Stick Buying guide - Manx Sporting Equipment

What stick is best for me?
How to choose your best stick
Features
Hockey sticks have a unique terminology which can be a little confusing until you understand them.
It's easy to get swamped when looking online at the various manufacturers own terms for what are often the same things. Here we try to clear things up a little for you and help you make sense of all the jargon.

Once upon a time, it was suggested that the type of stick which suited you best was determined by the position you played. But as the game has evolved so has the advice. We suggest choosing a stick which matches your playing style, one which complements your strengths and forgives your weaknesses.

Length
Ultimately, the correct length for you is the one which feels most comfortable when you play. But, if it's your first stick or if you're not sure what you're using is the correct length then there are two rough guides to finding the right length:
hold a stick on the ground next to you and it should reach up to your hip bone.
hold the curved head of the stick under your armpit and the end of the stick should be level with your knee.

But different players have different styles, and some players are still growing so may want a slightly longer stick with the next few months in mind.

The most important thing is, your stick should always feel comfortable and give you confidence.
Carbon content
Simply the more carbon the stiffer the stick.

But why is that important?
In theory the stiffer the stick the more energy that can be transferred from the stick to the ball.

So that's a good thing? Everyone wants the most carbon they can in their stick?
Yes and no...

The best way of thinking about it is like comparing family car, a rally car and a formula one car. The F1 car is quickest but needs the most technical control to get the most from it and it can easily get out of control. The rally car as plenty of power and can be more forgiving as you apply it without losing control. The family car is very much designed as safety first and being more suitable to the most number of drivers.

The stiffness from carbon contents act the same way. 90-100% carbon sticks are like F1 cars, very light and transfer lots of power instantly. 70-90% carbon sticks are more like rally cars, they have the stiffness to transfer power and not lose energy but it happens in a more controllable way with more forgiveness than high carbon content. And 50-70% are like the family cars, they pretty much do everything in a manageable way and are very forgiving.
But looking at things that way only considers sending the ball away from you, possibly more importantly is how a stick reacts when receiving a ball.

90-100% carbon content sticks because they are so stiff means they don't absorb much energy and the ball bounces off them much more easily, 70-90% have a little bit of flex and compression which means the ball doesn't bounce straight off the face and then 50-70% have lots of flex and compression by comparison and are much more forgiving when receiving a ball.

It's also important to remember that the higher the carbon content, the stiffer the stick and therefore the more vibration which travels through the stick to your hands. Some people prefer the "raw" feel with little or no vibration dampening, whilst others prefer less vibration from lower carbon content, vibration dampening materials or vibration dampening stick wrapping around the grip area.

So you can see, it's all about balance.
Bow
Way back in the past, hockey sticks were all pretty much identical. But as technology improved modern composite materials allowed new designs of sticks, with each changing the overall feel and performance of a stick such as how the stick transfers power to the ball or even how it affects certain techniques.

Modern sticks tend to fall into one of a few general shapes: a mid bow, a low bow or an extreme low bow. And the amount of bow varies between 19mm to 25mm.

Whilst the carbon content affects the characteristics of the stick in terms of energy transference to and from the ball, the stick design affects the technique of the player. The extreme low bows and more "trick" designs are very much about 3D skills, moving with the ball. Some stick designs even incorporate additional curces on the head/toe or the shaft for additional control.

The lower down the stick the bow is placed and the amount of bow changes where the ball and stick meet in relation to the hands and how the stick will sit as you either hit or pass. These designs are very much aimed at placing all the energy at the end of the stick and encourage keeping the stick head and the ball in contact for longer.

Mid bows are the hybrid design of hockey sticks, and can be considered more forgiving in how they perform. A very low bow means you have a much smaller "sweet spot" to get the correct contact point and angle between stick and ball, whereas the nature of a mid bow means there is a greater range of angles at which the stick can meet the ball without it deflecting.

But, like we always say, the best shape stick for you is the one you feel most comfortable and confident with.
Still not sure?
The one thing nearly every hockey player will agree on is that the best way to find out about a stick is to hold it and use it.

At MSE we believe in helping everyone make the right choice, not pushing anyone into buying our equipment. That's why we are always happy to bring samples of any of our equipment to club training sessions for players to try our different sticks and find out for themselves what shape, length and carbon content suits them best.

And if they choose to buy a different brand? That's absolutely OK but at the heart of everything we do is trying to help the sport and Manx players in particular.

What stick is best for me?

How to choose your best stick

Features

Hockey sticks have a unique terminology which can be a little confusing until you understand them.

It's easy to get swamped when looking online at the various manufacturers own terms for what are often the same things. Here we try to clear things up a little for you and help you make sense of all the jargon.

Once upon a time, it was suggested that the type of stick which suited you best was determined by the position you played. But as the game has evolved so has the advice. We suggest choosing a stick which matches your playing style, one which complements your strengths and forgives your weaknesses.

Length

Ultimately, the correct length for you is the one which feels most comfortable when you play. But, if it's your first stick or if you're not sure what you're using is the correct length then there are two rough guides to finding the right length:

hold a stick on the ground next to you and it should reach up to your hip bone.

hold the curved head of the stick under your armpit and the end of the stick should be level with your knee.

But different players have different styles, and some players are still growing so may want a slightly longer stick with the next few months in mind.

The most important thing is, your stick should always feel comfortable and give you confidence.

Carbon content

Simply the more carbon the stiffer the stick.

But why is that important?

In theory the stiffer the stick the more energy that can be transferred from the stick to the ball.

So that's a good thing? Everyone wants the most carbon they can in their stick?

Yes and no...

So you can see, it's all about balance.

Bow

Modern sticks tend to fall into one of a few general shapes: a mid bow, a low bow or an extreme low bow. And the amount of bow varies between 19mm to 25mm.

But, like we always say, the best shape stick for you is the one you feel most comfortable and confident with.

Still not sure?

The one thing nearly every hockey player will agree on is that the best way to find out about a stick is to hold it and use it.

And if they choose to buy a different brand? That's absolutely OK but at the heart of everything we do is trying to help the sport and Manx players in particular.