

like some of you guys suggested playing with a shorter stick helps, I`m just wondering is there a rule of thumb for a stick height? or is more a matter of going with what feels more comfortable? I have a one piece Bauer Vapor XX stick and I haven`t cut it yet (not sure I should or want to cut it), but it`s definitely a little too long. I`m 5'8 and when I put the stick in front of me, it comes in height to my forehead. just wondering what height is reccomended?
like I said, I play defence...so a longer stick helps when I want to poke check.

thanx

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

It should reach to your chin. A little shorter if you're playing ball hockey.

 

[Hank19]

like some of you guys suggested playing with a shorter stick helps, I`m just wondering is there a rule of thumb for a stick height? or is more a matter of going with what feels more comfortable? I have a one piece Bauer Vapor XX stick and I haven`t cut it yet (not sure I should or want to cut it), but it`s definitely a little too long. I`m 5'8 and when I put the stick in front of me, it comes in height to my forehead. just wondering what height is reccomended?
like I said, I play defence...so a longer stick helps when I want to poke check.

thanx

If you're playing D then you'd want longer stick. But up to your forehead is excessive. I play forward and I like to dangle so I cut my stick to about the middle of my neck, sometimes shorter.
But for D I would say to cut it around your eyes or even chin. But the higher you go, you'll probably lose puckhandling ability.

 

[Pat]

can I cut a one piece composite stick without damaging it? I`m just use to wooden sticks so cutting a composite stick is kinda new for me.
but yeah, up to the forehead is excessive I agree. but, they didn`t have shorter one pice sticks and I really wanted to try one of those.

sort of a christmas gift I made myself. from me to me with love

 

[Gallagbi]

Your good to cut, don't worry. Stick length is PP, not about position.

 

[hfboardsuser]

someone also mentionned to me once that some sticks are actually designed to help improve puck/stick handling

Anything with a stick/blade of lie 5. Some say your shot suffers, but I swear the puck sits on your blade and never, ever leaves.

In terms of shooting, you need a strong lower trunk in order to really get the most out of a stick with a 5 lie. Then just get the blade underneath the puck and lift, starting with your lower trunk. It's how I get such a wicked shot from the dots out. Corner, roof, corner, corner, roof. If you've got a really low-down skating style ala Coffey/Orr, or at least something like it, it's a lot easier. By sitting so low down, you've got power stored up in the trunk already.

 

[Pat]

pardon the ignorance, but what's "blade of lie 5"

thanx

 

[hfboardsuser]

Lie is the term for the angle between the heel of the blade and the shaft. Bigger lie, bigger angle. With a 5 or lower lie, you have a blade that sits on the ice without any part of it not touching.


Here's a link to a chart of a few different blades and their lies


The most common is probably a 6. It's the generic lie that lets you shoot and pass pretty well. With a 5, though, I find my control and passing improve by leaps and bounds.

 

[Gallagbi]

Lie is dependant on skating style and where you prefer the puck to be in proportion to your body. If you want it tight to your feet or skate fairly upright a higher lie works better. Lower lies are for carrying the puck far from your body and skating more in a traditional hockey stance.

 

[jaywills1020]

instead of stickhandling with a tennis ball use a golf ball. it teaches you to have soft hands as well.

 

[Incarnation]

Are those really golf balls in USA Hockey videos? Those balls they use seem to be black...

 

[Gallagbi]

I haven't seen the video, but they are probably "smart balls" which are a little smaller than a tennis ball, but weighted to feel like a puck.

 

[Incarnation]

I haven't seen the video, but they are probably "smart balls" which are a little smaller than a tennis ball, but weighted to feel like a puck.

I have one of those and I'm quite sure that those are not smart balls. Those balls on the video look smaller and lighter than smart balls.

 

[HSHS]

I just bought DVDs 2 and 3 of the Skinner series and they are fantastic. (I don't see the point in the other ones for me.) I am a 32 yr old who started playing only 1 1/2 years ago and I have moderate skills (B/C level). Also, I am an engineer so I need someone to be technical on the moves and skills.

After watching them and practicing a few skills this week at stick and shoots and pick-ups, I have been able to use about 6 skills sets. Used my first "through body" move on a defender today then beat the goalie in the upper 90 above the blocker!

