youth hockey sticks

[tro 4]

Started my little guy off with wood, then bought him a OPS, told him if I see any change in puckhandling or catching passes then back to wood, nothing in his game changed except his wrist shot gets off better. I figure he will use OPS for the rest of his playing days, so why not get started now.

As for top of the line, I think the One55 was $35 and his One95 was $49, so why not. Stay away from the S19, his went soft in the middle after 20 games, not good enough for a 50lb 7yr old.

I wish they had an end plug for YTH, if you could pop a plug in the end, a good YTH stick could last 2yrs. That's were I see a huge cost benefit in the JR OPS over wood, he outgrows the wood, new stick, the OPS just pop a extension in.

[Chadd 916]

I wish they had an end plug for YTH, if you could pop a plug in the end, a good YTH stick could last 2yrs. That's were I see a huge cost benefit in the JR OPS over wood, he outgrows the wood, new stick, the OPS just pop a extension in.

You also have parents that don't remove tape from blades on wood sticks and the blades just rot away, but they don't replace them. You won't have that issue with composites.

[ahbroody 1]

You also have parents that don't remove tape from blades on wood sticks and the blades just rot away, but they don't replace them. You won't have that issue with composites.

We got lots of those. Lol. We also have the parents with the stick way to short for the kid giving him full bender position.

We have a kid on our team who we spoke to his parents about this. Decent skater but constantly hunched over. They go buy him a new stick and cut it way to short again. We just started laughing. Micah actually uses a long stick for him. Seems to help him stick handle and keep his head up.

[cdnrookies 0]

Now im just jealous! We seem to have a shortage here of youth sticks, in my area anyways. We have the reebok sickick which sells for about 75, a cheap winwell which has more kick in the blade of the stick than the shaft, and the TPS which seems to work well for him. (about $40) Wish there were more options.

[zebra_steve 11]

I wish they had an end plug for YTH, if you could pop a plug in the end, a good YTH stick could last 2yrs. That's were I see a huge cost benefit in the JR OPS over wood, he outgrows the wood, new stick, the OPS just pop a extension in.

If you have a old wood youth stick and a file laying around then you have a ready supply of extensions.

We got lots of those. Lol. We also have the parents with the stick way to short for the kid giving him full bender position.

We have a kid on our team who we spoke to his parents about this. Decent skater but constantly hunched over. They go buy him a new stick and cut it way to short again. We just started laughing. Micah actually uses a long stick for him. Seems to help him stick handle and keep his head up.

This can be a very subjective issue... I have kids that are good skaters, but play with sticks that IMHO are too long. When you just look at them skating around the sticks look ok but when they try to stick handle around obstacles or through traffic they have the top hand and butt end up near their armpit level. when they get their top hand down closer to their hip all they have on the ice is the heel of their blade. No way they and control the puck on either forehand or backhand during a power turn with these sticks. Due to the length of the stick they have to have the top of their stick on the side of their body and as high as their ribcage.

Your "bender position" has more to do with them never being taught to skate. Never taught to bend their knees properly while keeping their torso upright and centering their weight over their skates.... Most parents seem to just buy the equipment, chop a stick at their eyebrows and turn them loose. I have kids on my daughter's team that I'm still fighting stiff legs, too wide of a stance, bending at the waist, and "tripodism" (leaning on the stick like a tripod when skating backwards)..... all because they were not basically proficient at skating before starting into hockey.

[Chadd 916]

This can be a very subjective issue... I have kids that are good skaters, but play with sticks that IMHO are too long. When you just look at them skating around the sticks look ok but when they try to stick handle around obstacles or through traffic they have the top hand and butt end up near their armpit level. when they get their top hand down closer to their hip all they have on the ice is the heel of their blade. No way they and control the puck on either forehand or backhand during a power turn with these sticks. Due to the length of the stick they have to have the top of their stick on the side of their body and as high as their ribcage.

I do agree with you in principle, but I think the bigger issue is lie. To get that hand position with a lot of sticks, the stick would be below their collar bone.

[ahbroody 1]

I think I have video of him stickhandling around kids he seems to do very well for his age so maybe its how he has developed not sure.

