Holding the Hockey Stick

How hard can it be to hold a hockey stick, eh?

While passing the puck back and forth in the driveway with my granddaughter, I noticed that she didn't always hold her stick correctly.  Worse than that, she didn't always hold it the same way.  Later, when watching her team practice, I saw many of her teammates doing the same thing, being inconsistent about how they held their sticks.

Lorelei and I made "holding the stick correctly" the very first thing on our hockey check list.  Every time she picks up her stick, she takes a second to make sure she's holding it correctly.  Let me explain why this is so critical, and then I'll show you how to do it.

When you're playing or practicing stickhandling, you're teaching "muscle memory".  Eventually you don't even have to think about what you're doing or how to do it, because your body "knows".  Pick up a pencil, or a fork, or a video game controller and you'll experience the same thing.  If you're not holding it the way you usually do, it feels wrong, and you'll probably be clumsy with it too.  Imagine trying to walk if you had to devote your whole attention to every single step like a toddler just learning.

Think of it this way, if you're holding the stick correctly, then the blade will be facing straight up and down on the ice.  If, instead, you're holding the stick rotated ninety degrees in your hand (exaggerated, but I saw it), then the blade will be laying flat on the ice, and to bring it to the correct position you'll have to twist your wrist in an unnatural way.

So do this.  The top of the stick should fit into the "v" of your stretched out hand, like this:

Every.  Single. Time.  Soon you won't even have to look.

Wrap your fingers around the stick.  Do NOT choke up on the handle.

When the kids were holding their sticks, they kind of randomly used one of the two grips below.  Both are wrong, especially when you use both without thinking about it.

Nope.

Definitely nope.

Get into the habit of checking your grip.  Make it a "rule" with the kids and it won't take long for them to show improvement, just because of better consistency.

Did you or do you have this problem?  Have you helped beginners by showing them the grip?  Did it help?  Let me know in the comments.  Thanks.