Taping your stick...

[gifted88]

toe to heal wrap but I leave the toe exposed almost an inch. I do the same thing as the op and twist to make a hand grip. For the nob I tape my longer sticks with a bigger nob than my shorter sticks (I play wing and D). I always use red tape.

 

[IDuck]

build a little noob with reg. tape about 10-15 times, then wrap handle with tennis racket grip (white)

use the wide (2'') tape on blade, cover toe and go heel to toe then wax and melt

 

[GLG]

waxed and melted.

What does this mean?
How do u do it & why?

Thanks, GLG

 

[WickedWrister]

Whats the best way to tape the very tip of the toe guys?

 

[hyster110]

Whats the best way to tape the very tip of the toe guys?

square it off, tape above the blade, then fold it and come back over till the whole blade is covered, then cut off the excess

 

[ginblossoms]

tape on the stick handle:
i used to do the "rope" trick the op mentioned, but i found that it wore down my glove a bit too quickly. i now just tape it from about 4-5 inches down the stick to the top, with extra layers at the very top for something to hang on to. the "unique" thing i do is employ a used easton focus flex stick blade (one of those old tapered ones) and stick the tapered end where the stick extension would normally go, cutting it to my appropriate length. the concavity (or is it convexity?) has a nice feel to me. if you care, the idea came from a stick i bought from ebay which had that setup.

tape on the stick blade:
heel to toe. (that was short and sweet... heh)

 

[seeking*]

...if it was good enough for one of the greatest of all time...

 

[ponder]

What does this mean?
How do u do it & why?

Thanks, GLG

You rub a layer of stick wax over the whole tape job, then melt it in with something like a heat gun or hair dryer. Done mostly to reduce snow buildup on the blade, but some also think it increases the tapejob's lifespan. I wax/heat pretty often, I do think it significantly reduces snow buildup, but don't think it really affects the tapejob's lifespan much. You play ball hockey, so in your case it would be totally pointless, and even for ice it's more of a marginal difference.

 

[kr580]

I wax my blade and it makes all the difference in the world as far as catching passes. The puck 'sticks' to it so much easier.

 

[member 30781]

It's a bonding thing for me. I tape the butt end only once until I really feel I need new tape, but I make sure to take off the tape of my blade every time I play. Just the feeling of new tape is better for me. Call me crazy. I always taped toe to heel. The tape never ends up rolling up like it does on heel to toe. its the natural way the puck will move off the blade which is why i do it. I used to tape the entire toe then trim off the sides, but now I just do it where the tip isnt completely covered with tape.

 

[mbeam]

I always taped toe to heel. The tape never ends up rolling up like it does on heel to toe. its the natural way the puck will move off the blade which is why i do it.

That's a good point and I never really thought of that. I always just thought heel to toe was the correct way. Can anyone explain the logic between heel to toe vs toe to heel?

 

[Jarick]

It makes almost no difference at all if you tape your stick well. I tape heel to toe because I like to tape over the toe.

Seriously, I've tried wide, narrow, friction, regular, waxed, unwaxed, rubbed with a puck, melt wax in with a heat gun, rub wax in by hand, rub wax in with a puck, rip tape in half, wide ridges, narrow ridges, thicker tape, thinner tape, black, white, colored, heel to toe, toe to heel, it makes almost no difference what you do. I used to think it did, and it didn't.

I melt wax into the blade because it seems to help reduce snow buildup a little bit. That's about it. I use wide tape because it's slightly quicker to tape up the blade and easier to go over the toe. I alternate between black and white because that's what I have at my house.

 

[meanolthing]

Heh, apparently I'm the only person in the HFBoards world that tapes the blade from toe to heel.

 

[clefty]

Heh, apparently I'm the only person in the HFBoards world that tapes the blade from toe to heel.

Nope, thats how I do it as well.

 

[member 30781]

Heh, apparently I'm the only person in the HFBoards world that tapes the blade from toe to heel.

Read a few lines up. I do the same thing.

 

[nyqs81]

Agreed. Feels kinda therapeutic.

Nothing like ripping the tape off your stike after a horrid game. Its almost cathartic.

 

[kr580]

That's a good point and I never really thought of that. I always just thought heel to toe was the correct way. Can anyone explain the logic between heel to toe vs toe to heel?