As to the bender thing. When you cut the stick so short its an issue at the 5-7 age. They are learning skating technique and stride will be for many years. Having it cut mid chest level is going to create an issue at that age when they are carrying the puck up ice. I am not worried about his stride he is very fast. I am more wanting him to skate with his head up. I still think having his stick a little longer has helped him to learn to keep his back straight and head up. He has a good sense of the ice and everyone on it. Because his heads up it has greatly improved his ability to stick handle past kids because he sees them early. I think those of us that have their sticks long are focusing on this. I know that was my goal. I forced him to have his knees bent and good stride by wedging his skates and having them radiused. He didnt have to understand at 4 his body just did it. Hes keeping his back straight and head up with a longer stick. Could be just a coincidence, but its working for him so I am going to stick with it. By subjective I think you meant every kid is different and what works for one wont for another. At this age I am much more concearned with his skating stride and body position then stick handling. I want him to always skate with his head up. If he ends up not being the greatest puck handler I am okay with that. I would rather it be that then trying to teach him body position and keeping his head up.

CDN we dont have a ton of shops here, they do have an okay selection definetly more than what you have. I kind of lucked into his stick.

Edit

forgot to mention I am no where near a good player. These were just things I thought about and decided to try and seem to have worked for him. Just my opinions and exprience and I could be way off base and he could be developing well despite my screwing him up.

[zebra_steve 11]

I do agree with you in principle, but I think the bigger issue is lie. To get that hand position with a lot of sticks, the stick would be below their collar bone.

We are in total agreement there Chadd.... I just didn't touch on that..... IRRC you said somewhere that you used to build golf clubs as a hobby (another thing we seem to have in common BTW)... this is like the offerings for women and youth in club heads.... mostly the same as men's clubs but at least you can get softer flex shafts. The manufacturers of the sticks don't seem to have put out too many low lie sticks for the kids...... So, it's a compromise until they hit the 5 foot tall range.... I noticed the lie issue big time when my daughter started to play. Cut it to a length where she was comfortable and the blade was off the ice. Cut it so the lie was correct and it was too short until she learned the proper skating position..... It's still somewhat of an issue, but it will work out within the next year as she get closer to that 5' mark.

BTW, I am 6'4" and skate with a stick that is "collar bone" level..... Always have.... But that goes back to how I was taught to skate and stick handle about 40 years ago. (And the fact that you really couldn't get a stick longer that maybe 57" when I was actively playing so I learned to use what was available)

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

I think there may be some confusion as to how much some of us are spending on these sticks.

I have never spent more then 45.00 on a comp stick for him and given they are lasting 4-5 months I guess thats not a bad deal. Had no idea woods wear down that quick as he only used all wood in the garage. When he first started playing at 3 he was using a Jr. two piece. He snapped it and we transitioned to a comp. I would never buy him an 11k or a S19 as they are to much. Generally 2x what I would pay for a stick for him at this age. We do have those parents. He actually plays with some of the Sharks kids and they have some pretty nice sticks and stuff. ;) I just grabbed him a lousiville comp stick off totalhockey for 29.00 to play with as we had to buy some other items. Will post the curve when it lands end of this week or early next week. Funny, but the supply of the CCM and Reebok sticks he likes that were $40 has dryed up for right handed shots(hes lefty) they were the older model. Hoping the newer ones are the same although the wood version I saw in the shop yesterday was different. So much so you could tell just by looking at it, but guessing thats a wood thing.

As to what gear we spend the most on. He is skating in Graf Supra 370s which were pricey for a 5 year old. He has feet like dad. Tall fat no arch. That said they are the best youth skate I have seen better then the old 892 tacks he was skating in and he loves them. All his gear is based on what I think is safest for him, I dont look at price in this area I look at quality/safety as he has often been the youngest kid out there. side note if you can find any of the CCM Vector 04 youth pants I would buy. Huge tailbone pad, and the rest is very well made as well. Best youth pant I found getting harder to source now.

Dont know if there is a banter section here. I know on a cigar discussion board I am on we have a hockey parent banter. Its kind of fun and a way to bounce ideas and talk gear. I know I discussed having Micahs skates radius changed and given a forward profile using wedges and most parents there had never even heard of doing this. It helped his stride.

I agree with everything you've said so far. The generalizations I made weren't directed towards anyone here, just dumb parents that I know.

Started my little guy off with wood, then bought him a OPS, told him if I see any change in puckhandling or catching passes then back to wood, nothing in his game changed except his wrist shot gets off better. I figure he will use OPS for the rest of his playing days, so why not get started now.

As for top of the line, I think the One55 was $35 and his One95 was $49, so why not. Stay away from the S19, his went soft in the middle after 20 games, not good enough for a 50lb 7yr old.

I wish they had an end plug for YTH, if you could pop a plug in the end, a good YTH stick could last 2yrs. That's were I see a huge cost benefit in the JR OPS over wood, he outgrows the wood, new stick, the OPS just pop a extension in.

