Do plugs affect flex

[mjpisat 36]

Say u cut ur stick and decide its too short. You want to add an inch or two back on. Will it affect the flex in any way?

[IPv6Freely 2093]

If its wood, yes absolutely. Cut down 2" of composite and replace it with 2" of wood, it will be different. Not a ton, but it will definitely not be the same.

There are composite plugs that affect it less, but not sure by how much.

[Chadd 916]

Yes, but wood plugs will all vary in flex from one to the next. Composite should be more consistent.

[Puck Norris 0]

This is an interesting question that I have also wondered about. I always thought it would make the stick less stiff to add length back with any type of plug. Am I way off base here?

[Chadd 916]

This is an interesting question that I have also wondered about. I always thought it would make the stick less stiff to add length back with any type of plug. Am I way off base here?

Again, it depends on the stiffness of the plug itself. a 56" shaft and a 54" shaft with a 2" plug should be very, very similar in flex.

[Vet88 674]

If the 2" plug is still in your top hand then I'd have thought it wouldn't make a single bit of difference. The stick would be flexing from the bottom point of the hand ie thumb and forefinger.

[hyster110 3]

a plug that short will probably make very little difference in the way the stick feels, a plug that is 3 inches or longer, you will notice the stick dropping in fle

[IPv6Freely 2093]

a plug that short will probably make very little difference in the way the stick feels, a plug that is 3 inches or longer, you will notice the stick dropping in fle

This is why I'm considering buying intermediate sticks from now on. Take a 70, cut it down 4" and add a 4" wood plug. Should wind up with something around 72-73 or so.

[Justin Liedloff 13]

Actually, it would be the other way around. If you cut 4 and add 4, the stick would, in theory, be less stiff.

[Vet88 674]

Actually, it would be the other way around. If you cut 4 and add 4, the stick would, in theory, be less stiff.

This all depends on the plug, if the plug has a harder flex than the stick then you are making the stick stiffer - ie increasing the flex.

[tareatingrat 4]

Honestly, you're probably not going to notice a difference unless you're adding a huge extension.

[Justin Liedloff 13]

This all depends on the plug, if the plug has a harder flex than the stick then you are making the stick stiffer - ie increasing the flex.

Typically, wood is considerably more flexible than even the whippiest composite sticks. However, in all reality, tareatingrat is right. A 4" extension is not going to change the flex enough to notice, unless it is specifically designed to do so, i.e. Oggie.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Actually, it would be the other way around. If you cut 4 and add 4, the stick would, in theory, be less stiff.

Wood flexes more than composite? Huh. Never would have expected that.

[Justin Liedloff 13]

Wood flexes more than composite? Huh. Never would have expected that.

I'm specifically referring to ash, as that is what most plugs are made of. If you were to take a whip flex stick, and compare it to a piece of ash, cut to the exact dimensions of the stick, the ash would would flex more. Of course, wood being what it is, it will probably break before you max out the flex. This doesn't mean it's less flexible, it just means that is break point is considerably lower than the composite.

If you look at most modern wood sticks, they all had various amount of composite & fiberglass reinforcement running the length of the shaft. This helped to get consistent flex from stick to stick (to a certain extent) and to aid in flexing without breaking.

[hyster110 3]

This is why I'm considering buying intermediate sticks from now on. Take a 70, cut it down 4" and add a 4" wood plug. Should wind up with something around 72-73 or so.

why bother then, just keep the stick in one piece

Typically, wood is considerably more flexible than even the whippiest composite sticks. However, in all reality, tareatingrat is right. A 4" extension is not going to change the flex enough to notice, unless it is specifically designed to do so, i.e. Oggie.

a 4 inch extension will chage the flex. the general rule is 3 flex change for every inch added or removed, so a 4 inch extension would change the flex by 12, thats very noticable

[notquitedeadyet 13]

I'm sure that the flex is affected more by the leverage advantage from the added length, than from any miniscule amount of flex coming from a 4" extension

[Vet88 674]

Regardless of how whippy an extension may be, it has a plug that goes into the shaft. Say the stick is 100 flex, cut it down 3" then add a 3" extension (say the extension is rated at 100 flex) and you are now talking 200 flex over a 3" section (where the plug goes into the stick). That is almost a rock solid section of the stick. So my point is that this area is typically beneath the hand so in reality the stick is flexing from where the extension ends inside the shaft, not at the join or the end.

I couldn't test this on a butt end (don't have any lying around) but did test it on a stick that was broken (about 2 feet down from the top) and then had a 4" wooden plug join in it. 2 sticks, both the same, one 95's with 87 flex. Balanced between 2 blocks of wood (one at butt end and one at blade end) added diving weights in the middle until I got a decent flex out of the stick. It was very noticeable that the stick that had the join was hardly flexing thru the join area and had a totally different flex shape (much less) as opposed to the unjoined stick.

[tareatingrat 4]

^^^

Maybe. But again, most people aren't going to notice.

Aside from actually lengthening the stick, all a plug really does is help even out the balance on some blade heavy sticks. If I buy a high end, lighter stick, I cut it to the right height. If it's a cheaper stick that's a little blade heavy, I take 2" off and add a plug to even it out a bit.

[Justin Liedloff 13]

a 4 inch extension will chage the flex. the general rule is 3 flex change for every inch added or removed, so a 4 inch extension would change the flex by 12, thats very noticable

I totally agree. I was referring to cutting down 4" of shaft, and then adding a 4" wood extension in its place, thus ending up with the same exact length of stick, as Optimus planned to do.

You are correct, adding any amount of length to a stick will certainly lower the flex rating.

[hyster110 3]

^^^^^^

so why even bother cutting it in the first place?

[Chadd 916]

I asked Joe from Oggie to drop some of his knowledge in this topic and while I don't want to steal his thunder, ....

Very short plugs <3" do not have a very positive or negative effect on flex in testing (on-ice and in-house based on player feedback)

[Justin Liedloff 13]

^^^^^^

so why even bother cutting it in the first place?

Exactly. I don't personally cut / replace 4", but was pointing out to Optimus that, if anything, the wood would reduce the stiffness, not increase. However, I also pointed out that, even with the wood vs. composite argument, replacing only 4" of stick would have little to no noticeable effect on the flex of the stick.