Introduction to Hockey Tape
For hockey players, having the right gear can make all the difference in performance. One essential piece of equipment that every player needs is hockey tape. This specialized tape has become a staple in hockey bags across the world. But what exactly is hockey tape, and why is it so important?
Hockey tape is a cloth-based, rubber-adhesive tape that is used to wrap hockey stick handles, blades, and shafts. It provides a tacky, grippy surface that allows for better puck control and handling. The tape is made from tightly woven cotton that is coated on one side with a layer of rubber-based adhesive. When wrapped around a stick, the cotton fibers provide friction while the adhesive ensures the tape stays firmly in place.
There are a few key brands that dominate the hockey tape market, like Renfrew, Howies, and Grip. These companies offer tapes in a variety of colors, allowing players to customize their sticks. Black hockey tape is the most popular choice among pros and amateurs alike.
While it may seem simple, hockey tape is an essential piece of equipment. It affects grip, shock absorption, blade protection, and much more. Keep reading to learn about the many benefits hockey tape provides.
Protects Your Stick Blade
One of the main functions of hockey tape is to protect your stick blade from damage. Hockey sticks are expensive investments, so keeping them in good condition is a priority. The blade area faces the most wear and tear during games and practices.
Repeated impact from pucks and ice can chip and fracture composite sticks over time. Taping provides a protective barrier that helps preserve the blade. It absorbs some of the forces caused by shooting, passing, and stickhandling. This prevents cracks from forming or spreading.
The tape also prevents moisture from seeping into the composite materials. By keeping water out, it reduces the chance of the blade warping or becoming misshapen over time.
Improves Grip and Control
Having proper grip on your stick is crucial for stickhandling, shooting, and puck control. Hockey tape provides tackiness that keeps your hands locked into position. The cotton fibers on cloth tapes create friction against gloves for enhanced grip. The rubber adhesive also helps improve grip.
With a better hold on your stick, you can handle the puck better in game situations. When stickhandling, you can keep the puck on your blade better and pull off quicker dekes and moves. Having that grip also allows you to cradle and control passes better.
During shots, improved grip helps you keep your hands in the proper position and transfer power from your body through the stick flex. More grip gives you better accuracy and velocity on shots.
Absorbs Vibration and Shock
Every time you take a slapshot or make contact with the puck, vibrations transfer into your hands and arms. The repeated impact can cause temporary pain and discomfort known as “stingers.” Taping your stick helps reduce this vibration and shock.
The tape’s cloth surface acts as a cushioning barrier between your hands and the composite shaft. This dampens the intensity of vibrations from puck contact. Less vibration traveling into your hands means fewer stingers.
Hockey tape also minimizes the impact your hands feel when receiving hard passes. By absorbing some of the shock, it reduces the sting sensation and allows you to better control or cradle passes.
Customizes Stick Feel
Hockey players are very particular about the feel and handling of their sticks. Adding layers of tape allows you to customize the thickness and shape of your stick’s grip area.
You can build up multiple layers to achieve the exact thickness your hands prefer. More tape makes the grip fatter, while less tape creates a thinner grip profile. Finding your ideal grip size improves comfort and stickhandling.
Taping also lets you shape the contour of your grip. Some players taper it from top to bottom, while others prefer an even thickness throughout. The malleability of tape lets you adjust the shape until it suits your preferences.
Prolongs Stick Life
As mentioned earlier, taping protects your blade from fractures, chips, and moisture damage. Keeping your blade in better condition directly translates to a longer lifespan for your stick.
It also preserves the grip area of the shaft. Friction from gloved hands can rub down and degrade the graphics and materials over time. Tape forms a replaceable barrier that protects the shaft surface underneath.
Regular re-taping is an easy and inexpensive way to add months or years of usable life to your hockey sticks. Compared to frequently buying new sticks, it saves you money in the long run.
Allows Customization of Color and Style
Hockey tape comes in a wide range of colors, letting you customize your sticks. Choose tape colors that match your team’s uniforms or go with your personal preferences.
Colored tape is often used to mark different angles and faces during power play situations. For example, right-handed shots may tape the toe blue on their forehand side and green on the backhand side.
You can also get creative with striping patterns or two-tone combinations. The possibilities are endless when it comes to customizing your tape jobs.
Fixes Cracks and Chips
If your stick blade develops small cracks or chips, hockey tape can serve as an emergency repair. Simply wrap over the damaged area tightly with new tape to seal it up and prevent further spread.
The tape essentially functions as a cast or bandage for your blade. It stabilizes the area and prevents moisture from seeping in. This buys you more time to keep using the stick before a more permanent fix is needed.
