Tapered Origin Questions

[Eazy_b97 1]

These are just thoughts that popped into my head while I sit around on a lazy cold day.

Why do Tapered blades provide a release advantage over standard blades?

Is it do to the smaller hosel or to the tapering of the shaft?

Who decided to make the blades that much smaller on either side of the hosel?

What would make the release better? Is it the shaft going from thick to thin?

Would a senior shaft, made to fit junior blades produce as good results?

Just random questions which have been bothering me. Sometimes I like to know the reasoning behind things.

[Neo5370 132]

If you're in school, ask a physics teacher.

I think the thick tapering to thin causes the shaft to flex lower (lower kickpoint). So less shaft has to bend and "kick back" meaning it'll happen more quickly than if say half of the shaft had to bend and snap back. Also I think since the amount of shaft snapping back is shorter, there is less chance for torque to occur.

But don't listen to me................ask a physics teacher.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Unfortunately I am not in a Physics class right now. May take it next year if I have the time. I do have a physics backround, not extensive, but its there. I have all of my High School credits for Physics so I was actually going to mention if anyone knows the physics behind it that'd be cool. I figured it was something along those lines, but wonder if theres that much difference for them to shave the tapered blades down just a tad. Why couldn't they make the hosels a stronger material and shave it down to keep the durability?

[Neo5370 132]

Unfortunately I am not in a Physics class right now. May take it next year if I have the time. I do have a physics backround, not extensive, but its there. I have all of my High School credits for Physics so I was actually going to mention if anyone knows the physics behind it that'd be cool. I figured it was something along those lines, but wonder if theres that much difference for them to shave the tapered blades down just a tad. Why couldn't they make the hosels a stronger material and shave it down to keep the durability?

I don't have an answere for that Eazy, but you did remind of something.

Wasn't there a tapered wood stick sometime ago? Or is it still in existence. I could've sworn someone (easton maybe!?) had a z-carbon type woodie w/ a slight taper (advertised, not just my eyes).

If they held up, that'd be like the best of both worlds eh?

[SR27 0]

I remember there have been tapered sticks as far back as the early 90´s (sorry off topic a little). One of the Ferraro Twins used them when they played a toureny in Germany. That must have been 1992 I think. The blade looked alot like the old chirstian diamond-lite or whatever they were called back then but the graphics on the shaft were much different.....can´t remember the manufacturer, though.

Back to topic. Sorry my english isn´t layed out for physics but I´ll try to explain as good as I can As for shorter hosels I guess the idea was just to make it last longer and be stiffer. Lets say if you try to bend an aluminum tube it is gets much easier the longer it is. The other way round...the shorter is is the less flexier it becomes...resulting in less swing-energy loss and lower torque. That is effecitve with almost any type of material.

You are basically right on your thoughts about the tapered shape. It concentrates the the flex to a smaller and lower area of the shaft. Where regular shafts fley right in the middle the tapered shaft will keep the upper part stiff. Theat get´s me back to what I said above. If flex is reduced to a smaller area it saves up energy and it also snaps back quicker (which is the kickpoint I guess) so as a side effect the combination of small hoseled tapered shaped blades were the perfect match to these shafts in order to reach the best possible pyhsics.....wow that made me tired

[mack 44]

May have been the T-Flex because it came out around that time I believe.

[Ogie Oglethorpe 14]

Do a google search for old Easton press releases. There's probably some technical schpeil in there talking about the benefits of the taper. I suspect it's a leverage/tourque thing, but perhaps the taper also has some sort of benefit of being able to focus the kick-point lower as well.

(then again, maybe it's just marketing hype and we're paying more money for a more brittle product......)

I seem to vaguely recall the Innovative had something on their promotional stuff when they first starting coming out with tapered stuff too. But, my guess is that it was not too informative since the taper concept had been out for a while at that point.

[SR27 0]

May have been the T-Flex because it came out around that time I believe.

It was an all wood stick...

[Tyler B 0]

Wasn't there a tapered wood stick sometime ago? Or is it still in existence. I could've sworn someone (easton maybe!?) had a z-carbon type woodie w/ a slight taper

The easton fiber light is advertised as haveing a 10.5 inch taper. They are nice sticks but if u live in the states u cant get them, unles you have connections. My dad has one and they are pretty light. They were on sale at canadian tire for 20 bucks regular 30 there. I woulda baught one but they didnt have them in a modano curve.

[mack 44]

May have been the T-Flex because it came out around that time I believe.

It was an all wood stick...

Yeah, which wasn't mentioned but good call.

[Ogie Oglethorpe 14]

I didn't find anything on the science behind the taper (yet), but did find this which is loosely interesting: http://www.freshpatents.com/Hockey-stick-d...20040229720.php

[bulletproof_funk 0]

These are just thoughts that popped into my head while I sit around on a lazy cold day.

Why do Tapered blades provide a release advantage over standard blades?

Is it do to the smaller hosel or to the tapering of the shaft?

Who decided to make the blades that much smaller on either side of the hosel?

What would make the release better? Is it the shaft going from thick to thin?

Would a senior shaft, made to fit junior blades produce as good results?

Just random questions which have been bothering me. Sometimes I like to know the reasoning behind things.

You could also ask a mechanical engineer or applied sciences professor who specializes in "dynamic" structures, like vehicle chassis/frames (cars, planes, etc.).

I'm not a mech. eng. but here's what I believe:

The feeling of "whip" and release are also dependent on the materials combined with the stick's geometry (e.g. taper). The taper itself helps, but the shorter hosel, even on a standard shaft w/ short hosel standard blade, provides more shaft to flex over the same overall stick length. So when gripping a stick for a shot, from the lower hand and below, tapered shafts are more flexible than standard. This requires less energy to bend the lower shaft the same amount as on a standard shaft. Or, for the same energy, you can bend the tapered/short hoseled shaft more.