Switching stick curve

[Naz]

I will join the choir, saying practice practice practice.  Honestly, you should be able to grab any stick and learn to pass/shoot with it.  Something to try though, is play around with the size of the knob.  Personally for me, too large and I am simply terrible.  If I can fit my hand around it, I am golden.  Too small and I am terrible again.  This is something that is different for every person.  Mike Smith uses an average size knob.  Carey Price has his taped more like a forward, very minimal.  Holtby's is ridiculously big.
Also, you may want to try cutting an inch or two off the end of the shaft.  The sticks may be too long for you, in which case NO curve will work.

[DL42]

16 hours ago, Max27 said:

what curve would that be? like a p34?

the point it that its not the curve, it the shape of the bottom of the blade.  Example for warrior, the QUICK curve is fine , but the blade shape is terrible,if u grab the QUICK stick retail pattern and line it up with the Mzark  or Wedge curve and trace it around the Quick stick u will have a good pattern.

maybe another decade before the other companies catch up with blade shape, thank god for CCM getting rid of the flat blade shapes.

[Matt35]

I have been using the Quick pattern since last year I completely get where you’re coming from. I’m pretty decent at handling the puck and I had a real hard time getting used to the blade. I found the shape of the heel pops the toe of the blade up when you’re shooting the puck and you end up fanning on the pass. I stuck with the stick though cause I absolutely love the feel of it when you’re doing what matters most - stopping pucks. I feel like it seals the 5 hole and nothing is getting thru. I kept working on passing with it and am finally getting used to it. Instead of going heel to toe with the puck like a typical wrist shot try shooting straight off the toe of the blade, about 3 or 4” in from the end of the blade. Remember, it all comes down to feel and what works for you. 

[Max27]

9 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

Max, seriously, there is no magic curve that you can get that is going to all of a sudden make you a better passer/puck handler.  If there was everyone would have it.  If you wanna get better then practice.  

yeah i agree practice is what's gonna really do it but i've heard how curves like the price are really good for playing the puck and was wondering more if that was the case if i should switch to the price curve

5 hours ago, old but slow said:

Ok @Max27, help us help you. What aspect of passing is causing you issues? Basic pass from behind net to corner? Forehand or backhand? Cross zone pass under pressure? Quick up pass from below dots to blue line or out of zone? Clearing pass high off glass to neutral zone? Wrap around from behind net? Lots of different types of passes to make.

In post #3 you say you had a few passes go horrible, horrible how? Were they all the same type of pass; distance, direction, intention?  Was the puck moving towards or did you control it first with time and space to make the intended pass? What was the intended pass?

Do you use an overhand or underhand grip for passing? Do you use the whole blade from heel to toe or only part of it and which part?

You mention that the Holtby curve is better for passing and the Price is better for shooting. Honestly, what goalie needs a curve to shoot with?  Marketing poppycock!!  Every stick curve is designed to do it all if you know what you're doing. 

my issue is im not getting leverage and i dont really have good control of the stick

passes of mainly stuff like dump-ins, and trying to pass it a few feet up, little past the faceoff dot in my zone, stuff like that

my passes went bad in the sense that one pass, this was in a ball/dek game, where a shot hit my stick and rolled behind me when i was behind the net, another one i tried to pass it and went to the other team, giving them a scoring chance

i use an underhand grip and i use the heel most bc i find i have the most leverage there, but i dont have great leverage to begin with lol

i was basing what i said off the holtby/price curve bc of this pic below, saw it in a stick blade chart on goaliemonkey

[Max27]

4 hours ago, Naz said:

I will join the choir, saying practice practice practice.  Honestly, you should be able to grab any stick and learn to pass/shoot with it.  Something to try though, is play around with the size of the knob.  Personally for me, too large and I am simply terrible.  If I can fit my hand around it, I am golden.  Too small and I am terrible again.  This is something that is different for every person.  Mike Smith uses an average size knob.  Carey Price has his taped more like a forward, very minimal.  Holtby's is ridiculously big.
Also, you may want to try cutting an inch or two off the end of the shaft.  The sticks may be too long for you, in which case NO curve will work.

ive tried a lot of stuff, ive tried huge knobs, small knobs, twirl 88 and flux Z buttendz grips, and now i do a big knob (to be exact, its 40 times around the shaft, i tape each stick the same way)  and ive cut down the shaft, just trying to get comfortable with it, just seemingly havent found something im comfortable in

