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100 Flex a bad idea for smaller players?

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I was wondering how many players on here are using 100 flex sticks but arent exactly big players. Hockey giant has a stick flex tutorial but I understand its all preference. It came down to people saying that you take your body weight and cut it in half and thats where you should be at for stick flex. Hockeygiant has it layed out like this.

Senior (14+) 5'5"-5'10" 125-175 lbs 75/80 Flex

57-61"

Senior (14+) 5'7"-6'1" 150-200 lbs 85/90 Flex 58-62" Senior (14+) 5'10"-6'4" 180-235 lbs 100/105 Flex 60-63"

Some people say stiffer means more accurate and a harder shot obviously like flicking a coin with a business card vs a credit card.

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Weight is only going to be a small part of the equation. Particularly if when you say small there is any height connotation attached as for every little bit you have to cut down the shaft there is going to be an increase in effective flex rating due to the shortened lever arm involved. The other issues that will come into play and not necessarily in this order are shot mechanics, favorite type of shot (slapper, snapper wrist), player skill, and a host of others. Plus look at Brett Hull he played most of his career in the 200lb+ range with some of the best shot mechanics you will find but often played with a whip flex TPS stick that would scale out around 75 flex based on everything I have ever read.

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I tend to take slap shots and snap shots which is kind of on both ends of things. I also seem to migrate towards mid-kick sticks, low kick stuff seems to always feel mushy on shots.

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I'm 5'6" 160lbs and been using senior 75 flex sticks cut down pretty short for a while now. Back in my competitive travel days, I was about 145-150lbs using a 100 flex not really knowing what it meant.

My shot back then was a lot better than it is now and I'm even considering going down to an intermediate 70 flex but I just don't like how skinny the intermediate shaft dimensions feel.

It all comes down to preference and what works for you and as stated above, your shooting mechanics.

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I would say that you want the stick to be as stiff as possible while still being able to get the full flex out of it on wrist/snap shots and passes. What the flex rating for that is will depend on several factors as Rollerpop said above. Mechanics and skill are just as important as height and weight when it comes to flexing a stick. If we are talking in the most general of terms, then I would say that 100 flex would be too stiff for nearly all smaller players. Guys that are under 6' and 175 lbs would have to have incredible mechanics and skill to get the flex out of a stick that stiff.

I'm 5'10, 160. I had been using an 85 flex Nexus 1000 cut down to make it about a 95 flex. I also do not have good mechanics, especially downward push to load the stick when I shoot. My shots were never really hard or even that accurate because I had to shoot so hard to get anything behind the shot. At a camp, I was given the suggestion to go to a softer stick to let the stick do more of the work. Since then, my shots are 3x as hard and I can get the shot off faster and much more accurately because I don't have to get as much behind it. I used to be able to only get good shots off if my mechanics were perfect, so any off balance, quick, or less than ideal shot was weak. Now that isn't the case and I get more hard shots on net.


I'm 5'6" 160lbs and been using senior 75 flex sticks cut down pretty short for a while now. Back in my competitive travel days, I was about 145-150lbs using a 100 flex not really knowing what it meant.

My shot back then was a lot better than it is now and I'm even considering going down to an intermediate 70 flex but I just don't like how skinny the intermediate shaft dimensions feel.

It all comes down to preference and what works for you and as stated above, your shooting mechanics.

Try switching to Warrior. You can cut them down by 3" (I believe) without affecting the stiffness.

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Martin St. Louis, IIRC, used a stick with >100 flex.

Then again, he's a pretty strong guy. Point is, it's not unheard of.

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Martin St. Louis, IIRC, used a stick with >100 flex.

Then again, he's a pretty strong guy. Point is, it's not unheard of.

Nope, his pro stocks are all either 85 or 75 flex.

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St Louis squats over 500lbs haha. I'm hoping at 190ish I will see a return on how hard my shots are with the 102 uncut. I also notice better puck feel with a stiffer stick because its not so dampened by the stick flexing on hard passes.

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Nope, his pro stocks are all either 85 or 75 flex.

Not to start anything but I had a few of his actual pro stocks and they were indeed all around 85 flex. And I believe he sticks a plug in them.

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Not to start anything but I had a few of his actual pro stocks and they were indeed all around 85 flex. And I believe he sticks a plug in them.

It's on.

I've seen a few of his pro stocks at the store I used to work at as well, both Bauer and the yellow Warriors. 75 flex.

That tells me that he, similar to probably every player, experiments or experimented with different flexes. Not surprising at all.

That being said, I don't know whether or not he still currently uses 75 flex.