Youths are a different ball game. Right now the top out at about 80 and they're are some good cheaper options available, so If a kid is breaking wood, why not get a composite stick that will save you money in the long term. I was referring to jr sticks. I

've seen some parents skip youth sticks and cut down jr's a ton. Just seems like a waste of money. If a 10 year old is chewing through wood, going with composite makes sense but why go with the $180 stick vs the much cheaper option when the kid's shot will be the same with both sticks?

[HockeySavants 5]

More of a problem once the kids reach 8 and older IMO. Buying a reasonably priced composite stick because your kid is somehow breaking wood is one thing, but I find it rediculous that some parents shell out $150 plus for top of the line sticks that their kid will outgrow and probably can't get all the benifits out of using a top of the line stick.

One of my younger cousins made his parents buy him an intermediate total one which is too stiff for him and he left it taller than he is. The stupid thing is he has a terrible shot and the stick he uses won't make a damn difference in his shot

I've been started my sister off on all wood sticks and now that she understands flex and why expensive sticks are expensive, I gave her a nice Bauer composite.

I hate going on youtube and find videos of kids who aren't even 13 with 3 pairs of $500 skates, and every new possible stick, yet when they show their slap shot it looks like the stick is overpowering them.

Tomorrow's generation are not even going to ever hold a wooden stick I'm afraid.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

I've been started my sister off on all wood sticks and now that she understands flex and why expensive sticks are expensive, I gave her a nice Bauer composite.

I hate going on youtube and find videos of kids who aren't even 13 with 3 pairs of $500 skates, and every new possible stick, yet when they show their slap shot it looks like the stick is overpowering them.

Tomorrow's generation are not even going to ever hold a wooden stick I'm afraid.

Probably Not. Maybe wood sticks aren't built like they used to. I remember when I got to pewees, 2 woodies lasted me the whole year, granted they were z carbs (What I'd do for one)

[Chadd 916]

Probably Not. Maybe wood sticks aren't built like they used to. I remember when I got to pewees, 2 woodies lasted me the whole year, granted they were z carbs (What I'd do for one)

I found an old Z-carbon 95 in a closet after a couple years and took it out on the ice. Damn thing exploded on me on the first shot. It reminded me why I stopped using them.

Tomorrow's generation are not even going to ever hold a wooden stick I'm afraid.

Nothing wrong with that as long as they get the right composite products.

[zebra_steve 11]

Chadd,

Since you brought up the issue of poor lie..... are there any sticks out there that are truly a 3 or 4 lie? I have a Rebok multilam youth woody (says 40 flex) and a Warrior Bently (50 flex) for my daughter..... both trimmed a couple inches to facilitate having the blade flat on the ice while she carries the puck. I think they are supposed to be a 4 lie but seem to match up pretty close to a couple 5 lie sticks that I have laying around. seems like a true 4 or 3 lie would be the ticket but I don't think there really is one available....

Recommendations?

[Larry54 243]

Chadd,

Since you brought up the issue of poor lie..... are there any sticks out there that are truly a 3 or 4 lie? I have a Rebok multilam youth woody (says 40 flex) and a Warrior Bently (50 flex) for my daughter..... both trimmed a couple inches to facilitate having the blade flat on the ice while she carries the puck. I think they are supposed to be a 4 lie but seem to match up pretty close to a couple 5 lie sticks that I have laying around. seems like a true 4 or 3 lie would be the ticket but I don't think there really is one available....

Recommendations?

Base hockey makes a 3 lie but I'm guessing it's a bit pricey for a youth stick. But they sell shafts and blades, too.

[zebra_steve 11]

Base hockey makes a 3 lie but I'm guessing it's a bit pricey for a youth stick. But they sell shafts and blades, too.

You're not kidding - "pricey". I'd go cheaper and sand the lie to suit... looks like a good reason to go wood with an ABS core.... I don't want to end up trying to reconcile "custom" vs what's commercially produced when she gets older. Ask any dinosaur that used wood blades and a propane torch about getting used to using what you like vs what they sell.

[SolarWind 23]

it's amaizing how crappy some youth composite sticks, are even top of the line ones!

I was at the store yesterday looking at them and RBK/CCM are worst of them all: 11K has a paper thin blade that bends for a light finger press!

but there're decent ones - Dolomite and S19 are quite nice, fairly thin blade but still ridgit & with a good feel.

my 8 year old son played with a woodie for 4 years, and always had difficulties raising his shot above 1-1.5 feet above the ice due to a very mild curves and neutral faces + very thick blades for wooden sticks.

on the first shot with a Dolo he hit the crossbar! :)

[goblue9280 33]

it's amaizing how crappy some youth composite sticks, are even top of the line ones!

