My shot, it is all screwed up

[larrivee 3]

Hey gang, recently switched to some 87 flex Warrior's from 95 flex compros, and now my shot is really out of whack:

Slap shot: I can't hit the net- literally no accuracy. I'm always wide.I have to choke down to just below the lower dolomite logo to get any control and power, and then I cant put the puck on net. It's getting better, but still no real accuracy. I will say the shot is powerful though.

Wrist shot: Lacking pop- cant seem to load the shaft up and get that nice release. Sometimes the puck just dribbles off end over end after a good pull and fllow through. Again- accuracy issues. With the compro my wrister was amazing.

Snap shot: Hard as hell and accurate. I've never had a snapper this good- it's like a laser beam. The velocity is just amazing to me.

I *feel* like the sticks are a little bit long- though they are the same length as my compro. Last night someone mentioned they thought maybe my sticks werent stiff enough, hence the accuracy problems.

I'm curious what your thoughts are, thanks!

[Jarick 5]

When going down in flex, form is more important than trying to power through your shot. When you're winding up and coming down on the puck during the slapper, is your blade square to the puck? Are you still following through the shot and pointing toward the net? I know when I go up in flex I have trouble getting the stick to flex enough and that pulls my shot to either side, but usually don't have any issues going down in flex unless the blade torques to the side.

Is the curve different between the sticks? That seems to make a huge difference for me in my wrist shot. I took a few sticks to the shooting range, one Lindros style, one Iginla style, and one pro stock blade that was pretty flat, and the Lindros style was much cleaner shooting as I'm used to it. For me it's about the feel of the puck rolling down the curve and where I can release it. It takes a while to get used to the different curves, so I try to stick with the one.

[sickwilly 37]

I had some similar issues when I tried a lower flex stick. If you feel like the sticks are long, you could cut it a little (which will stiffen it slightly). You always put a butt end back in it if it feels too short. I found that if a stick has a slightly lower lie, that makes them feel longer to me as well. Hope you get things straightened out.

I finally had to give away the 87 flex stick I tried. Just couldn't do it. Made a buddy of mine really happy, anyway.

[fieldofdreams 0]

It MUST be a problem with the stick. Couldn't be you at all. When I was building some shelves, I couldn't hammer the nail in straight. It kept bending on me. Am I using the right hammer? Should I use a metal or fibreglass handle? Ball peen or claw?

[tonguesOUT4life 17]

sometimes you just really stink and need more practice. *shrugs* it happens lol.

[larrivee 3]

It MUST be a problem with the stick. Couldn't be you at all. When I was building some shelves, I couldn't hammer the nail in straight. It kept bending on me. Am I using the right hammer? Should I use a metal or fibreglass handle? Ball peen or claw?

My shot was completely dialed in before. It got all out of whack with the new stick. Thanks for your insight, go back to PHEW.

[Officer Dangle 0]

Is the curve or lie different? You may just need time to adjust.

For what it's worth, I used a Warrior Hitman for two games after my XXXX broke and I hated it. I felt like I had stone hands and couldn't hit the net at all. I sold it and bought a one95 with the same curve and flex that I used before and I was right back on track.

EDIT: I had a Vapor XXX, not XXXX. My bad.

[hockeydoc 0]

It's the flex. Slow down your swing and concentrate on smooth proper technique. You'll get used to it after a bit. When I play forward I use a whippy stick, but for Defense I use a stiffer flex, due to the reasons you described, but I have to adjust my technique slighty.

[phunky_monkey 6]

Is the curve or lie different? You may just need time to adjust.

For what it's worth, I used a Warrior Hitman for two games after my XXXX broke and I hated it. I felt like I had stone hands and couldn't hit the net at all. I sold it and bought a one95 with the same curve and flex that I used before and I was right back on track.

I was the same after I bought a tapered Dolo shaft and Mission pro stock head. Everything was all out of whack, absolutely hated it and sold it after 3 practices.

I wasn't sure if it was the tapered shaft, the composite head or the curve as they were all new, but I know I didn't like it!

[n3ss 0]

I know the feeling - i have a reebok 4k & 7k sick kick in the modano curve and i can not get a wrist shot off with the 7k at all. (the fact that the blade is splitting in half probably doesn't help)

[fatwabbit 93]

I think its the same if you were going from a lower flex to a higher one. I had the same issues when trying to go with differnt flexes. Over the years I've gone 85flex-100-85-75-85 and now back up to 90-95.

With the lower flex, I've found that the shaft seems to feel very laggy on the downswing... The speed at which you might be accustomed to shooting a slap shot now needs to be tuned a little. I dont know how to explain it, but thats the feeling I get.

If I use my 85 flex backup stick now, I cant get a good slapshot off, but wristers and snappers are much quicker. I can really feel the stick flex when I apply the same shooting techniques to the 85 flex stick compared to the 95 flex.

[phunky_monkey 6]

I know what you mean Kev. I've noticed the whip of my S11 making a difference. If I just swing the stick back and forth in my hands I can noticeably see a flex in the shaft, whereas I can't with my slightly higher flex Ultra AG shaft. It makes a difference to your downswing

[larrivee 3]

Thanks for the recommendations to back of on the power coming into the shot- it tightened right up and after a few tries I think I was getting better velocity out of it. Wrister still needs work, but taking things a little slower on the slapper and letting the shaft do the work really, really, helped, thanks guys. I think the blade was torquing when I was overpowering.

[TomMc#4 0]

when i use an 85, coming from 100, i notice that i improve my wrist shot( i hate the lag though) but my slap and snap shots suffer because i overtorque the stick trying to put in too much power. the snap shots are 50/50 depending on the situation but i almost always suck on the slap shot with it. gunna give the slower downswing technique a try tomorrow. i also find it a bit tougher on the backhand with the whippier stick as well, my backhand sucks anyway so i'll cope lol.