Well, I love it that one of our newest members has taken advantage of my offer to help, any time it's needed.
I'm talking about Sandy N, asking me a question about measuring a hockey stick...
-- Dennis Chighisola
Hockey Stick Measurement Help
Sandy began with the following:
Hi Coach Chic,
Sorry to bother you but I’ve been searching your site and have not had any luck on finding the info for sizing a hockey stick.
By now, I hope Sandy knows she wasn't bothering me at all. Again, I invite all of my hockey friends to bother me in that way. :)
Sandy also gives me the opportunity to point-out the Search box that's available at the top of each page. For sure, searches can be tricky. But I suspect she should have found a lot here within CoachChic.com when it comes to stick measuring.
I found some other web sites say it should come to the players nose but then they conflict by saying it should be when the player has his skates on or off.
No surprise there -- that she might find a bunch of conflicting recommendations. Why? To my way of thinking, this is one of those areas that gets bombarded by wives' tales.
I mean, I've heard or read that a hockey player should measure his or her stick to the nose, the chin, the mouth, the whatever. And, like Sandy, I've also discovered various authorities(?) suggesting these measurements be taken when the player is either wearing or not wearing skates. Hmmmm...
Did I suggest these are all wives' tales?
Just for the heck of it, does holding the stick upright to measure it take into account a player's unique stance? And, does it bring into the equation the "lie" of the stick? (The lie of the stick is the angle at which the stick's blade and shaft meet, and this varies from stick to stick.) Oh, in the event you weren't able to answer those two questions, I'll give you the answers: No! No!
Now, before finishing here, let me say that I spent quite a bit of time searching for a video that might show advanced level players holding their sticks in an upright position. The best I've ever found for doing this is to scan an NHL bench while players are standing for their national anthem. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find many videos that stayed focused on a bench area for very long. However, I'm hoping the following one will accomplish what I'm aiming for...
Okay, as I said earlier, there weren't any great views of a bench area, or prolonged shots where we could really study ALL of the players. Actually, the players I spotted in the above video ran the gamut in the ways they cut their sticks... A few were up near the chin, while a few were much lower. And, while we wouldn't be able to find each team's "stickhandler", I assure you they'd be leaning on sticks that came to about the middle of their logos.
Anyway, Sandy ultimately closed with:
Can you clarify or do you suggest a different method?
Thanks and have a great New Year!
Sandy N________
What I did was to send her to a video that shows and tells the viewer just about everything he or she would need to know about a stick -- from selecting one to measuring it to eventually doctoring it in various ways. That video: "YOUR Stick". Within that short film, I explain a simple way to measure a hockey stick that takes into account the player's unique stance, and the lie of his or her stick.
Oh, in closing, I hope I've inspired you to ask me questions. I love fielding them, and helping you always makes me feel kinda good.
