Am I using the right lie?

[Devils26 0]

I'm using a lie 6 on my Bauer. I've noticed that the tape on the heel of my blade peels a lot more before the toe. Should I change my lie? How much of an adjustment would it be? Thanks

[flip12 698]

How long is your stick? Could also cut the shaft down a bit to get the lie angle to work with you.

[Devils26 0]

I play D so it's to my eyebrows off skates. I don't want to cut it because I don't want to change the flex. Should I lower the lie on my next stick? How much will this change my shot?

[psulion22 402]

My thought is that if your heel is marking a lot more than the rest of the blade then you need to either cut the sitck or lower the lie. Putting more blade on the ice should make your shot better since more of the toe will be in contact with the puck (unless your natural shooting motion has learned to compensate by bringing your hands up to bring the toe down). The only thing is that other than the P92, Bauer doesn't have multiple lies in the same curve, so to drop the lie you will have to change your curve. That will be something you have to consider. Would you rather cut the stick down (and go with a lower flex to compensate for the cut) to keep the curve the same, or would you rather keep the same length and flex, but need a new curve?

Personally, I mostly used a P92L6. I had to cut it really short to keep the toe on the ice. Even then, pucks would still get under the toe. Then I found a P92L5 and it was like night and day. I was able to lengthen the stick by quite a lot and still keep the toe down. Shots and passes, and receiving passes especially, drastically improved. Everything was just more solid.

[Chadd 916]

I play D so it's to my eyebrows off skates. I don't want to cut it because I don't want to change the flex. Should I lower the lie on my next stick? How much will this change my shot?

While stick length is a personal preference, that is a lot longer than most people feel is optimal. I would suggest no longer than to your nose in shoes. Cutting 2-3 inches has very little effect on flex with most sticks.

As to the lie, a shorter stick or lower lie would help with the uneven tape wear. However, if you are skating with the stick on the ice and only one hand on the stick a lot, you will always get more heel wear. Ideally, the wear from handling the puck and shooting should be in the middle of the blade. If you shoot a lot with the heel down and toe up, your shots will often flutter more and you will lose power. You will also have issues with saucer passes and even passing in general. Having the center of the blade flat will result in better performance all the way around.

I honestly believe that the correct lie is the most important aspect of a stick, it impacts everything you do with the puck.

[Devils26 0]

if I wanted to make my lie 6 a lie 5 or 4, is that possible my cutting it? If so, how many inches would I cut, or does that depend on my height? Thanks

[psulion22 402]

Cutting a stick will not change its lie. It will, however, change how the blade sits on the ice. The amount of that change is dependant on several factors, not limited to, height, skating posture, where your hands are carried, and stick machanics. If your stick is a 6 and it isn't sitting flat, the amount you have to cut it to make it flat would depend on the things I just listed.

[hyster110 3]

While stick length is a personal preference, that is a lot longer than most people feel is optimal. I would suggest no longer than to your nose in shoes. Cutting 2-3 inches has very little effect on flex with most sticks.

As to the lie, a shorter stick or lower lie would help with the uneven tape wear. However, if you are skating with the stick on the ice and only one hand on the stick a lot, you will always get more heel wear. Ideally, the wear from handling the puck and shooting should be in the middle of the blade. If you shoot a lot with the heel down and toe up, your shots will often flutter more and you will lose power. You will also have issues with saucer passes and even passing in general. Having the center of the blade flat will result in better performance all the way around.

I honestly believe that the correct lie is the most important aspect of a stick, it impacts everything you do with the puck.

i believe you are mistaken with that, as i have been told that each inch of stick cut off or added alters the flex 3 points so cutting 3 inches off would add 9 flex to the stick

[Chadd 916]

i believe you are mistaken with that, as i have been told that each inch of stick cut off or added alters the flex 3 points so cutting 3 inches off would add 9 flex to the stick

I hear that a lot but it hasn't really worked out that way when I have tested sticks with a force gauge. I'll go with my own experience over internet legend.

Cutting a stick will not change its lie. It will, however, change how the blade sits on the ice. The amount of that change is dependant on several factors, not limited to, height, skating posture, where your hands are carried, and stick machanics. If your stick is a 6 and it isn't sitting flat, the amount you have to cut it to make it flat would depend on the things I just listed.

Absolutely correct, very well said.

[mjpisat 36]

With how curves like the p92, p28 and p88 are rockered at the heel, how much does the lie impact having more blade on the ice.  With the rocker, it doesn't matter what the lie is, right?  Only x amount of blade will be on the ice.  I'm convinced it's all about what the previous poster said.  I'm 5'8, hold my hands kind of in front of me hand at hip, stick cut to Adam's apple in skates.  I need whatever the p28 and p88 lie is.  P92 for taller more upright folks

[puckpilot 312]

To check the lie you can use this general rule of thumb. With your skates on, hold your stick like the picture below I got from Cuthockeysticks.com.

If the blade isn't relatively flat on the ice, then you might need a different lie. For me, I use a 5.5 lie and a P92 curve. The heel of the blade to about the middle touches the ground and  the rest rises to about an inch off the ground at the toe.  It looks like the picture below, minus the talent.

 

[jazz4all 9]

Lie and length is pure personal. Aside of tape wear, what's the problem with your current setup? 

[Larry54 243]

On 7/13/2015 at 5:23 PM, hyster110 said:

i believe you are mistaken with that, as i have been told that each inch of stick cut off or added alters the flex 3 points so cutting 3 inches off would add 9 flex to the stick

I think that principle applies mostly to a stick with a mid kick point. The lower the kick point, the less effect that cutting it will have on the flex. I believe it still does have an effect but to a lesser degree on low kick point sticks.

[Larry54 243]

12 hours ago, puckpilot said:

To check the lie you can use this general rule of thumb. With your skates on, hold your stick like the picture below I got from Cuthockeysticks.com.

If the blade isn't relatively flat on the ice, then you might need a different lie. For me, I use a 5.5 lie and a P92 curve. The heel of the blade to about the middle touches the ground and  the rest rises to about an inch off the ground at the toe.  It looks like the picture below, minus the talent.

 

While it's a good rule of thumb, it might not work for everyone because of variations in anatomy. I have short legs relative to the rest of my body so my hands are a bit closer to the ground when standing. Even though my stick is cut to my collar bone on skates, and I play with a 4 lie, my blade isn't flat on the ground when I hold it by my side. I can't imagine going with a shorter stick. And the tape wear is in the middle of my blade whereas with a 5 lie it was mostly on the heel, for what it's worth.