Does anyone think a stick can be too light?

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

I recently picked up a bunch of Graf Ultra Lite 75 (420grams) and Graf G95 Revolt (400grams) because they offer a 65 flex in senior sticks.  I went from the Ultra Lite to the Revolt and I felt like I had no coordination with my hands because the balance on the Revolt was so much better.  It's almost like with the extra weight near the blade, I have a better feel for where it's at.  I whiffed a bit during a game and missed some passes and went back to the Ultra Lite and didn't have a problem anymore.  Do you think that sticks can be too light or too balanced and have you ever gone back to a heavier stick as a result?

[OzziesDad 89]

In some ways I do.  I generally have liked all the "feather weights" that I have tried (EK15, a6.0).  However, ideally I like a stick in that 440-450 range.  Still fairly light, but with a little "heft" to it.  As long as the balance is good, that's more important to me.

That's just me though.  I am sure there are plenty of guys that want the lightest possible OPS out there.

[flip12 717]

24 minutes ago, MyBoxersSayJoe said:

I recently picked up a bunch of Graf Ultra Lite 75 (420grams) and Graf G95 Revolt (400grams) because they offer a 65 flex in senior sticks.  I went from the Ultra Lite to the Revolt and I felt like I had no coordination with my hands because the balance on the Revolt was so much better.  It's almost like with the extra weight near the blade, I have a better feel for where it's at.  I whiffed a bit during a game and missed some passes and went back to the Ultra Lite and didn't have a problem anymore.  Do you think that sticks can be too light or too balanced and have you ever gone back to a heavier stick as a result?

The way I think about balance is like setting a lens in focus: you tinker in both directions until the signal is clear. In the case of a camera, it's the visual, in the case of a stick, it's tactile--the right vibration (frequency?) for the personal preference settings in your nervous system. Thinking of it that way, no, a stick can't be too balanced, unless you prefer the Loch Ness filter on your pictures.

Sounds rather like the Revolt isn't as well balanced for you as the Ultra Lite. It doesn't seem to fit that the Revolt is better balanced for you and you have a better feel for the puck if you're also whiffing and missing passes. Try adding some counterweight at the top of the revolt and see if that helps.

[icewalker_bg 126]

Yes I do, I wanted to pick up some EK15s, but for some reason they feel so light and ''flimsy'', its probably all in the head but I did not buy them for that sole reason of being too light.  415-465gr. is perfect for me, as long as the balance is great that is what matters me. I use for instance Easton HTX/V9, not the lightest sticks (~445G), but the balance is unreal, especially the HTX, its feel lighter in my hands compared to my Ultra Tacks which is right around 420gr. 

[Hills 717]

I think it is more about balance than the weight itself. I've used sticks that feel like there is no blade that weighed more than a better balanced stick (EK60), but they felt lighter because of the lack of blade feeling. That feeling negatively affected performance and when I used the two sticks side by side I could tell the EK60 was easier to move around.

[kyleo29 58]

Switching between sticks during a game will throw you off. It's just a learning curve to get used to the lighter weight

[flip12 717]

3 minutes ago, Hills said:

I think it is more about balance than the weight itself. I've used sticks that feel like there is no blade that weighed more than a better balanced stick (EK60), but they felt lighter because of the lack of blade feeling. That feeling negatively affected performance and when I used the two sticks side by side I could tell the EK60 was easier to move around.

Exactly. I have a Kovalev-Used AK27 with a 190g blade and the total stick weight, including Tacki-Mac-like grip is 571 grams. It's got incredible balance so it feels like it's 100 grams lighter than it actually is.

[icewalker_bg 126]

34 minutes ago, kyleo29 said:

Switching between sticks during a game will throw you off. It's just a learning curve to get used to the lighter weight

Sometimes it helps too. When I have a few bad shifts in game and for WTV reason my fav stick feels off, I grab the spare and it can well, sometimes. 

[Cavs019 710]

Balance > weight for me.

I can't stand the "shooting a bowling ball with a straw" sensation that I get with super light sticks. 