It doesn't just stop with sticks. Most equipment at the youth level seems to use inferior materials/components/build when compared to the same model in senior/junior sizes. And the manufacturers get away with using the same spec sheets for all 3 sizes.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

You're not kidding - "pricey". I'd go cheaper and sand the lie to suit... looks like a good reason to go wood with an ABS core.... I don't want to end up trying to reconcile "custom" vs what's commercially produced when she gets older. Ask any dinosaur that used wood blades and a propane torch about getting used to using what you like vs what they sell.

Maybe a koho 2260 blade would work. I've seen them hold up pretty well when used on ice

[jcp2 2]

I think it really depends on the stick. We had been using the youth wood sticks when we had a chance to pick up a composite stick on close out for $30. It was a CCM youth stick with a flex of 35 (really?) and grip on the shaft. The shaft diameter was very small and the stick much more flexy at length than the wood sticks we had been using. It has lasted 1.5 seasons and I have an uncut one in the closet for when this one is too short. It's actually possible for my son and his friends using this stick to load the shaft rather than just flip the puck for a raise, so I think it was worth it for this particular stick. Since the wood sticks cost $15, at 3 sessions a week for 6 months, it's an extra 35 cents per session to go with this stick, assuming it lasts 1 season. The other youth sticks were more expensive, a little bigger in diameter, and not as flexy. For something like that, I would have just gone with the wood stick with the ABS blade. We do have a couple of these that he uses for fooling around on the driveway with his friends.

P.S. He is still a mite. I'm certainly not spending $50 and up for a composite stick for him. I'll put that towards skates and a helmet that fit well. The other soft goods can all be gotten used.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

I think it really depends on the stick. We had been using the youth wood sticks when we had a chance to pick up a composite stick on close out for $30. It was a CCM youth stick with a flex of 35 (really?) and grip on the shaft. The shaft diameter was very small and the stick much more flexy at length than the wood sticks we had been using. It has lasted 1.5 seasons and I have an uncut one in the closet for when this one is too short. It's actually possible for my son and his friends using this stick to load the shaft rather than just flip the puck for a raise, so I think it was worth it for this particular stick. Since the wood sticks cost $15, at 3 sessions a week for 6 months, it's an extra 35 cents per session to go with this stick, assuming it lasts 1 season. The other youth sticks were more expensive, a little bigger in diameter, and not as flexy. For something like that, I would have just gone with the wood stick with the ABS blade. We do have a couple of these that he uses for fooling around on the driveway with his friends.

P.S. He is still a mite. I'm certainly not spending $50 and up for a composite stick for him. I'll put that towards skates and a helmet that fit well. The other soft goods can all be gotten used.

sounds like what alot of parents are looking for their little guys and gals. What's the model?

[Chadd 916]

Chadd,

Since you brought up the issue of poor lie..... are there any sticks out there that are truly a 3 or 4 lie? I have a Rebok multilam youth woody (says 40 flex) and a Warrior Bently (50 flex) for my daughter..... both trimmed a couple inches to facilitate having the blade flat on the ice while she carries the puck. I think they are supposed to be a 4 lie but seem to match up pretty close to a couple 5 lie sticks that I have laying around. seems like a true 4 or 3 lie would be the ticket but I don't think there really is one available....

Recommendations?

Sorry, been on the road the last few days and haven't read all the topics.

Only ones I recall were the old black beauty sticks and they seem to be gone. The puck feel on them was terrible though.

[HockeySavants 5]

I inspected a pair of Youth Nike Bauer XXXX skates a while back and noticed they didn't feel anywhere near as sturdy as the Jr/Sr model. It wasn't even the stiffness since these are youth skates after all, but it was more or less the construction and the tendon guard too.

[billygoat 0]

I got my 5 year old a Composites shaft at SportChek for 25 and sportzonecanada.com in waterloo has junior blades on for 80%off so I got 6 modano curves for 24 bucks. Hard to beat!

[HockeySavants 5]

I got my 5 year old a Composites shaft at SportChek for 25 and sportzonecanada.com in waterloo has junior blades on for 80%off so I got 6 modano curves for 24 bucks. Hard to beat!

Not a bad deal at all, at least you'll have spares

[leafs1967 2]

Sorry, been on the road the last few days and haven't read all the topics.

Only ones I recall were the old black beauty sticks and they seem to be gone. The puck feel on them was terrible though.

I got my 2 boys Easton S17 youth Iginla sticks. The lie on them seem extremely low. Definately a lie 4 probably even closer to a 3. You can get a good deal on these on cloesouts