3 hours ago, DL42 said:

the point it that its not the curve, it the shape of the bottom of the blade.  Example for warrior, the QUICK curve is fine , but the blade shape is terrible,if u grab the QUICK stick retail pattern and line it up with the Mzark  or Wedge curve and trace it around the Quick stick u will have a good pattern.

maybe another decade before the other companies catch up with blade shape, thank god for CCM getting rid of the flat blade shapes.

ahh makes more sense 

35 minutes ago, Matt35 said:

I have been using the Quick pattern since last year I completely get where you’re coming from. I’m pretty decent at handling the puck and I had a real hard time getting used to the blade. I found the shape of the heel pops the toe of the blade up when you’re shooting the puck and you end up fanning on the pass. I stuck with the stick though cause I absolutely love the feel of it when you’re doing what matters most - stopping pucks. I feel like it seals the 5 hole and nothing is getting thru. I kept working on passing with it and am finally getting used to it. Instead of going heel to toe with the puck like a typical wrist shot try shooting straight off the toe of the blade, about 3 or 4” in from the end of the blade. Remember, it all comes down to feel and what works for you. 

ill give it a shot (shooting at the toe over the heel) i typically go towards the heel bc i find the most leverage is there

[old but slow]

5 hours ago, Max27 said:

yeah i agree practice is what's gonna really do it but i've heard how curves like the price are really good for playing the puck and was wondering more if that was the case if i should switch to the price curve

Viable reason to try a new stick

my issue is im not getting leverage and i dont really have good control of the stick

Different curve/stick won't help here, different catcher or blocker might help with controlling the stick though.

passes of mainly stuff like dump-ins, and trying to pass it a few feet up, little past the faceoff dot in my zone, stuff like that

Again different curve/stick won't help. Learn to make the simple passes, start short and keep adding distance.

my passes went bad in the sense that one pass, this was in a ball/dek game, where a shot hit my stick and rolled behind me when i was behind the net, another one i tried to pass it and went to the other team, giving them a scoring chance

Nope, different curve won't fix these issues

i use an underhand grip and i use the heel most bc i find i have the most leverage there, but i dont have great leverage to begin with lol

Learn how to create leverage, this will help with all passes. Also play around with the overhand grip, it might help you create the leverage you're looking for.

The best reason to replace your stick is because you want to, period. Based on the above, a new curve will not change much if anything other than the curve of your stick. 

On an unrelated note, what are you doing behind your net while the other team is shooting? And how badger the shooters that they are hitting your stick while your behind the net?

 

[Max27]

2 minutes ago, old but slow said:

The best reason to replace your stick is because you want to, period. Based on the above, a new curve will not change much if anything other than the curve of your stick. 

On an unrelated note, what are you doing behind your net while the other team is shooting? And how badger the shooters that they are hitting your stick while your behind the net?

 

While thats true that i want to try new sticks, i mainly wanna switch the curve. Ive heard the price curve is really good for stickhandling and was trying to get conformation on that 

and no im saying they dumped it into the zone, and i went behind my net to stop it, and had horrible communication w my dman. apparently going to stop a dump in= hustle over to your goalies stick and try and take the ball from him (this was in a dek game)

[old but slow]

5 minutes ago, Max27 said:

While thats true that i want to try new sticks, i mainly wanna switch the curve. Ive heard the price curve is really good for stickhandling and was trying to get conformation on that 

Unfortunately the answer is, It might or might not. My buddy swears by the Price curve, won't use anything else. I'm not a huge fan of the Price, it just doesn't work for me

and no im saying they dumped it into the zone, and i went behind my net to stop it, and had horrible communication w my dman. apparently going to stop a dump in= hustle over to your goalies stick and try and take the ball from him (this was in a dek game)

I'm sorry, was trying to incorporate a little humor as I feel I've been a bit of an ass in previous posts. The price stick might help as it's a shorter shaft length, it should help controlling your stick a little. The biggest differences for me were changing to overhand and playing with my hand position on the stick. I play the puck much more effectively with my hands closer together. I also found that the higher end sticks felt a lot snappier for longer, I guess this could benefit your "leverage" issues. 

There is no substitute for practicing and learning what works for you, 12-24 passes in warmups/practice would be enough to quickly notice a difference especially  if you pay attention to what you do when you are successful. If you have down time during practice, shoot at the boards, play around with hand position and puck position on the blade as well as in your stance. Ask other goalies to show you what works for them and try it.

Again I apologize if I came across as an ass, good luck with whatever you decide.

