My sticks are something that I’ve always felt touchy with. The weight of the stick, the balance, the pattern, I can really tell a difference in them when I’m using them. I’ve used a variety of sticks over my short career. Wooden ones, cheap two piece ones, with a wooden blade. I made the jump to one piece sticks a while ago, and up until recently, I haven’t found one I fell in love with.
Until I played with the Easton S7. I love this stick. I have the S5, and it just feels really heavy to me. I’ve learned though, I should be using an intermediate stick and I think that goes a long way. With my S5, I had to cut a few inches off. With the intermediate, I cut off two or so. At 130 pounds, I’m not really suited for a 100 flex stick. But what’s interesting is I also had a Warrior 70 flex in my hands (the s7 is a 65 flex). I can drastically feel the difference in stiffness. I checked Easton’s 85 flex S7 to CCM’s Octogun 85 flex, and the Easton felt much more flexy. I wonder if this is a kick point issue.
Anyway, I broke the S7 on the blade which seems to be common. I tried a few different sticks from my stockpile, picked up a new one, and I just had to have the S7 again. It is much lighter than the S5 and S3, and is still affordable at $80. Yes there are lighter sticks, but I am not good enough to get the benefits from them. I’m probably not good enough to get the benefits from the $80 one, but it sure does feel nice in my hands.
I’m using the Sakic pattern, on the Easton S7 intermediate 65 flex. I also tape the shaft to increase the grip along it for my bottom hand. Ever since I switched to Ice, I’ve had a hard time keeping a strong grip on my sticks. The tape helps.
