Flex points... does it really matter for the beginner?

[theelite 1]

I've been doing some research lately about tapered shafts and non tapered shafts... sticks like the x40 or any of the supreme sticks... all of them offering a variety of technologies and mumbo jumbo that most people wouldn't really care about...

Question is... does it matter at all for a beginner? Lots of you guys seem like great hockey players and are more than the weekend hockey player, and at your respective levels of play, it does matter... but for guys like me, who started as an adult, who play rec, and just for fun... does it matter?

Will my shot be vastly different between a stick that has a mid flex point and a low flex point? I'm beginning to think that it doesn't and most of it will be wether or not I can even take a good shot. Am I even going to notice the difference between a tapered shaft and a non tapered shaft? Enough of a difference to spend twice as much money?

Just curious as I'm just new to all of this and doing some more research definitely has my head spinning.

[tryandstopme 35]

Will my shot be vastly different between a stick that has a mid flex point and a low flex point? I'm beginning to think that it doesn't and most of it will be wether or not I can even take a good shot. Am I even going to notice the difference between a tapered shaft and a non tapered shaft? Enough of a difference to spend twice as much money?

Just curious as I'm just new to all of this and doing some more research definitely has my head spinning.

Your shot won't be vastly different between the two as a beginner. For someone who's pretty awful like myself, I find that the plus to a tapered shaft is that it is easier to flex, which in turn helps my shot a bit. Would that be worth twice the money to me? No.

[hamstercaster 2]

High end stick definitly perform better than low end ones that's for sure. Would you see the actual benefits of owning a high end stick? from reading your post, probably not but only you know your actual level and know wether or not your shot would benefit from it. It seems to like now it wouldn't. Like many will tell you, you could always get a last year model high end stick on clearence. They are often priced at around mid point stick prices but a low end stick may work just fine for you too. I do not consider myself to be a start out there. I have decent hands, decent shot and am a good passer and can work the transition game from my hand quite well if I have good forwards to play with. However I'm very slow lol. Anyway, the point I'm getting at is that I definitly saw a difference going from a low end stick to a mid level stick and can only imagine what a top of the line S17/X:60/10K would be like if I ever decided to fork the dough for that type of stick.

Like you I play recreational hockey and no league play whatsoever and like you I don't believe in spending more than I really need to for hockey equipment although I recently bought One95 skates on clearance and will never buy anything but top of the line skates from now on as I found it to be enough benefits confort and performance wise to do so. Sticks, not so sure it's worth it at my leve specially with the amount of shots I take which is usually pretty minimal. Budget plays a big role too in what you will buy. I see some ankle benders playing with S17s but they can afford to so..

[chippa13 1844]

I don't want to speak for everyone but there are a lot more "weekend warriors" here than you might think.

As for kick points, yes, it does matter. Because of a host of variables, different kick points will help different players. One guy might shoot rockets with a tapered shaft that has a low kick point while another guy wouldn't. I personally find that I prefer a higher kick point, something like the One 95 and Easton Stealth series of sticks provide.

[rachael7 1]

For my 2 cents, as a dedicated player (3-4 times per week) but relative new-comer (didn't start playing until recently), I would say that until you can stickhandle comfortably without looking down, take a wrister to any part of the net, pass crisply, and at least get off some kind of slapper, you probably won't notice the difference between sticks. High end sticks really do perform a lot better, but you have to have a certain amount of skill before you can know the difference. Think of it like a piano... if all you play is 'chopsticks', ain't no piano gonna make you sound good. Take it for what it's worth.

[epstud74 24]

Some people are more gifted than others with hand/eye coordination so they may pick up on their stick skills pretty quickly. A few newbies have stick skills way ahead of their skating skills, but the majority dont.

[shotty 7]

piano references: why we love having girls around here.

pick a stick that feels comfortable in your hands now, worry about specs and features later. spend your money on thinks like good skates and a good helmet. those two will be with you a lot longer than any stick, and make the game more comfortable for you while you develop your skills. put a crap stick in the hands of a great player and he can still put the puck anywhere, put him in bad skates and watch his skills suffer.

[BucksAway 16]

I have been playing for approx a year and a half playing roller twice a week...for me i can tell the difference really really easily and honestly i suck. A tradtional shaft for me just doesnt work, my shots are all over the place and passes rarely ever hit the target

Got a warrior dolomite which is tapared and my shots improved dramitically and then i got an SE16 and they improved even further, for me at not very experienced i can tell the difference between a high end or low end stick and tapered or standard

For me i can tell the difference as a beginner for other it may be different, if u can try and play with a low end and high end stick and compare the 2...if you dont notice much of a difference stick to the low end stick

[theelite 1]

thanks everyone!

I have been wearing one50 skates for about 2 years now and while they're not top of the line by any means, my feet feel great in them. check.

I also have a nike bauer 5500 helmet with the gel padding on my head and it feels great. check

I've gone through a bunch of sticks over the last couple of years ranging from Easton Carbons to a Warrior AK27 shaft (my backup) and x40 (main). Over this period of time, my choice in sticks has had significant impact on my stats and points... with the majority of this winter season going, i've been using my x40 and i've got 28 points in 22 games. I recently started looking more indepth into the construction of the OPS and have been told by every lhs that anything that is a price point OPS is really a 2 piece which is fine.

I actually found a really good deal at my lhs tonight for a shaft and i picked it up for very cheap. It's an older rbk 7k shaft in mid flex (75). It's about as long as any senior shaft that I've seen but on the price tag it's been marked as INT...i dont mind either way, the flex seems better for me and a tapered shaft for $50 was a good deal in my mind... wasnt the 7k top of the line a few years back?

now to find a blade =\

[tareatingrat 4]

Finding the right curve, lie, and flex is probably more important right now than flex point and all that other technology.

