How much tape should I put on my hockey stick?

Question

I'm gonna start playing Ice Hockey...and wanna how much tape to put around the shaft of my stick and the top of the stick.

Answer 1

It's a personal preference thing. How much where, and if you put a knot on it.

Personally, I've never taped a knot where my top hand goes. Just enough tape so my hand grips tape and not stick, and doesn't slip off, which is the point of tape in the first place.

Some people tape their stick midway down the shaft, just enough, again, to keep grip.

A lot of the kids around here tape these *huge* knots... I'm not sure they could drop their stick if they wanted to! :D

There's a good how-to here:
http://www.rivertownsports.com/hockey_101/taping_butt_end.htm

For me, I'm using a senior stick right now even though my hands are small, and the last thing I want is more bulk. Plus I don't play rough enough hockey most of the time that my stick getting out of my hands is really an issue. Maybe as I get better and center more, who knows.

I wasn't sure if you were asking about taping the blade or not. Again, it's a personal preference thing. Most of us use black tape to hide the puck, and we use special sticky blade tape, which helps settle the puck and keep your stick on it more. The tape protects the blade - important especially for those of us who use wood, which splits and then the moisture gets into the split and your blade then cracks open and becomes unusable - but it also helps you hang onto the puck.

Generally, on your blade, you do one thickness of tape at a slight angle, just where you tend to want to keep the puck on your blade.

And when you play hockey, it's just "hockey." ;) We all know it's ice you're talking about.

***

Gimaakwe, you do sometimes put tape on the shaft. A lot of players do a crisscross or spiral tape pattern where their bottom hand goes, again for grip reasons.

Answer 2

Like most people said its a personal preference. I always preferred a medium size(10-20mm) that way if your stick gets knocked out of your hand it is easier to pick up off the ice. Most people do not tape the shaft. As for the blade you should put a strip of running along the bottom of the blade,before wrapping it. This makes the tape job last longer, and you should wrap it from the heel to the tip not tip to heel(sorry if it sounds a little confusing) this prevents the tape from peeling back when you are skating. Hope this helped and good luck to you in your season.

Answer 3

Just enough to cover the blade of your stick, one layer only. As far as your handle, you don't want a big nob of tape at the top of your stick, just big enough so your hand does not slip off the top. I would not go down the shaft of your stick more that 5 inches. Any more than that is a waste of tape. I like white tape myself, but some players use black tape. the same kind of tape that you would use on your blade of your stick. As far as height of your stick, with your skate on, the top of the stick should be at the bottom of your nose with the stick going straight up and down.

Answer 4

Use as much as you want. You don't put tape on the SHAFT of your stick. You put it on the BLADE and the TOP. If you put tape on the shaft, you better buy lots of tape....

My hubby changes the tape on the blade of his stick after almost each use....or whenever he notices a little split or tear in the tape.

He makes a little nub on the top of his stick to help it from getting knocked out of his glove. And, he uses white on the top and black on the blade....I don't know why....

Answer 5

As others have said it is personal preference but keep in mind that the proper way to hold a stick id for knob to be in the palm of your upper hand so not too big. Some players tape down from the knob on the shaft other don't, its up to you. Some players like to candy can tape the entire shaft to give a bit more grip on the bottom hand.

Answer 6

start from heel tape towards the toe. i like to over lap the tape by about a 1/8 of an inch.. use wax.. i like white tape with puck marks.. yea you can see the puck bit i think it helps with faking shot one way shooting another. grip on top of the stick tape it smooth down to about an inch past the width of your glove and then coil it back to the top make your knob how you like it then tape back down over the coil. DO NOT USE BLACK TAPE FOR THE GRIP> It will eat away at the palms of your gloves.

Answer 7

its really personal preferance. Tape top and bottom of stick. I use Grip on top of the stick but its up too you.

Answer 8

it's better to have too much tape than not enough - also makes the blood easier to wipe off after the game...

Answer 9

Zero.