hockey tape?

[speedbump]

As a former figure skater, I'm befuddled by this hockey tape stuff. One friend says it preserves the stick head. (Canadian, plays mostly ice hockey) Another fellow says it's not worth the effort. (American from the South, roller only)

Of course, I'm leaning toward the advice of the Canadian, but now I realize there are different types. What factors do players use to choose?

Fearful of sounding ignorant...

[DannyG]

you need to define what you want the tape to do...

-preserve the surface of the stick?
-cushion or add adhesion to the receipt of a pass?
-add to the touch-and-control of the puck on the stick?

You can experiment with various tapes and methods of application to find your own peculiar preference..

There are rubber/plastic pads that can be afixed to the blade to do many of the same things...

The ice rule book gives specific regs about tape on the stick...the inline rule book states "any tape, anywhere" on the stick.

My stick is totally nakey...no tape anywhere at all.

This is indeed one of those personal preference things...have fun with it...

<font color=purple>DannyG</font color=purple>

[RichardGraham]

Hi SpeedBump (Good handle!),

I have found that cloth tape is a necessity with ice hockey sticks, partially to protect the stick blade, but mostly to help maintain control of the puck when receiving hard passes.

With inline hockey, I've gone with no tape or the aftermarket products that are designed to help with passing and stickhandling -- I rarely had to worry about PROTECTING the stick blade -- they usually lasted a while, wore down eventually, or were broken by slashes.

Hope that helps.

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[speedbump]

Ahhhh, it's multi-PURPOSE... That explains the mystery...

...I shall go forth and experiment...

Thank you for not embarrassing me!

[zentro]

I use tape to gain more control, and that's about it. It also protects the blade slightly but that is less important.


Vesterbro Starz
<A HREF="http://www.vstarz.dk/" target="_new">www.vstarz.dk</A>

[MDE3]

There is some skuttlebutt about tape(full wrap)protecting the carbon blades better on the new OPS sticks and carbon replacement blades. As I know from experience these tend to crack easily, there may be some truth in this claim.

Lots of people just put longditudinal strips along the face of the blade for inline hockey to enhance puck control, leaving the bottom free. Most just use cloth tape, not friction tape like was used years ago to add a sticky surface to the faces of the blades for ice hockey. Using that kind of tape for inline hockey would be detrimental to stick handling as it will tend to grab the floor.