But if you're on here, you're probably a gear whore, or you wouldn't have bothered asking...

I personally like a really light stick. That usually means an expensive stick. However, if I could still get the original Easton Stealth, I probably would go with those.

That said, I'm definitely a gear whore, especially when it comes to sticks. I've used most of the major manufacturer's sticks (Bauer, TPS, Easton, RBK, Sherwood, Warrior) and most of the price points (kids on the hockey team I help out with let me try their sticks out in practice sometimes).

It probably depends on your style of play, but I haven't really found a huge real-life difference between sticks. I mean, really, some do "perform" better, but in game situations unless you're at a high level of play and have quite the bag of tricks, I would think it's a pretty minimal difference. When you get a little better at stickhandling, some have a better feel, but even really pricey sticks can feel awful. I've found more success with different patterns, lies, and flexes than the type of technology that is in the stick and where it flexes.

Objectively, low-kick point sticks give me a slightly faster wrister, whereas mid-kick sticks give me a slightly improved slapper, as it should be. But, using a radar gun at a training center, we're talking a pretty small difference, maybe a couple of miles an hour. As a caveat, I have a really hard wrister, but an absymal slap shot. My best slap shot was maybe, 4 mph slower than my best wrist shot. :(

Right now I've got both types of stick (One95 OPS and X:60 shaft/blade combo) and I find myself gravitating to the One95 simply because it feels better in my hands, even though I love the X:60 for accuracy. I'm scoring a ton of goals with the One95 lately, so common sense and superstition dictates I stick (hah!) with it...

But I've used an Easton S5 before and scored a bunch of goals with that, too.

So when it comes down to it, I really just pick the lightest stick in my pattern/flex/lie that I can afford. Would I buy top of the line sticks again? I dunno. I haven't used them and gone, "Holy crap, these are way better than anything else I've ever used!" but I do like how light they are. Again, if the original black Easton stealth was still around, I'd buy them up in a second because those were by far my favourites. But a lot of it is simply personal preference.

If I were you, I'd buy a decent shaft in an appropriate flex for you, and try out different patterns. If you have a pattern that's working for you, try a few cheap OPS sticks, then save up and try a higher end stick or a closeout. You really won't know until you try them out for yourself.

But keep in mind, I've seen some really, really good hockey players using the cheapest thing they can get their hands on, use them until they're all chipped up and cracked with tape ripped up and falling off, but stickhandle like crazy, pass tape to tape, and fire bombs with it. Like me, just because you prefer a certain stick, doesn't mean you'll be any good with it. :D

[iceholes19 0]

Like the OP, I'm a career beer leaguer. About two years ago, in a game, some 250 pound hack stepped on the blade of my Z carbon woody. As I'm hustling by our bench, a teammate hands me his backup Warrior OPS. I get on the rush and take a slap shot on goal. I was amazed at the snap and velocity of my shot. Of course it sailed 5 ft over the net - Lidstrom curve! But from that moment I've been sold on high end sticks.

[zebra_steve 11]

Everyone has a certain "feel" that they like in their stick... to some, any old stick will due and others feel\notice subtle differences and when they get the right stick in their hands it just feels ... well, "special"... I don't want to have to think about anything when I stick handle, shoot or pass.... The years have trained the hands and mind to act and react together... with the right twig that's what happens. If it's not right then the shots will sail high\wide, the toe drag will be missed, the passes will be in the area instead of tape to tape.....

As a beginner, you are still developing this feel. Your preferences may change as you mature... get more skilled, stronger, bigger, faster..... Figure out what you like the curve to look like, find the correct lie for your style, and then get to know the "feel" of a shaft that works for you.... that's all you'll really have to rely on every time you walk into a pro shop looking for a stick. High flex, low flex... all corresponds to a different feel. Some will relate them to performance characteristics that they feel\see when they use them and others will not notice any difference.

To me it seems like sticks are going the way of golf club shafts..... the manufacturers change lines and drop models... the flex, feel, weight, and kick point all figure in on how it works for any given individual... it's up to you to figure out what suits you best.... Some of it's technology, some of it's just marketing... the question is how much is the former and how much is the latter....

[xaero604 0]

for the beginner, the only real advantage of getting a higher end stick is usually the weight savings. It can help a lot especially if your wrist strength isn't there yet. It's a bit of a crutch but if you're starting out late in life like I did and aren't naturally gifted with big forearms and the wrist strength to match, a light stick really helps out.

The only disadvantage I see to getting a high end stick is that they're addictive!

Since you got a nice light intermediate shaft, you're best off pairing it with a light blade (i.e. Easton SE16 or whatever retail synergy tapered blade you can find). A heavy blade will just make the whole point of getting a light shaft moot.

[gxc999 7]

I'm a grade A, officially certified stick whore, and as I sit here with a U+ CL in my lap (helps me sleep), a few things come to mind. For a total beginner, wood blades are so much more forgiving. I remember starting out a few years ago, I had a really hard time receiving passes when I switched over from the woodies I was used to as a kid. And to be completely honest, the best wood sticks are reasonably light and pretty well balanced. The really big differences are going to be in stick handling and durability.

I've got no faith in wood sticks lasting more than a couple games. On the other hand, I've only ever broken a couple OPS and those were simply bad luck. I also do notice a difference dangling one handed, and while it is more expensive, there's an overall advantage to a composite. To the original question, few beginners or non-professional level players will see a big difference performance wise using sticks of equal caliber but with diff kickpoints.