wobbly passes

[oldtimehockey41 1]

I've been playing amateur hockey just shy of 20 years.  In the past 5 years, I've switched to using all carbon fiber one piece sticks.  One thing that changed is my passes, and sometimes my snapshots, are very wobbly, as opposed to flat saucer spin or flat on the ice.  I have to consciously cup the puck at the heel in order to make saucer or perfectly flat passes.

 

I have experimented with different blade patterns and I prefer heel to mid-heel curve and closed face, P88/W88 Zetterberg now but Kovalchuk the past few years.  Another change with going to one piece higher end sticks has been going to a Lie 4.  I've come to prefer lie 4 because of my play style I suppose.  I'm 5'6" though.

 

So my question to the more experienced is what makes passes and snap shots wobbly?  Could it be something I'm doing wrong or all in the stick/pattern/lie I'm using?  Thanks!

[Vet88 674]

I have found carbon sticks behave very differently these days to the older wooden or aluminium ones and hence your shooting / passing mechanics are different. the other day I was mucking around with a wooden Easton stick and I couldn't pass or shoot with that thing to save my life. With a carbon fibre stick you have multiple flex zones to choose from (mid, low, all round etc), different shooting styles (eg Eastons dual lie), and a wide range of weight and feel. You need to find one that works for you, for example I'm heading back the the mid kick supreme after spending some time with the latest range of Eastons, whilst the Eastons are a nice stick something is just not right with them for me.

[mickz 107]

Put more spin on the puck and it won't be wobbly.

[tonguesOUT4life 17]

Honestly man sometimes the puck is flat on the ice and it's comming to your blade then all of a sudden it jumps over your blade and you miss the pass ... Doesn't matter what blade you have you cant control these and they drive me crazy ..wobbly passes .. When they come to ur blade u gotta tap it a bit to stop it from wobbling 

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

Since to started using the CF sticks have you changed anything else?   Like your taping pattern?  Usually heel to toe and now toe to heel. (Or vice versa)  Usually when someone try's something new, they usually say "hey, I'm going to try THIS too"   Thinking you may have added more variables then you thought you did.  

My 2 cents 

[oldtimehockey41 1]

Ya'll, thanks a lot for the ideas!  If you can imagine, I just get the puck under control and advancing, go to make pass quickly, and it's all fumbly and wobbly, it does make it to my teammates blade but it's all wobbly.  It seems to happen more when I'm in a hurry or opposition is right in my face.  So it does make sense that I need to consciously put more spin on it and I know I've done this and it does work.  However, I'm trying to think if I'm doing something else wrong. 

I found this stick guide from Bauer.  Check it out!   On page 15 it offers some advice on wobble passes.

 

https://issuu.com/bauer-hockey/docs/bauer_stick_fit_guide_2015_en

 

 

[Chadd 916]

The two biggest issues that I see causing wobbly passes and shots:

1. The lie is off (toe up) and the puck tilts on the way off the toe

2. Incorrect  motion for the blade pattern.

 

In your case, using a heel to toe motion is probably the source of the problem. That doesn't work as well with mid curves as it does with heel or even mid heel curves. With a heel curve, you generally start with the puck in the "pocket" of the curve. From there to the toe, is largely a straight line. The more you curve, or the more sudden the curve, the less functional a long heel to toe motion will be. When I use a mid curve, I tend to use more of a short "chip" for saucer passes (to get it off the blade before it gets too deep into the curve) and a "cup and chuck" shooting motion. I still prefer using heel curves but I can deal with a PM9 type curve, anything more mid than that prevents me from using the same type of motion on both my passes and shots.