[kyleo29 58]

Balance is key

[kyleo29 58]

2 hours ago, icewalker_bg said:

Sometimes it helps too. When I have a few bad shifts in game and for WTV reason my fav stick feels off, I grab the spare and it can well, sometimes. 

Yeah I switch during games too , use the excuse 'I totally would have made that pass if this stick didn't suck'

[flip12 717]

1 hour ago, Cavs019 said:

Balance > weight for me.

I can't stand the "shooting a bowling ball with a straw" sensation that I get with super light sticks. 

A short wooden end plug usually fixes that for me.

[puckpilot 312]

It's personal preference. There are pros and cons to sticks that weight less or more. But I think it's like any other time you make a switch from one piece of equipment to the next, there's going to be an adjustment period.

I generally like light sticks--heck I use junior stick, so they're all pretty much under 400 grams--but one of the things I do is I practice with different sticks, so I don't get too hardwired into one type of spec. So I don't find it that big a deal to move from one stick to the next. I always bring three sticks with me to games with different specs, so depending on the game type and how I'm feeling, I can switch things up as needed.

I just recently got a CCM Superfast, and that thing is light. Add to that the hollow blade, it almost feels like I'm holding a piece of bamboo. But man does that thing have pop. I don't have any problems with the weight. 

[Jamarquan 201]

On 11/28/2016 at 3:08 PM, Cavs019 said:

Balance > weight for me.

I can't stand the "shooting a bowling ball with a straw" sensation that I get with super light sticks. 

The NXG was the biggest culprit of that for me.

[Hat_Trick_Hokie 49]

Owner of a True 6.0, Skerwood EK15, and Warrior QR1 checking in. I love the super light sticks. For me, they make stickhandling just a tiny bit easier.

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

My sticks in the past year or two have been Bauer Nexus 1000's retail and G3 prostocks, True A6.0 and the Grafs I mentioned in the original post.  My other sticks are balanced, but the Graf Revolt is so light it feels like there's no blade.  I snapped the Ultra trying to clear the puck out of the zone tonight, puck got turned over and the other team scored.  I had to use the Revolt and it was better than the previous two times, but it's still a different feel.  I'll have to stay at it and adjust, even though I have 2 more of each.

[Miseaujeu 291]

Here's a great write up from our stick engineer on developing light sticks that perform.  

At one point, he had to add weight back into the stick for it to work properly.

https://warriorhockey.com/2016/06/23/covert-files-002-you-cant-have-a-one-shot-stick/

 

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

1 hour ago, Miseaujeu said:

Here's a great write up from our stick engineer on developing light sticks that perform.  

At one point, he had to add weight back into the stick for it to work properly.

https://warriorhockey.com/2016/06/23/covert-files-002-you-cant-have-a-one-shot-stick/

 

Really great read, thank you!  I'm going to have to check out Warrior when I get through my current lineup of sticks, I've bought one too many over the past year and need to just suck it up and use what I have.  "Players don’t trust super light sticks. If it’s too light, they can’t feel it in their hands..." sounds like that's exactly what I'm experiencing.

[Larry54 243]

"Players don’t trust super light sticks. If it’s too light, they can’t feel it in their hands and they don’t trust that it will perform or last." This sounds like a placebo effect.

[tpedersen3118 58]

The 3 sticks I use are between 420g-440g, That is the sweet spot for me. I looked at a True A6.0 SBP which was somewhere around 404g and I found it too light; went with the A5.2 SBP (420g) and couldn't be happier with my decision between the weight and balance.

[218hockey 50]

What about for kids?  I see many 11 year old's with 1X's or whatever light stick and so many passes just bounce off their blades. I always wonder if it's because these sticks weigh next to nothing or is it just because they're kids and don't have soft hands.

[puckpilot 312]

1 hour ago, 218hockey said:

What about for kids?  I see many 11 year old's with 1X's or whatever light stick and so many passes just bounce off their blades. I always wonder if it's because these sticks weigh next to nothing or is it just because they're kids and don't have soft hands.

If I were to guess it's because they haven't learned to catch a pass properly yet. I'm an adult using junior sticks, and I have QRL1 which weighs probably 350grams, maybe less. I don't have trouble catching hard passes from adults.