There is zero logic. I doubt it really makes any difference whatsoever. It's whatever reason you come up with. Maybe if you do have problems with the tape rolling up you might go toe to heel but other than that I haven't heard any convincing reasoning behind either direction.

 

[Jarick]

I'll relay the old story about the guy playing a pickup game looking over at the player sitting next to him, who's just doing a brutal tape job, messy, leaving gaps between tape, creases and folds, etc. Then he looks up and its hall of famer Luc Robitaille.

 

[socktape]

I also tape toe to heel with because when I wipe snow and ice off the blade, I do it heel to toe, and my tape doesn't get all ganked up when I do it. I also put a strip of tape down the bottom of the blade before taping. I'm not fanatical about re-taping every game, just after games when the tape job gets all torn up or it starts to just really wear out.

I use white tape for a grip so my gloves don't get all crapped up. Just a little nob, and a rope-spiral 3-4 times for the grip before a layer or two of tape to cover. I'm a noob that plays mostly defense ... not like I have a lot of mad stickhandling skillz for any type of tape job to matter.

That being said ... I do enjoy re-taping while drinking a nice homebrew, preferably while watching a game.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

I don't tape my sticks.

 

[budster]

It makes almost no difference at all if you tape your stick well. I tape heel to toe because I like to tape over the toe.

Seriously, I've tried wide, narrow, friction, regular, waxed, unwaxed, rubbed with a puck, melt wax in with a heat gun, rub wax in by hand, rub wax in with a puck, rip tape in half, wide ridges, narrow ridges, thicker tape, thinner tape, black, white, colored, heel to toe, toe to heel, it makes almost no difference what you do. I used to think it did, and it didn't.

I melt wax into the blade because it seems to help reduce snow buildup a little bit. That's about it. I use wide tape because it's slightly quicker to tape up the blade and easier to go over the toe. I alternate between black and white because that's what I have at my house.

My tape journey has been nearly identical to Jarick's.

 

[Dinoz]

Okay,so i allways taped my sticks heel to toe and over the whole toe.

Now yesterday i tried to tape my blade like Ovechkin does, a little less than half of the blade. And i dont know if its my imagination, but it felt like the puck comes of the blade quiker, it slides fast in the bare area to get some grip at the toe, felt like quiker faster shots.

Is there any truth to this, or is it just my imagination.

 

[HockeyGuy1975]

Does anyone tape the whole blade 2x? It is the only way I can use a composite blade. An extra layer of tape dampens the feel a bit more, giving it a more wood-like feel.

 

[Jarick]

Okay,so i allways taped my sticks heel to toe and over the whole toe.

Now yesterday i tried to tape my blade like Ovechkin does, a little less than half of the blade. And i dont know if its my imagination, but it felt like the puck comes of the blade quiker, it slides fast in the bare area to get some grip at the toe, felt like quiker faster shots.

Is there any truth to this, or is it just my imagination.

There might be truth. The puck slides down until it hits the taped portion, and then it grabs. Especially if the composite blade is wet. The downside is that you lack the friction for puck handling, saucer passes, backhands, and clearing the puck. That's why I tape the whole blade. I was rocking the half job for a couple weeks and the puck rolled off the heel of my blade on two separate breakaways.

Does anyone tape the whole blade 2x? It is the only way I can use a composite blade. An extra layer of tape dampens the feel a bit more, giving it a more wood-like feel.

If it works, it works. I have tried it and it just looks messier and wastes tape, but I use thicker composite blades that have good feel to begin with.

That being said ... I do enjoy re-taping while drinking a nice homebrew, preferably while watching a game.

I LOVE re-taping the stick, preferably while drinking a quality brew. It is as someone else said, therapeutic. Wipe the slate clean, get ready for the next game. I've been guilty of retaping sticks that were already cleanly taped out of boredom, especially if I have a long span between ice times.

 

[Dinoz]

Does anyone tape the whole blade 2x? It is the only way I can use a composite blade. An extra layer of tape dampens the feel a bit more, giving it a more wood-like feel.

Wow, i think you loose alot of good feel when taping x2.

I even have minimal overlap on a regular tapejob just becuase i think that you dont get the most out of it with thick layer of tape especially with composite blades.

If you like the wood feel why dont you use a wooden blade ?