[SaveByRichter35]

Max if you wanna try a new stick then try a new stick.  Just do us a favor, when you get the new stick and are still having trouble playing the puck, don't come back and ask what other curve you should try.  By all means get something you are comfortable with.  Most importantly you need to work on technique.  You just started playing, what, a year ago?  I've been playing for about 30 years give or take...I still suck at playing the puck.  It's something I never really worked on.  I actually recently changed from a Quick pattern to a Mrazek pattern, which I believe is similar to Price.  Guess what, I still suck.  Work on your technique, Max.

[Puckstopper]

Just enough of being a good with the puck is mental that I'm going to support Max in switching curves.   Like Chenner, I consider myself a pretty darn good (for beer league) puckhandler.  But I've had a few sticks over the years that for whatever reason I just couldn't do squat with. They stopped pucks just fine, but my passes were weak dribblers or sky-high wedge shots over the glass instead of off it, or in some other way simply not effective.   Could I have adapted to them eventually?  Some yes, some probably not.

For me the solution was to quit buying whatever pro stock stick I could find cheap and stick to good quality composite sticks with roughly the same pattern (Crawford/P31/Bishop depending on MFG).  If you really want to have a decent shot as a goalie nothing beats practice.  But good practice always beats bad practice so find something you're comfortable with and commit to it 100%.  

[Max27]

On 12/8/2018 at 12:14 AM, old but slow said:

I'm sorry, was trying to incorporate a little humor as I feel I've been a bit of an ass in previous posts. The price stick might help as it's a shorter shaft length, it should help controlling your stick a little. The biggest differences for me were changing to overhand and playing with my hand position on the stick. I play the puck much more effectively with my hands closer together. I also found that the higher end sticks felt a lot snappier for longer, I guess this could benefit your "leverage" issues. 

There is no substitute for practicing and learning what works for you, 12-24 passes in warmups/practice would be enough to quickly notice a difference especially  if you pay attention to what you do when you are successful. If you have down time during practice, shoot at the boards, play around with hand position and puck position on the blade as well as in your stance. Ask other goalies to show you what works for them and try it.

Again I apologize if I came across as an ass, good luck with whatever you decide.

haha all good. i appreciate how many people have given advice

i have cut down shafts to improve control, changed knob size, etc in the past trying to find comfort. i also skate around w a puck during warmups stick handling to help out just seems the curve doesnt do what i want it to

and thanks i hope  i find something to suit me 

On 12/8/2018 at 7:46 AM, SaveByRichter35 said:

Max if you wanna try a new stick then try a new stick.  Just do us a favor, when you get the new stick and are still having trouble playing the puck, don't come back and ask what other curve you should try.  By all means get something you are comfortable with.  Most importantly you need to work on technique.  You just started playing, what, a year ago?  I've been playing for about 30 years give or take...I still suck at playing the puck.  It's something I never really worked on.  I actually recently changed from a Quick pattern to a Mrazek pattern, which I believe is similar to Price.  Guess what, I still suck.  Work on your technique, Max.

yeah i know what you mean practice and technique are what will make me improve not the curve 

was really trying to ask if the price curve is as good as people say it is for handling the puck and have noticed i suck at it and want to improve it

37 minutes ago, Puckstopper said:

Just enough of being a good with the puck is mental that I'm going to support Max in switching curves.   Like Chenner, I consider myself a pretty darn good (for beer league) puckhandler.  But I've had a few sticks over the years that for whatever reason I just couldn't do squat with. They stopped pucks just fine, but my passes were weak dribblers or sky-high wedge shots over the glass instead of off it, or in some other way simply not effective.   Could I have adapted to them eventually?  Some yes, some probably not.

For me the solution was to quit buying whatever pro stock stick I could find cheap and stick to good quality composite sticks with roughly the same pattern (Crawford/P31/Bishop depending on MFG).  If you really want to have a decent shot as a goalie nothing beats practice.  But good practice always beats bad practice so find something you're comfortable with and commit to it 100%.  

yeah exactly good practice beats bad practice

 i have been considering the bishop and crawford style curve as well as the holtby, on one of CCMs old curve designs it said the Holtby was designed for good passing 

[old but slow]

6 minutes ago, Max27 said:

and thanks i hope  i find something to suit me 

yeah i know what you mean practice and technique are what will make me improve not the curve 

was really trying to ask if the price curve is as good as people say it is for handling the puck and have noticed i suck at it and want to improve it

yeah exactly good practice beats bad practice

 i have been considering the bishop and crawford style curve as well as the holtby, on one of CCMs old curve designs it said the Holtby was designed for good passing 

Please stop buying into the marketing hype. Every curve is designed to meet the needs of goaltenders. Some players will find the Price works, others will find it doesn't work so well. Same thing can be said for all curves/ stick. You don't pass well with the Quick, I happen to pass very well with it, others prefer the heel wedge/Price pattern. 

