| Recently I broke my cherished eight-year-old wooden | | | | to be light, which suits players who need fast tight |
| hockey stick, so with a heavy heart I began the | | | | control of the ball such as forwards. Medium and |
| confusing process of choosing a new stick. Having | | | | heavy sticks are more suited to defensive players |
| only used wooden hockey sticks in the past I thought I | | | | who need to tackle, hit and stop the ball with greater |
| would just replace it with a similar stick. So I was | | | | strength. When choosing the length of a stick it comes |
| dumbstruck when I started to search the web and got | | | | down to basically how tall you are. Short people have |
| bombarded with options for composite and wooden | | | | short sticks and tall people have longer sticks, get it the |
| sticks of varying weight, lengths and shapes. After | | | | wrong way round and you either miss the ball or hit |
| days of research and a bit of experience I thought I'd | | | | the pitch. |
| publish my findings to help other hockey players when | | | | The shape of a stick differs in the bend or 'bow' in the |
| choosing their next stick. | | | | shaft and the size of the head. Generally the greater |
| Long gone are the days of hockey sticks made purely | | | | the curve in the shaft the better it is for flicking, but it |
| from wood and wrapped with a bit of towelling for | | | | also gives more flexibility and some say more power |
| grip. With advances in technology wooden sticks | | | | to the stick. The head comes in three different shapes |
| began to be reinforced with materials such as glass | | | | midi, maxi and hook. Midi is the smallest and useful for |
| fibre, aramid, and kevlar to a point where now you can | | | | reverse stick control and hitting, maxi heads are larger |
| buy 'wood free' composite sticks. Heated arguments | | | | therefore great for stopping and hitting the ball, |
| on whether wood or composite hockey sticks are | | | | whereas hooks have the largest surface area and so |
| best fill many a clubhouse, but in the end it's down to | | | | are even better for stopping, hitting and particular |
| personal preference. Choices on materials aside there | | | | useful for flicking. |
| are other factors to consider when buying a hockey | | | | Essentially when choosing your field hockey stick |
| stick such as weight, length and shape. | | | | consider where you play regularly and try a few |
| The most popular weight (based on availability) seems | | | | different ones out if you can. |