Sherwood Eclipse(one piece)

[Kdawg68]

I just recently purchased a Sherwood Eclipse(one piece) stick. I did this because I am a big fan of the sherwood/coffeey blade.Any way it is probably the lighest stick I have ever used,puck control is good(I can actually feel the puck on the blade)wrist shots and snap shots come off great.HOWEVER, I cannot get a half decent slapshot out of the stick.I believe the shaft is too stiff,I mean I cannot seem to budge it with all my weight on it.Does this make sense?Will the shaft eventually
flex more after many uses?Is a stiffer flex better than a less stiffer flex?

[calihockey]

if u're a smaller player like me, u would want more of a whip flex. I personally use a branches fusion 136 flex (about an 75 flex for easton). I love the shot with it. The flex would allow you to keep the puck on your blade a split second longer. It does help a lot with a snap shot. Flex for a slapshot depends on you. Bigger players like the stiff flex, I seem to have a harder shot with a whip flex. hope this helps karen!

[bonesy21]

Kdawg,

i currently use a louisville response, right handed messier curve, with a stiff shaft. its probably similar to the likes of a 100 flex and then some? but who knows...

but basically all the advantages of a lighter stick come into play when youre using a graphite one piece. On the contrary, it all depends upon your style of play and where you hit the puck when you take a slap-shot...personally i come right down behind the puck, but others have a tendancy to hit wayyyy behind the puck, therefore they need a bit of a whippier shaft, cuz the stick will bend for a few seconds and grab the ground, making a nice even connection between the blade and the puck. I personally have seen people who get a lot of ground and makes a loud sound when they slap at the puck. if youre doing this, then youre going to need a shaft that is less stiff, but i personally have broken too many 85 flexes....but like i said, it just depends upon your form and where you hit the puck. if you can ask someone for a lil help with the slapper, then you will for sure see progress with the form and style, and the rest of the action will fall into play.....

~bones~

[JMUDukes26]

You will get used to the stick, don't worry. You'll have to make some adjustmenst in your shot to be happy with it, but these should come naturally over a few times of play with the stick. If you really lean into a slap shot, a stiff shaft is good, as it provided the most power coming out of the shot. With a lower flex, putting equal torque on the stick can lead to them breaking easily. I broke 2 Easton Cyclones (by far my favorite shaft ever) in a week simply because I was leaning into it too much. I use a UltraLite 110 now, and I have had great success with it. It mostly comes down to prefrence, but you can adjust pretty quickly. Good luck!

Gary

[Kdawg68]

Yeah,I guess that makes sense.I am a smaller player so maybe
an 85 flex would be better for me.I tried a friends stick which was an Easton z-bubble grip and I had a cannon of a shot with that,I also realized that I was able to bend the shaft while leaning into it a whole lot more than the Eclipse.Thanks for the info Cali..

[MDE3]

I think if you look at the big shooters in the NHL you will find that all of them use sticks on the high flex side (meaning more flexible) Including McGuiness, Hull, Federov, Sackic etc.

It was common when I grew up playing ice hockey for the local "Pro's" to not only custom bend their blades, but to plane the shaft bewteen 12" and say 30" above the hozzle to make the sticks "whippier". Because not everyone who plays has the knowledge or time to practice to find out what works, manufacturers started making custom flex sticks. In the ol days many of the "big" shooters would buy a very heavy stiff stick to start with and then customize the shaft flex to suit. It was easier to start with a stiffer stick because it gave you more room for error. Then it was the trainers job to try to match up the back up sticks to the one that had been correctly modified. Even then it was a total feel thing because the wood "torque feel" was different from stick to stick and even though you could match dimensions, that did not mean the sticks felt or reacted the same under a shooting load.

BTW the more vertical you approach the puck on your downswing the harder it is on the shaft and the less energy you transmit to the puck because of the lost velocity. The flex should be created by the acceleration towards the puck, not from hitting the floor. If you can check out any of Brett Hulls shooting videos - they are very good.

[Kdawg68]

thanxs for all the 411>>>>I will give it a try...