You basically have to try all the patterns and see what works for you. But if you are struggling to make basic short passes, there isn't a stick in the world that's going to help you.

Once you understand how to and can execute the basics you'll know if a mid curve, heel wedge, toe curve or twist pattern is what you need. 

[Max27]

5 hours ago, old but slow said:

Please stop buying into the marketing hype. Every curve is designed to meet the needs of goaltenders. Some players will find the Price works, others will find it doesn't work so well. Same thing can be said for all curves/ stick. You don't pass well with the Quick, I happen to pass very well with it, others prefer the heel wedge/Price pattern. 

You basically have to try all the patterns and see what works for you. But if you are struggling to make basic short passes, there isn't a stick in the world that's going to help you.

Once you understand how to and can execute the basics you'll know if a mid curve, heel wedge, toe curve or twist pattern is what you need. 

im more struggling on getting strong passes more than passes themselves, i find theyre kinda sloppy and unaccurate

[dualshowman]

10 hours ago, Max27 said:

im more struggling on getting strong passes more than passes themselves, i find theyre kinda sloppy and unaccurate

We're on page #2 of this thread and I feel that you, Max, have been reading the replies, but not internalizing the message. Frankly, there is nothing wrong with this as I doubt you have or will put your life or the life of another living being in harm's way as a result of not heeding experiential advice. Horse to water, I suppose.  

At this point, I strongly suggest you go with a placebo and get yourself whichever stick with whichever curve you feel will cure your ills. Please report back your findings or direct us to the classified ad for whichever stick with whichever curve you found to be subpar. 

[old but slow]

@Max27 Just curious if you've replaced your stick yet? If so, what did you get and did it help?

[Max27]

16 hours ago, old but slow said:

@Max27 Just curious if you've replaced your stick yet? If so, what did you get and did it help?

I havent yet 

On 12/11/2018 at 10:18 AM, dualshowman said:

We're on page #2 of this thread and I feel that you, Max, have been reading the replies, but not internalizing the message. Frankly, there is nothing wrong with this as I doubt you have or will put your life or the life of another living being in harm's way as a result of not heeding experiential advice. Horse to water, I suppose.  

At this point, I strongly suggest you go with a placebo and get yourself whichever stick with whichever curve you feel will cure your ills. Please report back your findings or direct us to the classified ad for whichever stick with whichever curve you found to be subpar. 

ill give that a shot 

[Max27]

On 1/2/2019 at 10:43 PM, old but slow said:

@Max27 Just curious if you've replaced your stick yet? If so, what did you get and did it help?

I got a heel wedge Lehner curve and it so much better. I got 2 of them for 100$ and i was shooting pucks w them compared to my Warrior outside on my brothers shooting pad and holy crap i shoot so much better. Its shocking how much of a difference there is in my puck handling abilities. I have some games coming up tomorrow and a game on monday so ill see how much better it is 

[southpawtendy48]

7 hours ago, Max27 said:

I got a heel wedge Lehner curve and it so much better. I got 2 of them for 100$ and i was shooting pucks w them compared to my Warrior outside on my brothers shooting pad and holy crap i shoot so much better. Its shocking how much of a difference there is in my puck handling abilities. I have some games coming up tomorrow and a game on monday so ill see how much better it is 

Lehner curve? Where’d you get this stick?

[Max27]

6 hours ago, southpawtendy48 said:

Lehner curve? Where’d you get this stick?

sideline swap

[southpawtendy48]

3 hours ago, Max27 said:

sideline swap

Oh nice, I think I know which one you’re talking about 

[Max27]

2 hours ago, southpawtendy48 said:

Oh nice, I think I know which one you’re talking about 

yeah theyre the ones with the navy base and yellow accents from last season w buffalo

 doesnt match any of my gear in the slightest but i got a really good deal on them lol plus lehner is one of my favorite goalies so its cool to have em

[Scythe]

I got my new Northwood stick last week with what looks like a heel wedge. The blade looks crazy. Used it on Friday and it didn't take too long to get a feel for it. I can really lift the puck now. Played a dump in and got the puck high off the glass. 

Nice n lite .. foam core .. durable. Blocked a shot off the shaft and did not dent or anything.