Taping Sticks

[kosydar 0]

Oh, always white. Never black, especially not for the buttend. I've made an effort to never use black tape for my buttend for my entire hockey lifetime. I'll use some blue PowerFlex tape occasionally, but I tear through it so quickly that its pointless. If I could find something that'd last, I'd use that.

[Tyler B 0]

for the blade i use black or white.I put some sock tape on the bottom of the blade then Tape heel to about 1 and a half inches from the toe. But if the toe is chipped i will cover the toe. And for the but end i dont use a nob. i will usually tape about 5 or 6 inches down with finger grips. Allways white tape for the but end.

[mastertuc 0]

Black, the normal i guess you woudl say, heel to toe with nuthing on the toe, little wax about I dono about 1 cm on the bottom of the blade, and i use the wide tape. i get either 1.5 or 2 inch tape.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

For the If I have an older blade that I don't care if it breaks or chips, then I'll tape from the middle to the toe, leaving the heel tapeless. Thats what I really like to do, but I find the heel chips up pretty easy that way.

Is it because you prefer the feel you have with this kind of taping?

[Karly14 21]

long bertuzzi/hossa/havlat ish tape job on the butt end(white0 the i tape middle of the blade to the toe, (white).

[kosydar 0]

For the If I have an older blade that I don't care if it breaks or chips, then I'll tape from the middle to the toe, leaving the heel tapeless.  Thats what I really like to do, but I find the heel chips up pretty easy that way.

Is it because you prefer the feel you have with this kind of taping?

Yeah, for some reason I just feel like I get a better feel this way. I know its most likely mental, but I really do.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

For the If I have an older blade that I don't care if it breaks or chips, then I'll tape from the middle to the toe, leaving the heel tapeless.  Thats what I really like to do, but I find the heel chips up pretty easy that way.

Is it because you prefer the feel you have with this kind of taping?

Yeah, for some reason I just feel like I get a better feel this way. I know its most likely mental, but I really do.

I asked that to you because I tape my stick like that and I really prefer the feel.

[NYR14 0]

Always black, heel to around toe and cut off excess. Wax on the entire tape job.

[asdfa 0]

For the blade I tape from the heel (but not up into the shaft at all...thats disgusting) completely over the toe and cut off the excess. I've had problems with the toe chipping before and this really helps cut that down. If I have an older blade that I don't care if it breaks or chips, then I'll tape from the middle to the toe, leaving the heel tapeless. Thats what I really like to do, but I find the heel chips up pretty easy that way.

exactly like this, but with a strip on the bottom. can anyone recommend a good wax? i'm using some canadian tire "ice wax" and it's pretty terrible

[MNdgame 0]

Usually white tape, but one year I had a coach that only let us use black tape. Heel to toe, wax if I have it. Wax seems to make tape last longer, except renfrew. Anybody else have trouble with renfrew brand tape coming off in the first 30 seconds of shooting?

[kosydar 0]

Renfrew sucks so much. Not only does it come off quickly, but it leaves terrible residue all over the blade when you peel it off. Most tape comes off during the average ice time for me, but Andover and Sportstape work the best.

[nazer 0]

Black tape Heel to Toe completely covered. Put a piece of electrical along the bottom of the blade. Rub it with a puck to make the tape stick better. Then wax the thing. At the top of my stick i use electrical tape for the basic knob.

[Shorthanded67 0]

White tape from about an inch from the toe to about an inch from the heel.

[Sniper9 530]

heel to about 1/2" from toe.. one none overlapping layer of reg tape(black) one layer of friction tape. love it!

[Accord 0]

All of you guys saying things like "I tape my stick like *insert NHL player name here*", post pictures of the stick of said NHL players so we can see what you're talking about :D.

[Eazy_b97 1]

All of you guys saying things like "I tape my stick like *insert NHL player name here*", post pictures of the stick of said NHL players so we can see what you're talking about :D.

Look it up yourself

[WingsVK97 0]

I'm seeing that only a handful of people use friction tape and most are black/white users. I've got a roll of friction I've had for years now cause I used it and it broke up pretty easily and I didn't feel any advantage to using it. Maybe I didn't give it a good chance but what does it do for you and how should I apply it. Does it help more with stickhandling, shooting, and should I try it more on the toe or heel?

