hand position on stick

[evor1 6]

how far apart do you guys put your hand on the stick. i learned that you put your bottom hand below the top by putting your elbow on the top hand and then putting your hand on the stick, well that was badly explained but you know what i mean. however i usually end up putting my bottom hand closer to the top because it makes it easier for me to stick handle and i feel like i have more mobility with the stick and farther reach. im still kind of beginner so i took a hockey camp and they keep telling me to put my hand lower on the stick but its not comfortable for me. should i just force myself and adapt to having my hand lower or is it okay if i keep my hands closer together.

[crutesie 0]

my bottom hand goes a little lower than the elbow.

[millertime99 0]

yep i agree with him..it will come down a little when u take a slap shot and stuff

[Chadd 916]

My hands are close to shoulder width apart, about 6 inches wider than the "elbow rule". If my arms hang straight down to my waist and grab the stick. It's not great for stickhandling but it works really well for passing and shooting.

[Jason Harris 31]

My hands are close to shoulder width apart, about 6 inches wider than the "elbow rule". If my arms hang straight down to my waist and grab the stick. It's not great for stickhandling but it works really well for passing and shooting.

Well, here's a silly question that I was contemplating seriously tonight as I was skating.

I've fairly wide-shouldered for my height and I've been noticing that when I have my hands shoulder width apart, I don't have as much stick remaining toward the blade. I'm wondering if I'd be better off with a taller stick than someone would normally use at my height, because it would allow me to not have to bend quite so much when I puck handle. (I'm aware of the need to bend while skatinging....)

I think it would allow me to keep my blade flatter on the ice. Any opinions?

[Chadd 916]

My stick comes to my upper lip when I'm barefoot and I use a 5 lie. You're probably better off adjusting your hands, I know I would be. At least for puckhandling, shot velocity is fine.

[Maka 0]

When I play, I keep my hands fairly spread apart (fairly being about 4-5 inches more than the forearm/elbow method). If you do hold your hands farther apart and keep your stick on the ice, that can also lead to you being hunched over (bad) or bending your knees more (good). As for length, when you're on skates, I believe the correct length is approximately between your collarbone and chin, which is the equivolent of somewhere around your nose when you're barefoot.

[Jason Harris 31]

I just measured it. When I hold the stick shoulder length apart, there's about fourteen inches between the bottom of my lower hand and where the blade begins to curve at the heel.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems some of the other guys have more stick remaining at that point. If that's true, it would seem intuitively that they don't have to bend quite so much while stick handling to keep their blade flatter.

[hapamatt122 0]

Lubomir Visnovsky's hands are awkwardly close together in this shot.. he has a wicked slap shot, but for his hands being this close on a shot I have to assume that its a snap shot.. but still look at that flex!

[Chadd 916]

I just measured it. When I hold the stick shoulder length apart, there's about fourteen inches between the bottom of my lower hand and where the blade begins to curve at the heel.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems some of the other guys have more stick remaining at that point. If that's true, it would seem intuitively that they don't have to bend quite so much while stick handling to keep their blade flatter.

Holy cow, I'm about 34" from the top of the blade. My bottom hand is about 22" from the butt end.

[Jason Harris 31]

Alright, I re-measured. The bottom of my lower hand is between 15" to 16" to the top of the blade (not beginning of curve), while the top of my lower hand is about 31" from the top of my top hand. Add another inch if we want to go to the top of the Ergo grip, but I can't really put my hand there, so I don't think that should count.

Not including that last inch of Ergo, the stick goes to just below my lower lip while in bare feet, so I'm starting to wonder whether I should use a longer stick.

[brokenskate 0]

Alright, I re-measured. The bottom of my lower hand is between 15" to 16" to the top of the blade (not beginning of curve), while the top of my lower hand is about 31" from the top of my top hand. Add another inch if we want to go to the top of the Ergo grip, but I can't really put my hand there, so I don't think that should count.

Not including that last inch of Ergo, the stick goes to just below my lower lip while in bare feet, so I'm starting to wonder whether I should use a longer stick.

Are you saying there's 31" between your hands for your general grip (ie, not shooting slappers)?

I've seen some moderate height people -- like 5-9 to 6-0 -- use a relatively short stick, and their grip still looks "normal" on the short stick.

[Jason Harris 31]

Let's call it 27" or so, measuring from the bottom of the top hand to the top of the bottom hand. That's shoulder width apart for me, so I'm starting to wonder whether those proportions are forcing me to get too low on my shots or I just have to suck it up and bend more.

[#44wannabe 4]

Lubomir Visnovsky's hands are awkwardly close together in this shot.. he has a wicked slap shot, but for his hands being this close on a shot I have to assume that its a snap shot.. but still look at that flex!

I dont see it....... ;)

[brokenskate 0]

Let's call it 27" or so, measuring from the bottom of the top hand to the top of the bottom hand. That's shoulder width apart for me, so I'm starting to wonder whether those proportions are forcing me to get too low on my shots or I just have to suck it up and bend more.

I just measured how I do it. It's about 11" from bottom of top hand to top of bottom hand for me for regular (stickhandling) grip. Then about 34" or 35" from bottom of bottom glove to the beginning of the blade (top of blade itself, not hosel).

And my stick comes to right below bottom lip when barefoot.

Crude diagram:

.top....11"...bottom........34"...... / /

\||||/========/|||||\===============/ /

Edit; So maybe my grip is too narrow though?

[Chadd 916]

You numbers seem "right" brokenskate. There is an 18" gap between my hands and the distance between my hands detracts from my stickhandling a bit.

[bullet1 0]

If I am stick handling my hands are about a foot apart, 18" or so for a wrist shot and 20-24" apart of a slap shot.