Hockey Stick Taping Techniques

In ice hockey, players use stick-taping to improve grip, to better control the puck and to keep moisture off the stick. There are two areas of the hockey stick that are generally taped: the shaft (or handle) of the stick and the blade. Stick-taping techniques can vary slightly from player to player, but there are two basic methods for taping the shaft and one basic way to tape the blade.

  1. Taping the Handle with Finger Grips

    • It is crucial that a hockey player maintains control of the stick, and the best way to do this is to tape the handle to create "finger grips." One of the ways to do this, according to the East Coast Blaze team site, is to start at the end of the stick and tape around the butt end. After this, players twist the roll of tape until the tape turns into a "rope" shape. By wrapping the "rope" around the end to the desired thickness, they create a solid "end grip" that will stop the hand from slipping off the stick. After this, they wrap the twisted tape 5 inches down the shaft, leaving 1/2 inch between each spiral. These provide "finger grips." Finally, the player tapes over these grips, changing from the "twisted taping" to the normal taping method, and works his way up the stick.

    Taping the Handle Without Finger Grips

    • Some players prefer not to tape their hockey stick with finger grips. In this case, the player tapes the end of the stick using the twisted tape method, but does not spiral the "tape rope" down the shaft of the stick. Rather, he uses the normal taping method to tape down 5 inches on the shaft, and then works his way back up the stick, and ends by taping the "knob" on the end of the stick.

    Blade Taping

    • The other part of the hockey stick that players tape is the "blade" of the stick. This is the part of the stick that makes contact with ice and shoots the puck. Players tape the blade to better grip and control the puck. The basic method of taping is to start with the "heel" of the blade, the part that curves into the straight shaft, and pull the tape tightly around the blade, and work toward the end. The tape usually overlaps "about 50% of the first wrap," according to the East Coast Blaze site. Prohockeystuff.com also states that it is important that the tape is wrapped "flat against the blade so that no bubbles or folds appear." This would adversely affect the puck-handling and grip of the blade.