Anyway just wanted to give my input in case there are those out there that are in the same boat as me. Good Luck!

 

[Renholder]

During last semester, I joined the College's ball hockey team and i feel like it improved my puckhandling skills tenfold. Just the other day, I went to the ice and i felt way more confidant with the puck. I think Confidence =performance on the ice.

 

[Clown Fiesta]

Confidence helps alot, your stick length is personal prefferance, they used to make us have a stick that was to the chin on skates, mine is about 3 inches shorter than that, only problem with it is i cant reach as far, but i like a shorter stick for stick handling and i believe that it also gives me a little quicker release, i use a blade with a 5 lie, a short stick allows me to come across my body keeping the puck close to me and away from defenders sticks. Play around with it if you have a stick you dont mind cutting, cut your main stick to chin length since that is normal and cut the other a little short, just test itout in warmups or practice and then decide from there or borrow a stick from a shorter friend I also used to use golf balls a lot, took a piece of ply wood and cut 5, 4" holes in it, then started shooting on it and stick handling, it gave me soft hands, i also have a wooden ball and a weighted ball for stick handling somewhere which work very nicely, spend some time at night on it and in a week you will notice you are better, i need to start doing that again.

 

[mdwerner]

I highly recommend the "Stickhandling Beyond Belief" DVD series by Sean Skinner at www.stickhandling.com that was mentioned above. Make sure you get the second edition. It is well worth the money.

The key is lots and lots of dryland practice repeating the drills. You need to program your muscles to the basic movements so you can do them by reflex. This sort of practice helps all hockey players as it improves your feel for the puck and hand to eye cordination.

BTW, many people have mentioned using a tennis or golf ball. There are also small balls available for this purpose such as a Swedish stickhandling ball which is lighter than the golf ball and is made of wood. You are much less likely to break something in your living room if you use this instead of a golf ball!

However, I am not in favor of using a ball of any kind as I think it is not a good substitute for a hockey puck due to the fact that they roll. The feel isn't right, and that is definitely part of the learning process. Instead, I prefer to use a roller hockey puck which is lighter than a regular puck but slides well on concrete. Even better, you can use a real puck if you get some sort of slippery mat to practice on such as a thick sheet of plastic. It will need to be large enough to dribble the puck all the way around your body. Coupled with a tarp or net and you can practice shooting too.

 

[Incarnation]

Wow, those preview videos on stickhandling.com were quite amazing. Does anybody know are there any places in Europe where I can buy the whole set?

 

[cortfr]

Good call. When I used to coach young kids, I used to pick out a day for them to just have fun and play foot hockey. Foot hockey forces you to move your feet and stickhandle at the same time. It just creates good habits for ice hockey and gives a great work out IMO.

Another thing is practicing with a weighted puck. I practice it at every 30 degree angle until the puck is in back of me and then slip it through my legs. Practicing your toe drag with a weighted puck is great too.

Practicing stickhandling between chair legs is also very good. It gets you out of the habit of keeping the stick on top of the puck when stick handling.

I think that everyone will tell you the same thing and thats practice, practice and more practicing.

why is stickhandling between chair legs beneficial again? Why isnt it beneficial to have the stick over the puck when stickhandling?

 

[technophile]

why is stickhandling between chair legs beneficial again? Why isnt it beneficial to have the stick over the puck when stickhandling?

If I had to guess I'd say it's because there are a lot of situations in games where you can't have the stick over the puck, and you want to be comfortable with that. For example, if you're digging the puck out of a corner scrum, or a scramble in front of the goal, you may need to reach between/under players' legs.

Another example would be stickhandling farther from your body (which can help you grab an errant pass, protect the puck, etc), when you just don't have the positioning or arm reach to get the stick over the puck.

 

[#66]

why is stickhandling between chair legs beneficial again? Why isnt it beneficial to have the stick over the puck when stickhandling?

It kind of simulates the feeling of stickhandling through legs or between a defenders stick and body. Slipping the puck through a hole and reaching to get it on the other side also softens your hands. If you push the puck through or go to hard you'll have to go chasing. I use a chair but that video pretty much shows the same thing with a tripod.

 

[Jacob]

My stick is up to my forehead on skates and I wouldn't have it any other way.