| ahhh cardinal sins, what uwh function would be complete without all 7 being committed?
Jols is right, it is a sin to lose your stick during play, he is also correct when he says your stick should be loose enough in your hand to move it [the stick] freely in your hand in order to perform multiple skills - you know other skills aside from bashing and flicking.
i'll add other sins to the list
using elasticated lanyards that lock your stick into one position on your hand [hair ties around 1st 2 finggers are o.k, they allow reasonable movement]
refs allowing people to play with more than 25mm of stick protruding from back of the hand - it's simple enough to have a lanyard that prevents this from happening so i think it is a crime of laziness being committed.
buying gloves made by other folks without first making and experimenting with some of your own to find out what suits you best
if you want a glove to fit you - you need to be involved in the creation process - even if you just sit still whilst another person slathers goop all over your hand.
using the same ratty old glove, held together with electrical tape etc, for years. if your glove is falling apart, make a new one - you'll probably improve the design each time you make a new glove by tweaking things that weren't quite right last time
AND as you improve you'll find you need different things from your glove, or you might change from being an attacker to a defender - different types of glove [and stick] are need for different roles. i used to pretty much only play as a forward and i used thinly padded gloves [just enough to stop my fingertips abraiding and to take the worst damage from a big hit] as i wanted to move the puck quickly and a thick heavy glove slowed my hand speed [premise being: if i am quick enough i won't get hurt - my hand is still in good condition 25 years later]. now cos i am old and slow i play defender, so i have a [slightly] thicker layer of protection on the back of my hand and my first 2 fingers
final sin: huge thick chunky huckory gloves made to be worn by similarly built men being worn/sold to juniors/new players/women/anyone who desires to play with skill and grace. the only commercially available gloves i have seen in 25 years that allow good hand skills to be practiced & performed are the slovenian ones.
i don't wanna offend, but those boa shop gloves and the tru-blu gloves really do not promote skilful play - they limit hand speed/skill. how will new players learn and get any delight from using new skills when they are trying to drag those behemoths around the pool? sven mate, that pink thing you showed months ago? caught in the middle - too little protection in some places, way too much bulk across fingers & knuckles to allow freedom of movement.
this isn't personal, i abhor all ratty and/or chunky gloves because they stifle the learning opportunities for young and old. you can't improve beyond a bash/flick style of play as an individual or a team when you are hamstrung by equipment that limits your play in such a manner.
hint for all - if you want to improve your stick skills/speed, play for a while with a thinner glove. you'll get some knocks early on, but if you perservere you will improve. or you'll end up with a cast on.
i used to cut the palms out of my gloves until i realised it was flexibility across the back of my hand that was missing. less bulk on the back of my hand gave more freedom of movement in fingers and now i no longer need a gaping hole, which only ever sped up the deterioration of the glove, in the palm of my glove. it was nice to feel the timber of my stick in my hand though.
put less silicone/latex in the palm of your glove folks, you will retain more flexibility and what do you need padding in there for anyway? a light coating to slow down the break-down of gloves is all that is needed in the palms.
wow, quite the rant, eh?
nb, most questions, above, can be considered rhetorical. i don't need to get replies about them.
Last edited by amc32 : 26-09-07 at 07:44 AM.
Reason: typos and spelling errors
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