A hockey stick is a piece of sports equipment used by the players in all the forms of hockey to move the ball or puck (as appropriate to the type of hockey) either to push, pull, hit, strike, flick, steer, launch or stop the ball/puck during play with the objective being to move the ball/puck around the playing area using the stick, and then trying to score.
The word "stick" is a very generic term for the equipment since the different disciplines of hockey require significant differences in both the form and the size of the stick used for it to be effective in the different sports. Field/ice/roller hockey all have a visually similar form of stick with a long shaft or handle which can be held with two hands, and a curved and flattened end; the end and curvature of these sticks are generally the most visible differences between the sticks for these sports. A modern underwater hockey stick bears little resemblance to any field/ice/roller hockey stick, since it is much smaller to enable it to be used exclusively in one hand, and it also has to be produced in one of two colours in order to identify which of the competing teams a player is playing for.
Field hockey sticks have an end that varies in shape, often depending on the player's position. In general, there are four main variations on the head:
A broken wooden hockey stick without casing
The 'short' is mainly used by players wishing control over the ball, and increase their manoeuvrability. This specific head is most associated with the mid-field position. (or centre for Ice Hockey)
The 'Midi' is used by players who will be hitting the ball often and need to be strong on their 'reverse side'. This specific head is most associated with the striker or 'up-front' position.
The 'Maxi' is similar to the 'Midi' as it has an increased surface area which is useful for hitting. However, its strength allows it to be used much more effectively for stopping the ball. This head is used by 'defenders' and 'attackers'.
The 'J Hook' again has a large surface area. However does not have the effectiveness of the 'Midi' for striking the ball, it has an increased thickness making it ideal for stopping the ball. This head is most commonly used by 'defenders'. Field hockey sticks vary widely in length and price, ranging from 26in (660mm) to 38.5in (980mm). The main brands of sticks include TK, Grays, Slazenger, Byte, Kookaburra, Malik, Dita, Voodoo, Adidas, Gryphon, uber hockey, Woodworm, Brabo, Mercian, Mazon, Zoppo, Tempest, Matador, King Karachi, NedStar, The Indian Maharaja, Stag, Wasa, No Fear, BHP, Taurus, Wasp, Princess, IHSAN, Mohinder, Chryso, Piranha, Rage, Sachin and Edge.
The size of the stick that is most effective for a specific player is judged by that player's height. A 28in (710mm) stick would be used by a player under 4' most commonly, whereas a 38in (970mm) stick would be used mainly by players over 5ft 10in (1.78m). However 'defenders' often like to have a longer stick than 'attackers' as this can be used for a greater reach when stopping a moving ball. The 'attackers' prefer a shorter stick as it allows greater control of the ball.
Ice hockey sticks have traditionally been made from wood, but in recent years, sticks made of more expensive materials such as aluminum, aramid (brands Kevlar, Nomex, Twaron, etc.), fibreglass, carbon fibre, and other composite materials have become common. In addition to weighing less, composite sticks can be manufactured with more consistent flexibility properties than their wooden counterparts. They also do not have the natural variations that wooden sticks possess therefore a batch of the same sticks will all perform roughly the same. There were a few die-hard NHL professionals who still liked the feel of wood sticks as late as 2010, such as Paul Stastny, son of Hall-of-Famer Peter Šťastný.[citation needed] Some of these sticks have replaceable wood or composite blades, while others are one-piece sticks without a replaceable blade. Composite sticks, despite their greater expense, are now commonplace at nearly all competitive levels of the sport, including youth ice hockey. Some of the top brands of composite sticks include Bauer, True, Reebok/CCM, and Warrior. These new sticks are lighter and provide a quicker release of the puck, resulting in a harder, more accurate shot. Although the new materials do enable harder shots, the improved durability and lighter materials can make the transition from wooden to composite stick more difficult for less experienced players. A shortcut used by numerous players is to use a weighted system, such as kwik hands,[1] to quickly adjust to the new sticks. More expensive ice hockey sticks (such as the Bauer Vapor 1X, Bauer Supreme 1S, Bauer Nexus 1N, CCM Ribcor Trigger PMT2, CCM RBZ FT1, CCM Super Tacks 2.0, Easton Stealth CX, Easton Synergy GX, Warrior Covert QRL, Warrior Alpha QX, Warrior Dynasty HD1) usually are the lightest sticks on the market (390-470 grams in a senior stick). In addition to the increased torque that these composite sticks possess, the sticks do not warp or absorb moisture like their wooden counterparts.
When the player is standing on his skates with the stick upright, on the toe, perpendicular to the ice, the top of the shaft should stop just below or above the chin, depending on personal preference. Defensemen tend to use longer sticks which provide greater reach when poke-checking.