:laugh:

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Weight has no direct correlation with the flex you should use and height is only partially related. The most important thing is your ability to transfer force from your legs and core to the stick and that is dependent on your technique. If you play defense and tend to take a lot of slappers or muck around in front of the offensive net, then a stiffer stick will probably work better for you. If you take snappers and slappers, then a whippier stick will generally perform better for you. Just don't make the mistake of using a stick that you have to put everything you have into getting it to flex, you rarely have that much time in a game. Most pros are much stronger and better at transferring force and not many use anything above 100 anymore.

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I tried 100 Flex warrior sticks for a short while as the 87 flex bauer sticks were feeling whippy. I'm 6'2" 240lbs and i couldnt get it too flex without considerable pressure. When to a 95 flex and it was right where i need it. Unless you are a bodybuilder you will not get all the energy transfer you want with a stick that stiff.

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This might sound totally ridiculous, but I have different sticks for different roles that I tend to fit in with different groups of guys.

I've found that I'm a more precise stickhandler and passer with a stiffer flex stick, but my shot's not as powerful, and there are certain groups of guys that I play with where I really like to work on my passing rather than shooting all the time, so I use a 100 flex in those situations.

There are other groups that generally are more competitive, and with those groups I play with both 85 and 75 flex depending on whether I'm playing forward (75) or defense (85). I cut the forward sticks a bit shorter, probably putting them effectively around 78. I find I get more power on my wristers and snappers with the 75 and a quicker release and more kick with my slap shots with the 85.

I'm 6'0", 190. So not small, but not super big either. At the end of the day, I think your stick flex has a lot more to do with what you're looking to get out of your stick than with how big you are.

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Im hoping that the Nexus 1000 I have coming will be a offensive defenseman friendly option. I've heard that they take some time to get used to but are supposed to be an easy loading stick.

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I think Gretzky used a 100 flex and he wasn't exactly the biggest or strongest guy. Then again his shot wasn't that hard either, not by NHL standards at least.

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Gretzky scored a lot more slap shot goals than most people realize. He didn't have a cannon but it sure did the trick.

Accuracy was his biggest asset, he didn't need much room to score.

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I had been played with a stick as Martin St.Louis until I graduated university. I'm 5'6" and my stick which I had used was cut at my eye or eyebrow. St.Louis cut his sticks at roughly same point or more higher. My stick flex was 85flex. The reason why I had used such stick is that 1st, to get more powerful shoot and 2nd, ice condition. At the time I was a student... so couldn't buy expensive one-piece stick. As same I was not pro! so zamboni was not used every period. To use stiffer stick with long cut was helpful for me of those days.

Now I have a work. So switched to wippy stick as Phil Kessel. Now I'm using 65flex (this number is measured by producing length, it was 66-3/8") but next I will get 50~55flex sticks. Not intermediate, senior regular size. Kessel is 183cm and has been using 80flex (66-3/8") with cut at his chin. If I want to get the same flex as him, I have to use such lower flex. To say from other view point, tall players who using 75 or 85flex are using very whippy sticks. We small players are using very stiffer sticks at all times.

But I don't think we smalls can't use 100flex. If you don't use flex shots, stiffest stick is better.

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I had been played with a stick as Martin St.Louis until I graduated university. I'm 5'6" and my stick which I had used was cut at my eye or eyebrow. St.Louis cut his sticks at roughly same point or more higher. My stick flex was 85flex. The reason why I had used such stick is that 1st, to get more powerful shoot and 2nd, ice condition. At the time I was a student... so couldn't buy expensive one-piece stick. As same I was not pro! so zamboni was not used every period. To use stiffer stick with long cut was helpful for me of those days.

Now I have a work. So switched to wippy stick as Phil Kessel. Now I'm using 65flex (this number is measured by producing length, it was 66-3/8") but next I will get 50~55flex sticks. Not intermediate, senior regular size. Kessel is 183cm and has been using 80flex (66-3/8") with cut at his chin. If I want to get the same flex as him, I have to use such lower flex. To say from other view point, tall players who using 75 or 85flex are using very whippy sticks. We small players are using very stiffer sticks at all times.

But I don't think we smalls can't use 100flex. If you don't use flex shots, stiffest stick is better.

All shots should flex a stick, whether wrist, snap, or slap. Using a stick too stiff will always be detrimental.

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I would think that even if a 102 flex stick isn't flexing as much it's two inches of flex is more potent than a 77 flex stick bowing out at double the amount it's flexing because you have 25 more lbs of flex for every inch? Maybe I'm totally screwing this formula up but say you have

102 lbs of flex to flex one inch... X2 inches?

Then you have a 77 that you can flex out 3-4 inches?

Not sure how that formula works haha but

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