Taping a Stick

Putting tape on your stick is one of the fundamentals of the game. It's not actually required, and the amount varies from player to player, but I highly suggest it. Tape allows people a better feel of the puck when on their stick. At the very least it will protect the blade of the stick from wear.

Certain players do very simple tape jobs, just wrapping the middle portion of the blade. Look at old pictures of hockey from the 60's and 50's, and you'll rarely see the entire blade taped. These days though, a mummified version of a hockey stick is very popular through out the game. That means all parts of the blade are taped, even the rounded edges. This is how I tape up my sticks, and I'll show you how to do the same.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, you'll need a few things. As you can see here, I have a few items: a hockey stick (duh), tape, a magazine (any paper will do), and finally scissors.



Let's start off with the stick I cut recently. You'll notice that since this is a composite stick, it's actually hollow on the inside. I like to put a little piece of tape on the top to cover this up. It just help create some grip if I hold the top, and also so nothing gets inside.



Now that's done, let begin taping up the butt end of the stick. The tape on this will will provide better grip for our top hand. We'll also put a knob at the end to make it easier to know where the stick ends, and make it harder to slip through the glove. Many players choose to just wrap tape around the butt end to make the knob, but there's a better way which uses less tape, and therefore less money.

Simply take some pages out of the magazine, fold them up to a width you like. Place one end of the folded paper on the stick and tape it there, then wrap the remaining paper around the stick so it's nice and tight, then tape the other end to the stick so it's completely wrapping it. That makes a nice knob, and uses little tape.

Once that's done, you can start applying tape to the top part of the stick and move downwards. You're moving down in a swirl or spiral pattern, similar to a candy cane, except overlappying on each twist for full coverage. Try to have each layer cover about half-way over the previous layer. The finished product will looks like this (bear in mind I use a very very thin knob on my stick).



Next is the blade of the stick. As I mentioned a big benefit of tape is to protect it from wear. The part of the blade which has the most wear is the bottom. In order to provide really good protection while saving on tape, I like to cut a strip of tape which is just long enough to cover the bottom. This will provide an extra layer of tape specifically for this section.



Once that's done, let's begin with the rest of the blade. I always start off from the heel section, just about where it begins to curve. Like you did with the butt end, use a spiral pattern with each layer overlapping the previous layer.



Now when you come to the rounded end of the blade, you'll notice you have some extra tape stick out. As you get to this section, simply pinch the excess tape coming off the blade flat. This will allow you to cut it off once fully wrapped. Here's a look at the blade completely taped up with the excess tape pinched.



All you have to do is take your scissors and cut around the edges to get rid of that excess tape.



The blade is complete...almost. You're all set if you want to be just a regular player, but I prefer a little style and flash. I always put a two tone setup of tape on my sticks. This is the same way Youngblood taped up his stick in the movie with the same name. It helps you see where on the stick you have the puck, but really is just all flash and show. Also allows you to match colors of your team. My favorite team is the Rangers, so here it is in Rangers red and blue.



There we go, we're all done and stylin'. Some guys like to tape up an area for their lower hand, but I'm not one of those people. Be prepared to have to unwrap this when the tape eventually rips from game use. That process is less finesse, and more brutal ripping. For now though, let's get outside and take some shots!

Cutting a Stick

Stick length is personal preference depending on the player. Some guys like their sticks excessively long, whereas other perfer the tiniest little twig they can find. The old adage is defenseman want long sticks for reach, and forwards want short sticks to control the puck better. These days the general consensus for stick length is as high as between your nose and your eyes when in shoes, and between your chin and mouth when in skates. But like I said, it's personal preference.

I prefer my stick to be at the top of my eyes when in shoes. I highly suggest you try different lengths of sticks to figure out what you like. It took me about 2 years to really find out the length I like. I have quite the collection of wood sticks, as you might have guessed.

Unless you're a pro player getting customized sticks, or that guy who happens to buy a stick with the perfect length, you're probably going to need to cut down the length of the stick you buy at the store. Even manufacturers make different stick lengths depending on the model. Cutting a stick if very simple though, but there are a few things to consider.


First, here you can see a brand new Easton Stealth S19 stick I bought. I'll post up a review later (it's sweet). It's a composite stick, but cutting a wood one is done using the same process.


Here's a side-by-side look at the new S19 with an existing S3 that I have cut down to size. Notice the S3 is about my eye level as I attempt to stand up straight, just the place I like it.


Now an interesting thing about the S19 is that it lists the flex rating depending on where you cut it. I bought a stick with an 85 flex, specifically because I knew I was going to cut it. When you cut a stick shorter it increases the flex rating, as a short stick is more stiff. You can see that it's going to be just under 85 flex once I match the length of the S3.

If you're not familiar with composite sticks, then you probably have no idea what the hell I'm even talking about in regards to flex. The flex rating is determined by how much force is required to bend the stick. The higher the flex rating, the more force you need since it's stiffer. Pretty simple too, right?


To actually cut it, I head on down to the dungeon, aka the basement. Here's where not everyone will probably be able to cut their own stick. Obviously you need something to cut your stick. I don't have a power saw, and do it really old school with a hand saw. This is an intense process and you need something to hold it down tightly, so I put it into a vice grip and cinch it down. Once that's done, it's time to get to work!


Here's a final photo with the butt end of the stick cut off. Now the stick is all set and at a perfect length! All that's left is to go out and shoot some pucks.