[Briggy 0]

Recently I started to use the bertuzzi tape job at the butt, the one that goes to where you bottom hand would be:

I also use the Kovalchuk tape job(from heel of blade taped all the way to the toe):

[Jbone 0]

Heel to toe, Cover toe, Sex wax, White tape. Sometimes when we play crappy teams I load my stick up with wax and do some Crosbys. Well In Peewee I did anyways. But know in Bantam Im not one of the the best players in my league any more.

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

Whose auto is that? Fedorov? If so, where's the 1? Can't think of anyone with #9 and a name that starts with an S though...

Let me guess, you tape it just like Fedorov or Kovalev, right?

That's Kovalev.

I use a form of ankle tape to tape my handle. My knob is about 1/8". White tape on the blade.

[beaver5 1]

heel to toe and all around the toe too.

[Jason 65]

Can anyone explain to me why everyone tapes heel to toe? I read online that it is better to tape to to heel because the puck rolls off of the stick from heel to toe. That way the puck isn't going against the "grain" of the tape as it rolls off the blade. It sorta makes sense.

[Accord 0]

Can anyone explain to me why everyone tapes heel to toe? I read online that it is better to tape to to heel because the puck rolls off of the stick from heel to toe. That way the puck isn't going against the "grain" of the tape as it rolls off the blade. It sorta makes sense.

You want it to go "against the grain". Each tape strip acts as a little pocket which causes the puck to spin which makes the puck much more stable in mid air and makes your shot more accurate. The spin on the puck makes the pucks flght be very steady, think of it like a baseball. If you throw a baseball with no spin whatsoever, that's a knuckleball and it goes in all different different directions and it's not steady at all, making it very difficult for a batter to get contact. Or in basketball, you always want backspin on the ball when shooting otherwise your shot will be horrible inaccurate. Or in football, if a quarterback wants to throw a long accurate pass, the only way to do so is to cause the football to spiral/spin in mid-air. All of these same principles applies to a hockey puck and the purpose of taping heel to toe rather than toe to heel is to create as much spin as possible on the puck.

[echi24 1]

but most players rub the tape down with a puck or wax over the tape, tehrefore loosing the effect? i personally dont believe there is any noticable difference, but reccently i have been having trouble taping my stick well toe to heel, and so i switched.

[fatwabbit 93]

ok, here's my method...

i use 3M no slip adhesive tape. You know the black textured tape that they put on some walkways so that you dont slip and fall when it is wet? 3M has some really strong tape. I used to do the whole heel-to-toe thing until a few months ago. Now i only put the 3M tape (one piece of about 15inch long and about 2 inches wide on the front of the blade and on the backhand side, its about 1inch wide. A bit difficult to understand, but the reason i did it is that the tape is already textured, and gives a real good feel of the puck. the other reason is that the adhesive that 3M manufactures is really kickass, it comes off when you pull hard enough, but stays on real tight on the blade and lasts really long.

another thing i have done is to put epoxy on the edge of the blade. I live in Singapore, and getting the blade pattern you like from the LHS here is really difficult. THe guy there just wants to sell what he had in stock, he doesnt care about whether you like the pattern or not... just wants to clear his stock so he can get the new stock ordered. I bought the pattern i really liked to use (Sherwood LeClair) and have done this to make the blade last longer for inline hockey. What i did was:

1) Mix epoxy resin with the hardener (you can get this from the local hardware store). do this in a well ventilated area, smells a bit funky

2) Apply the mixture to the edge of the blade (the part that always gets worn down)

3) allow the epoxy to set before using the blade/stick. take about 5 min, or 2 hours depending on the type you use.

essentially what happens is that you are adding a layer that will wear down slowly (one application of about 1/4 inch thickness will last me about 2 sessions of 2hr hockey on rough concrete. Smooth concrete = about 4 sessions; asphalt about 1 session or less)

not only does this lengthen the life of the blade, but i dont have to worry about finding the same pattern again. Just think about it this way... i used to change the blade once every 2-3 months. Now i change it once or twice a year!

Mind you, the epoxy does put a little more weight onto the blade, but that doesnt really concern me much at all. one technique i have used to keep the epoxy from flowing off the edge is to use some masking tape (the yellowish type) and tape up the front and back of the blade... this forms a small channel for the epoxy to be applied, and the epoxy will set in this 'mould'. Hope you guys understand what i am trying to say... takes a little practice to get it right, but i have been doing it for about 4 years...