When you are just starting ice hockey, is it better to start with a wooden hockey stick or a composite hockey stick? Choosing a wood hockey stick for your first Hockey Stick is a good idea if you are just beginning to play. The characteristics of your first stick should have basic versions of the features of the blade, the length and the flex. Once you purchase your first hockey stick you will need to prepare it for use by cutting it to the right length and taping the handle and the blade of the stick.

Step number one is to determine if you are going to play with right handed or left handed. Go with the way that feels best to you. If you have any doubt, you can always start with a flat bladed hockey stick that can be used as a left hand stick or a right hand stick.

Step number two is to make sure you have the correct length for your hockey stick. You will need a stick that is long enough to fit you. Most of the time you will have to get a longer stick than you need and you will have to cut it to the right length. Hockey sticks come in some pretty standard sizes (youth, junior, intermediate and senior sticks) and you will need to choose from this selection.

Next you need to determine the blade pattern that you are going to use. The smart choice is to start with a blade pattern that has a small curve to it so that it is easier to learn stick handeling on both your backhand and forehand.

One of the more challenging factors will be to determine a hockey stick flex that suites your strength, ability and size. Start with a flex rating that is in the middle of range. When the flex is matched well to you there will be a small amount of bend to your stick when you are shooting. What this bend, or flex, does is that it snaps back and propels the puck quicker. If you have too much bending it will be difficult to shoot accurately. If the stick is very stiff you won't gain any speed increase when you shoot because the stick won't bend at all.

To get ready to play you will need to cut your new hocky stick to the correct length, tape the handle and tape the blade.

I certainly hope you start playing ice hockey and enjoy it as much as I do!

Here is a quick list of some of the different types of Ice Hockey Sticks

• Wood hockey stick or wooden ice hockey stick:
• Composite Ice Hockey Stick
• Aluminum Ice Hockey Stick
• Fiberglass Hockey stick
  
• One piece Hockey Stick
• True One Piece Hockey Stick
• Two Piece Hockey Stick

Sizes of Ice Hockey Sticks

• Senior Hockey Sticks
• Intermediate Hockey Sticks
• Junior Hockey Sticks
• Youth Hockey Sticks
  

Advantages of wooden hockey sticks:

• They do the job just fine
• They are cheap
• They are durable
• You can use them for wood working projects when they break
  

Advantages of Composite ice hockey sticks

• Optimized performance (low kick points, reinforced blades, etc)
• Usually very light compared to wood ice hockey sticks
• they come in two piece modes so you can replace a blade or shaft
• The are repairable, although it is costly and your stick might not perform the same as new
• You can add an extension plug if the stick is a little too short
  

Thank you for visiting my Hub about Ice Hockey Sticks!