Is Your Child’s Stick Too Long?
Here’s a great post from Coach Peter Russo about stick length. I’m a hockey parent like many of you but, never played. I know nothing about lie, flex, or proper stick length. Read this you might know less than you think.
Is Your Child’s Stick Too Long?
This entry was posted on May 7, 2015 at 9:09 am and is filed under Guest Authors, Hockey, MBSC News, Training, Training Females, Youth Training with tags Is Your Child's Stick Too Long?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
4 Responses to “Is Your Child’s Stick Too Long?”
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Michael Boyle's Strengthcoach.com Blog 
May 21, 2015 at 4:01 pm
I don’t think it’s as big a deal, no.
May 14, 2015 at 2:37 am
Is it difficult for hockey coaches to correct a swing developed using a too stick? Usually when a child uses a too-long hurley, they also use an incorrect grip in order to compensate for the extra weight and levering. This causes them to develop a poor swing technique and it can be very difficult to correct.
May 12, 2015 at 5:55 am
Amazing how stuff translates across the Atlantic.
May 7, 2015 at 12:14 pm
Reblogged this on Irish Eyes on London and commented:
I know nothing about ice-hockey but I know there is definitely a lesson to be learned here for hurling coaches.
I recently started helping to coach under-8 players at a London hurling club and it’s plain to see how some young players have already started on the wrong path by using a hurley that is anything from 2 to 6 inches too long for them. The hip-rule, that almost everyone born in the last century understood to be the cardinal rule of hurley length, should be wiped from memory. Unfortunately, far too many coaches of today’s youngsters grew up adhering to this rule themselves and so the mistake is perpetuated.
The skills of hurling, as it is played today, cannot be performed at anything close to full proficiency, with a hurley that stands level with a players hip bone. I am a far from proficient player but if I was to adhere to this ‘rule’ then I would be using something close to a 40 inch hurley. I may as well be swinging a length of scaffold.
If the coaches of a young player does nothing else but take the too-long stick from them (even if it does have a shiny new Karakal grip with a county player finish) and force them to use a stick of appropriate length, then they will be doing them a massive favour. If the coach needs to give proof to their young charges, then why not invite some of the local adult players (or better yet, county players) to show the kids how far up their leg the stick only needs to go.
But as the author says, there are always anomalies and players with longer sticks are out there. But the ones that play county and win Allstars are as rare as hen’s teeth.