In the event of roller inline hockey, one-piece sticks are usually the same as ice hockey sticks. But when graphite shafts are used with replacement blades, it's quite common for the replacement blades to be made of mainly fibreglass with a narrow wood core. Fibreglass shaves down over time on concrete, sport court and blacktop surfaces where traditional wooden ice hockey replacement blades are more likely to splinter, split and/or crack on those surfaces.
Underwater hockey
Drawing showing the maximum allowed dimensions of an underwater hockey stick (or pusher) according to the International Rules 10th Edition.
The stick (also referred to as a pusher) for underwater hockey is relatively short compared to that for field/ice/roller hockey, and should be coloured either white or black in its entirety to indicate the player's team. The shape of the stick can affect playing style and is often a very personal choice.
A wide variety of stick designs are allowed within the constraints of the rules of the game, the principal rule being that the stick must fit into a box of 100mm ×50mm ×350mm (3.9in ×2.0in ×13.8in) and that the stick must not be capable of surrounding the puck by any more than 50% of the puck's circumference, nor any part of the hand. A rule concerning the radiuses of projections and edges tries to address the risk that the stick might unintentionally become more of a weapon than a playing tool.
Construction materials may be of wood or plastics and current rules now supersede those that previously required sticks to be homogeneous, although they almost always are anyway. Many players of UWH manufacture their own sticks of wood to their preferred shape and style, although there are increasingly more mass-produced designs that suit the majority (such as Bentfish, Britbat, CanAm, Dorsal, Stingray etc.) which in most cases are made of a moulded nylon or PTFE, and many styles can be obtained to suit either handedness.
The rules allow for a symmetrical double-ended stick to be used, i.e. one that may be held in either the left or the right hand, and this can give ambidextrous players the opportunity to swap hands during play, although the rules are also very clear that the stick may be held in only one hand at a time.
Modern-day Underwater Hockey (UWH) was invented as a sport originally known as Octopush in Southsea, England in 1954 and has always used short sticks or pushers similar to those described above, but a very similar game also called underwater hockey evolved some years after this in South Africa. This game used a 'long stick' that had a very similar form to an ice hockey stick, although it was considerably smaller at around 50cm (20in) long and required two hands to hold and use it. The 'long stick' version of the game that was played largely in the southern hemisphere eventually gave way to the more widely played 'short stick' version and since about 1980, the year of the first UWH World Championship, the original 'short stick' game has been played universally around the world.
Other uses of the term
In the cha-cha and rhumba dancing, the "hockey stick" is a figure in which the dancer moves along a straight line, with an angled turn at the end.[2][3]
On aircraft liveries, a Hockey stick is a cheatline – a line that extends along the side of an aircraft – which turns up at the end and goes up the tailfin.
Related Research Articles
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers of players, apparel, and playing surface, they share broad characteristics of two opposing teams using a stick to propel a ball or disk into a goal.
Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hockey sticks to control, advance, and shoot a closed, vulcanized, rubber disc called a "puck" into the other team's goal. Each goal is worth one point. The team which scores the most goals is declared the winner. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, one of whom is the goaltender. Ice hockey is a full contact sport, and is considered to be one of the more physically demanding team sports. It is distinct from field hockey, in which players move a ball around a non-frozen pitch using field hockey sticks.
Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide.
A hockey puck is either an open or closed disk used in a variety of sports and games. There are designs made for use on an ice surface, such as in ice hockey, and others for the different variants of floor hockey which includes the wheeled skate variant of inline hockey. They are all designed to serve the same function a ball does in ball games.
Underwater hockey (UWH), is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling it with a hockey stick.
A face-off is the method used to begin and restart play after goals in some sports using sticks, primarily ice hockey, bandy, floorball, broomball, rinkball, and lacrosse.
A slapshot is a powerful shot in ice hockey. Its advantage is as a high-speed shot that can be taken from a long distance; the disadvantage is the long time to set it up as well as its low accuracy.
Shinny is an informal type of hockey played on ice. It is also used as another term for street hockey. There are no formal rules or specific positions, and often, there are no goaltenders. The goal areas at each end may be marked by nets, or simply by objects, such as stones or blocks of snow. Body checking and lifting or "roofing/reefing/raising the puck" are often forbidden because the players are not wearing protective equipment. Shinny is a game that all levels of hockey enthusiasts can play because it requires no rink, requires no skills except ability to hold a stick and at the very least to try to touch the puck or ball when it goes by. Shinny may be completely non-competitive and recreational.
Street hockey is a collection of team sport variants played outdoors either on foot or with wheeled skates, using either a ball or puck designed for play on flat, dry surfaces. The object of every game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting the ball or puck into the opposing team's net. All games are derivatives of either the sport of ice hockey, floor hockey, bandy, and/or field hockey.
Field hockey is a popular game possibly depicted on walls in Egypt. Drawings of what looks to be hockey have been found in an Egyptian tomb that was 4000 years old. Hockey is a popular game in India and Pakistan. It was played for hundreds of years before other countries like England modernised it. Hockey is similar to an ancient game played in Scotland called shinty. Hockey is often played at schools in the UK but its origins are unclear. Later came ice hockey, which developed in Canada.
Floor hockey is a broad term for several indoor floor game codes which involve two teams using a stick and type of ball or disk. Disks are either open or closed but both designs are usually referred to as "pucks". These games are played either on foot or with wheeled skates. Variants typically reflect the style of ice hockey, field hockey, bandy or some other combination of sport. Games are commonly known by various names including cosom hockey, ball hockey, floorball, or simply floor hockey.
Roller in-line hockey, American roller hockey or inline hockey, is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and ice hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points. The sport is a very fast-paced and free-flowing game and is considered a contact sport, but body checking is prohibited. There are five players including the goalkeeper from each team on the rink at a time, while teams normally consist of 16 players. There are professional leagues, one of which is the National Roller Hockey League (NRHL). While it is not a contact sport, there are exceptions, i.e. the NRHL involves fighting.
In ice hockey, the goaltender wears specialized goaltending equipment to protect themselves from the impact of the puck, and to assist in making saves. Ringette and rinkball goaltenders use the same equipment with some exceptions. This article deals chiefly with the sport of ice hockey.
An ice hockey stick is a piece of equipment used in ice hockey to shoot, pass, and carry the puck across the ice. Ice hockey sticks are approximately 150–200 cm long, composed of a long, slender shaft with a flat extension at one end called the blade. National Hockey League (NHL) sticks are up to 63 inches long. The blade is the part of the stick used to contact the puck, and is typically 25 to 40 cm long. Stick dimensions can vary widely, as they are usually built to suit a particular player's size and preference. The blade is positioned at roughly a 135° angle from the axis of the shaft, giving the stick a partly 'L-shaped' appearance. The shaft of the stick is fairly rigid, but is slightly elastic to improve shot performance.
This is a list of common terms used in the sport of ice hockey along with the definitions of these terms.
In field hockey, each player carries a stick and cannot take part in the game without it. The stick for an adult is usually in the range 89–95 cm (35–38 in) long. A maximum length of 105 cm (41.3") was stipulated from 2015. The maximum permitted weight is 737 grams. The majority of players use a stick in the range 19 oz to 22 oz. Traditionally hockey sticks were made of hickory, ash or mulberry wood with the head of the sticks being hand carved and therefore required skilled craftsmen to produce. Sticks made of wood continue to be made but the higher grade sticks are now manufactured from composite materials which were first permitted after 1992. These sticks usually contain a combination of fibreglass, aramid fiber and carbon fibre in varying proportions according to the characteristics required.
Roller hockey, rink hockey or quad hockey is a team sport played on roller skates. It is a quad-skate team sport where two teams face-off against one another, trying to drive a hard ball with their sticks into the opposing teams' goalnet. Each team has five players on the rink at a time, four of whom are skaters and one who is the goalkeeper. The ball can only be put in motion by a stick, not the skate, otherwise a foul will be stated. The game has two 25-minute halves, with 15-minute halftime intermission, plus up to two 5-minute golden goal periods to settle ties with the clock stopping when the ball becomes dead. If the tie persists, a penalty shootout will determine the winner. Players – including the goalie – use quad skates, whereas inline skates are used in inline hockey. The sticks are similar to those in bandy and shinty. Excessive contact between players is forbidden in rink hockey, unlike inline hockey.
Pond hockey is a form of ice hockey similar in its object and appearance to traditional ice hockey, but simplified and designed to be played on part of a natural frozen body of water. The rink is 50 to 80 percent the size of a standard NHL-specification rink, and has no boards or glass surrounding it; usually only a barrier of snow keeps the puck in play. In addition, because there are no protective barriers behind the goal to contain high errant shots, the top of the goal is lower, in fact only slightly taller than the width of a puck, and the game does not have a formal goalie. Because of these differences, pond hockey places more emphasis on skating and puckhandling ability and less on shooting and checking. Non-competitive pond hockey is played with improvised goals, rinks of a variety of sizes, and no boards or snow barriers. There can only be 4 players playing per team at a time but have many subs to sub in.
In ice hockey, players use specialized equipment both to facilitate the play of the game and for protection as this is a sport where injuries are common, therefore, all players are encouraged to protect their bodies from bruises and severe fractures.
There are several kinds of hockey tape used by ice hockey, field hockey, roller hockey, and lacrosse players: stick tape, shin pad tape and grip tapes.
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