How to Hold a Hockey Stick

Unlike golf clubs or baseball bats, hockey sticks can easily be held either right-handed or left-handed. In fact, according to a 2010 New York Times article, 60 percent of hockey sticks shipped in Canada are for left-handed shots, while only 7 percent of Canadian golfers shoot left-handed. The reason is that a hockey shot is very different from that in other sports. The dominant hand should be used as a guide hand for more coordinated stick-handling. So a right-handed person would actually get more accuracy by using a left-handed stick. Regardless of your choice, holding the stick properly is simple.

Things You'll Need

  • Hockey stick
  • Hockey gloves (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Determine whether you have a right-handed or left-handed stick. Hold the stick straight out in front of you with the blade pointing up. If the tip of the blade curves to the right, you have a left-handed stick. If it curves to the left, you have a right-handed stick.

    • 2

      Place the opposite "hand" from the stick near the top. In other words, place the right hand near the top of a left-handed stick, and vice versa. This hand should be wrapped around the stick's grip just a few inches from the top of the shaft, with the four fingers over the front or top of the stick and the thumb wrapped behind it.

    • 3

      Place the other hand about halfway down the shaft of the stick, wrapped in the opposite direction from the hand at the top. The four fingers should be wrapped behind and below the stick, with the thump wrapped over the top or front. This hand is the fulcrum hand, with the hand at the top acting as a guide hand for a sort of lever.

    • 4

      Loosen the fulcrum hand a bit, and use the guide hand at the top to wiggle the stick back and forth without breaking your grip. If the stick seems too wobbly, move the fulcrum hand further down the blade of the stick; if it seems too tight, move the lower hand further up the blade.