Sticks leading to injuries?

[selke71 0]

I might get strung up for this, but I don't think your weight is going to make as much a difference as your height and strength. If you're fluctuating between 170 and 200 pounds, it's probably going to be mostly water weight and some fat. I'll bet your muscle mass will be roughly the same, so your strength will be the same and your height obviously will be consistent.

Depending on how tall you are and your shooting style, your biggest factor is how much force you apply to the stick, and that's going to be a function of stick length (longer sticks = more torque = more force on the stick) and strength (more strength = more force on the stick). And for most adults, we're not hitting the gym and we're not particularly muscular, so our height and stick length seems to be the #1 factor unless we're significantly under or over weight.

ANYWAYS, if you want to try a 75 flex stick, try it. I really doubt you'll snap it if you're using 85 flex sticks without a problem now. I went from 200 lbs down to 165-170 and over the same time dropped from 85 flex sticks cut down to 65 flex sticks, and I don't snap anything.

I agree with your basic assessment about strength vs. weight. Weight is just an easier way to quantify what I'm talking about. I can't give any stats about strength.

I played with the 84 flex stick today, and it felt good. I prefer the composite feel to wood, actually, and the Malkin pattern led to some very accurate shots (especially on the backhand, which made me quite happy). I have some pain coming from my elbow and the underside of my arm (below the forearm, if you will). I detected it when taking some wrist shots. I think I was forgetting to grip the stick hard, as I have always held the stick very, very loosely. It's a work in progress, but all in all I don't feel the kind of severe pain I felt before with the other sticks. I'd like to think it has at least something to do with the fact that I'm not getting as much resistance from the stick itself when shooting.

[Tondog 12]

Thread resurrection here. I've had the same problems coming back to hockey and have "sort of" fixed the problem by sidelining my 87 flex Totalone stick and busting out an old Easton 100 flex shaft and a newer Bauer carbon blade. I seem to have a harder slapshot and less of a wrist shot but the tradeoff has been the lack of pain in the elbow and wrist. Seems to be working for me in 4 games now.