Goalie Stick Length

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Hey all, obviously there have been a bajillion topics and posts in the past on stick length but I didn't see any specific to goalies.

What do you guys do with your goal sticks for length? I'm sure it's a lot to do with personal preference, but any general guidelines?

I heard on a TV broadcast recently (All-Star Skills Competition?) that modern goalies are cutting their sticks shorter to allow for easier stick handling (not having to have the top hand up as high). What do you guys think?

At this point I've just been leaving my goal sticks the length they come, but I'm open to ideas.

Thanks!

[Axxion89 32]

If you mean shaft length, then I just leave it however it comes. I'm sure you could cut it shorter to make it easier to grip the top but I've never heard of any goalie I play with doing that

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Cool, good enough for me. Thanks!

[Gummer12 134]

Also doing that will mess with the balance of the stick

[BenderHockey 127]

I've taken to cutting mine to slightly longer than my player stick. Being a newer goalie, I don't notice too much of a difference in the balance, but it makes a HUGE difference when trying to play the puck. I shoot right as a player, but okay goal regular (left glove, right blocker) so I'm not a great stick handler yet, but I was able to deke a forechecker last game!

[badger_14 601]

Mine is slightly shorter than my player stick - I had a hard time with it getting caught on me/the net/other players, so I cut it down a few inches. Sometimes it feels a bit too short but overall it works for me. I need some more time on ice to see if it feels markedly different than using it on street.

[DocShawn48 7]

Cutting a goalie stick will jack the balance of the stick up. Parents usually are most often guilty of this.

I can't imagine a NHL goalie needing to modify a stick after they receive it. They can custom order it, within the new specs that are bull, and have the company make adjustments to the make of the stick itself to offer a shorter shaft. I guess when you have to be 6'6 in order to get past the 24 paddle limit you'll start hacking away at anything to keep your contract safe. Basically John Stewart (5'7) from the Daily Show and 80% of the NBA would have the same paddle length.

On topic, I don't play the puck often enough to really say one way or the other but I've held sticks that were cut and you can feel how off balance it is just in the ready, let alone playing the puck. I'd guess it's a professional grade fad they'll look back on and shake their heads at, like pump up basketball shoes making me and Michael Jordan jump higher when I was in 7th grade.

[BenderHockey 127]

If it works for someone, why is it a fad? Would a certain type of butt-end be considered a fad if it didn't work for you?

[DocShawn48 7]

Pro shops, goalie school instructors, YouTube, google, the internet at large and backed up with science all tend to agree cutting a stick causes it to lose it's balance actually increasing you're reaction time, and fatigue as you're grip compensates on the now uneven fulcrum at the grip to control the stick in the ready which is where a goalie makes their money. Playing the puck in comparison is much more a minor aspect versus rebound control let alone the added strain to your wrist that's working harder to perform the same movements when the stick was balanced. For a more drastic example find the balance point on a broom handle, rotate it using one hand at this point. Now move your hand up or down the shaft about 6 - 8 inches (since it's a broom length wise and light) and attempt to perform the same maneuvers. You'll notice it's noticeably more difficult since you're no longer at the balance point. Now you add some mass equal to a goalie stick, the complex and precise movements you're making in a game, the amount of time you spend doing this and the speed you must perform these tasks repeatedly, you can imagine how this will ramp up the fatigue quickly. This is why the pro shop guys, the internet, Bill Nye will tell you don't cut the shaft. Functions like the hilt of a sword to balance the long thin blade and allow the user to hack longer.

Perhaps "fad" was a poor choice on my part. I was mostly expressing distaste for the recent paddle length restrictions and how when confronted with an obstacle that makes no sense and comes out of no where, humans tend to resort to trial and error or show willingness to try what we're pretty sure to be wrong if it might give us a means around this obstacle.

My reference to pumps on basketball shoes was the obstacle the 80's and early 90's faced in that we couldn't "be like Mike". So when Nike suggested adding a pump mechanism that just made our shoes tighter would allow us to get that M. Jordon vertical, we handed over 200$ and pumped our shoes till circulation was a concern. No one got that vertical from tighter well pumped shoes but sales alone and word of mouth that "yeah it works!" Sold millions of units.

I wasn't trying to be obtuse or ruffle a feather, but point out that there is a lot of information saying why not and a few guys, pro or not, who say "yeah it works!" When you look at the big picture, I'm sure they are able to move their hand up the shortened shaft faster and are at less of an odd position, but how often they'll be playing the puck versus everything else a goalie must do with said stick that would be hindered by cutting the shaft, it's a poor trade off.

I'm by no means gospel or a professional hockey player/goalie and if it doesn't bother you, maybe with a OPS full composite stick that's light as a feather anyway, a few inches off may not show a significant difference, but you'd have to really decrease the mass in order for the imbalance, resulting from cutting the shaft, not to affect overall fatigue and game performance. Oven time every ounce counts to fatigue. The punishment I hated the most for falling asleep in boot camp was leaning my back against the wall, knees bent, like I was in an invisible chair, holding a pencil at each end between my index fingers with my arms fully extends in front of me. After a few minutes of doing this you'll see how a small amount of weight can inflict a lot of fatigue and pain versus the preferred punishment of push ups.

My apologies if I offended ya good goalie. Poor choice in the method to convey a perspective on my part.