It’s all in the Flex!

Picking up from where we left of in my last post, what are some things to consider when purchasing a new hockey stick? Price point, a one piece or a two piece stick, material, flexibility, grip versus clear finish, blade pattern and curve, durability, length, weight…

The list goes on. For this post we will focus on one consideration, flexibility.

So what is the flex of a hockey stick? It is a number that indicates the amount of pressure in pounds that is required to bend the center of the stick an inch. So in order to bend a 100 flex stick an inch it would take 100lbs of pressure. Why does flexibility matter? Have you ever heard the term, “Work smarter not harder”? The whipping action in a stick, that its flex creates, will put more speed in your shot with less effort. Now that’s smart!

For anyone who watches hockey, you are probably aware of Phil Kessel’s infamous snap shots! (as a Leaf’s fan, I may be a little biased). Watch closely next time for the slow action replay. You will see a ridiculous amount of flex on his stick. It is common to see forwards use the flex in their sticks for the quick snap shot, or wrist shot. On the other hand, defense will commonly have stiffer (less flexible) sticks.

There are some other things you will commonly see in a defense man’s stick which we will talk about in the next post.

– Jake