black hills tj 5 Report post Posted July 13, 2012 I'm fairly new to actually paying attention to details about hockey gear, but I'm not entirely retarded regarding the matter. Long gone are the days of simply having a stick shaft that was exactly the same for the entire length of the shaft. No longer(generally speaking) can we take a stick, cut a bit off to reach the desired length, and keep the same flex profile while slightly altering the flex rating of the stick. For example, cutting a 100 flex stick X number of inches and ending up with a shorter 85 flex stick.Now-a-days there are various flex profiles such as a mid-kickpoint, low-kickpoint, etc. designed to create sticks with different performance attributes. By building a stick shaft that is not the same throughout the length of the shaft like before, engineers in the industry can create "soft spots" in the stick to create different flex profiles. However, while doing so I would think that one can no longer just cut a few inches off of the end of a stick and still keep the optimum flex profile for the performance they are looking for.For example(hypothetically speaking, since I do not know exactly how sticks are built for different flex profiles), if a stick is built for a "mid-kickpoint" flex profile, its possible that the midpoint of the shaft is built to be "softer" at the length that the stick is originally built. Now, if we take that "mid-kickpoint" stick and cut...oh, 6" off the end(I'm a pretty short guy so most senior sticks are quite long), while the stick at the original length may work optimally for a taller person who would place his hand above the "soft spot" in the stick which gives it the "mid-kickpoint," now that you have cut 6" off the butt-end of the stick, the player's lower hand may now be below the "soft spot" which has now been moved closer to the butt-end of the stick than blade. Now we have less of a "mid-kickpoint" flex profile.Hopefully I am making sense here. Taking all of the various custom flex profiles into consideration, do you think that we may see manufacturer's producing and selling sticks in more lengths instead of the "standard" intermediate, senior, etc lengths? Then you'd be altering the original length of the stick less which would reduce the change in the flex profile.Thanks for taking a second to ponder my thoughts and questions! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chadd 916 Report post Posted July 13, 2012 Different lengths create more inventory, higher cost and lower profits. There is no profit in trying to create the perfect stick for everyone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
interpathway 9 Report post Posted July 17, 2012 For example, cutting a 100 flex stick X number of inches and ending up with a shorter 85 flex stick.I'm sure you just went dyslexic for a second, but cutting a 100 flex shaft down will increase the flex, not the opposite. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
black hills tj 5 Report post Posted July 18, 2012 I'm sure you just went dyslexic for a second, but cutting a 100 flex shaft down will increase the flex, not the opposite.Yeah, my bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gxc999 7 Report post Posted July 18, 2012 Different lengths create more inventory, higher cost and lower profits. There is no profit in trying to create the perfect stick for everyone.I would certainly love it as an option. Moreover, in a larger sense, a mass produced 58" stick would cost less than a mass produced 63" stick, all other things being equal and it could be offered as a "special option" or something to get free publicity. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chadd 916 Report post Posted July 18, 2012 If someone decides to start selling sticks five inches shorter than they do now, they will lose market share. It's always funny to see the people that are outside of the norm and think there is a huge market for people like them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AIREAYE 248 Report post Posted July 18, 2012 I would certainly love it as an option. Moreover, in a larger sense, a mass produced 58" stick would cost less than a mass produced 63" stick, all other things being equal and it could be offered as a "special option" or something to get free publicity.If someone decides to start selling sticks five inches shorter than they do now, they will lose market share. It's always funny to see the people that are outside of the norm and think there is a huge market for people like them.Warrior now has/will soon sell most of their higher end sticks 3" longer than the traditional 60" SR and 57" INT. Bauer sells their APX JR sticks shorter than most other JR sticks, CCM also sells longer U+CL JR sticks, the old Bauer One85 was longer at SR lengths, the old Reebok 7K has a longer JR stick length iirc.I don't think his idea is stupid or 'funny', not saying that it's a winning idea, but no need to mock him for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gxc999 7 Report post Posted July 20, 2012 If someone decides to start selling sticks five inches shorter than they do now, they will lose market share. It's always funny to see the people that are outside of the norm and think there is a huge market for people like them.Obviously, 5 is too much, but why not 2? I mean, 90% of guys in rec leagues are cutting sticks down... and using sticks that are too stiff as a result. If that's not demand, I don't know what is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chadd 916 Report post Posted July 20, 2012 Obviously, 5 is too much, but why not 2? I mean, 90% of guys in rec leagues are cutting sticks down... and using sticks that are too stiff as a result. If that's not demand, I don't know what is.My team and league is nowhere near 90% in cutting sticks. Probably closer to 40%. Most of them are still using sticks that are too stiff and it has nothing to do with cutting. Even if we agree to meet somewhere in the middle, it creates a serious problem for taller guys. What are they going to do when the 100 flex stick is now even shorter? Add in a 2",3",4", etc plug and the stick could be too whippy for them. The only other option would be a stiffer stick that manufacturers are making less common each year. All to accommodate a small number of guys that can't can't get the perfect flex when they cut down a senior stick and don't like intermediates. It's creates a number of potential problems for a very small percentage of the players out there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gxc999 7 Report post Posted July 21, 2012 My team and league is nowhere near 90% in cutting sticks. Probably closer to 40%. Most of them are still using sticks that are too stiff and it has nothing to do with cutting. Even if we agree to meet somewhere in the middle, it creates a serious problem for taller guys. What are they going to do when the 100 flex stick is now even shorter? Add in a 2",3",4", etc plug and the stick could be too whippy for them. The only other option would be a stiffer stick that manufacturers are making less common each year. All to accommodate a small number of guys that can't can't get the perfect flex when they cut down a senior stick and don't like intermediates. It's creates a number of potential problems for a very small percentage of the players out there.Fair point. I should've said maybe 50-55%, not 90%, but that's still a substantial amount. I really don't know how much excess cost there'd be if a company offered 2 lengths of a stick. I understand maybe 10% or so, but that'd probably be offset by stronger demand, no? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chadd 916 Report post Posted July 21, 2012 Fair point. I should've said maybe 50-55%, not 90%, but that's still a substantial amount. I really don't know how much excess cost there'd be if a company offered 2 lengths of a stick. I understand maybe 10% or so, but that'd probably be offset by stronger demand, no?The number of guys that fall between full length intermediate and cut down 70/75/85/100 flex sticks is an extremely small percentage of the market. If they were to only offer it in shafts, there would be complaints that it wasn't offered in OPS. Then the complaint would be the wrong curve or the wrong lie. Changing tooling and coming up with another length isn't worth the minimal potential increase in sales given the significant increase in costs for production as well as adding more SKUs to manage.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites