Chris18 wrote:
Av-merican wrote:
Are you still using wood or composite sticks? The big complaint I've heard about composites is they don't give you the feel of the puck the way wooden ones do.
Composite- but it's the same one I've been using for about 6 years. Could it be worn out or something like that? I had always felt like I got a better feeling for the puck with the composite. Maybe I was trying to justify the $180 price.
When I used wood, I loved the Sherwood 5030, even though I don't normally like a lot of flex ... something about the response of that stick made it rock
however they were very fragile and at (eventually) $30 a stick became too expensive to use as I would rarely get 4 weeks out of one
When I got sick of all the various composites that suck, I checked out the 5030 again and found that Sherwood makes a composite 5030!
It had the look & FEEL of a wood! and at $95, way cheaper than most composites on the market
The first night I used one (pickup) I scored 5 goals ... mind you, it's rare that I get even 5
shots in one game, or month even
the next week I got 2 more goals ... then the next week I finally tried a slapshot, and missed the net by 25 feet!
The further left I aimed, the further right it went ... when I aimed for the left corner (of the rink) it went to the right corner (of the rink)
I tried shortening the stick thinking it was too much flex. I bought another one with a straight blade.... same thing
I went to a rink that had a shooting room, (rubber floor) and everything was fine .... but on the ice, problem returned
hmmm..... only happens on ice ....
After a few dumps on the ice, I replaced my skate blades and like a miracle the bad slapshot problem vanished!
turns out my skates were the issue ... when I wound up and followed through on a slap shot, I was rocking back because I had no heel left on my blades
that's what was making my slapshots drift ... it wasn't affecting the wristshot, because apparently we shoot wristshots from the middle forward
anyways, if you don't mind flex (about 75 to 90, depending on model), I would recommend the Sherwood 5030 composite for price, feel, and performance
that said, I have to go out buy at least one - I lost my D stick last winter on a slap shot, and someone slashed my forward stick in half a few weeks ago!