Prevents Blisters and Raw Spots
New hockey sticks often come wrapped in a thin plastic that protects the graphics. However, this plastic can cause hand blisters and raw spots from the friction against your gloves.
Applying cloth hockey tape on top gives a softer, more glove-friendly surface. The cotton fibers create less irritation against bare skin while playing. This prevents painful blisters from developing.
Adds Extra Grip Padding
Some players like to add additional grip padding under their tape jobs. This can provide more cushioning and absorb even more vibrations.
Many choose to wrap the shaft with a product like lizard skins or tennis racquet grip first. Hockey tape applied on top keeps this extra padding securely in place during games.
Another option is to use tape like Renfrew Pro Grip as the base layer. It has a textured felt surface on the outside while the adhesive side sticks directly to the shaft.
Reduces Glove Slippage
A properly taped stick also prevents your gloves from sliding around in your hands. The tackiness of the tape keeps the gloves locked in place for better control.
As you move your hands up and down the shaft stickhandling or shooting, friction between the tape and gloves prevents unwanted slippage. This ensures your hands stay tightly inside the gloves.
Less slippage means you can grip and hold your stick better. You also reduce the need to constantly readjust your gloves during play.
Maintains Proper Blade Curve
The curvature of your stick’s blade directly impacts how pucks come off during shots and passes. Taping maintains the proper shape and curve of the blade.
Repeated impacts can cause the blade to flatten out over time. Tight tape reduces vibrations to minimize this “deadening” effect. Fresh tape provides stiffness that forces the blade to hold its natural curve for longer.
A consistent curve leads to more accuracy and better performance. Taping preserves your shot and passing quality by maintaining optimal blade shape.
As you can see, hockey tape may seem simple, but it provides many performance and protective benefits. It protects your stick investment while allowing customization and improved handling. For any hockey player looking to boost their game, taping up with quality hockey tape is a must.
Types of Hockey Tape
When it comes to hockey tape, players have a variety of options to choose from. The main types of hockey tape include cloth, synthetic, and silicone tapes. Each has their own features and benefits for taping up sticks.
Cloth hockey tape is the most common and traditional option. It’s made from a tight cotton weave coated with rubber-based adhesive. Major brands like Renfrew and Howies use a premium grade cotton that provides strength and grip. The cloth gives a soft, tacky feel.
Synthetic hockey tapes offer an alternative to traditional cloth. Instead of cotton, these use a woven blend of synthetic fibers like polyester or fiberglass. Brands like Grip and Bazooka make synthetic hockey tapes. The materials make synthetic tapes more cut-resistant but less sticky than cloth.
Silicone tapes represent the newest entry into hockey tapes. As the name suggests, a silicone adhesive coats the backside rather than rubber cement. Pros like Sidney Crosby have started using silicone tapes recently. Silicone adhesive stays tacky in more conditions and leaves less residue.
There are also specialized hockey tapes for different roles. Double-sided tapes have adhesive on both sides to wrap blades and shafts. Grip and friction tapes coat the outside with texture for extra grip. Soft touch tapes cushion vibrations well. The options keep expanding as companies innovate.
For most players, cloth hockey tape is the go-to for its blend of grip, shock absorption, and affordability. But it comes down to testing out different tapes to find your personal preference. The key is using high-quality tape designed specifically for hockey.
Keep reading to learn more about the unique benefits hockey tape provides players.
Protects Your Stick Blade
Protecting your stick’s blade should be every player’s top priority. Those shiny new composite sticks don’t come cheap, after all. Yet the blade area faces the most punishment during play. Repeated shots, passes, and pokes wreck havoc on stick blades over time.
All those impacts can cause micro-fractures and chips to form within the blade’s composite materials. Those small damages then spread rapidly to become full-on cracks and breaks. It’s like a ticking time bomb waiting to ruin your stick.
This is where hockey tape saves the day. Wrapping tape around the bottom half of the blade creates a protective barrier. The tape helps absorb those damaging forces caused by contact with pucks and ice. That cushioning prevents fractures from forming in the first place.
Tape also blocks moisture from seeping into the composite shaft and blade. Soaking composites leads to warping and breakdown over time. A quality hockey tape seals out that moisture and maintains structural integrity.
Improves Grip and Control
Ask any hockey player – having proper grip and control of your stick is absolutely crucial. With a slippery stick, you fumble pucks and struggle to stickhandle. But tape provides the tackiness needed to keep a handle on things.
The cloth fabric gives the soft, grippy “feel” players love. The tight cotton weave along with the adhesive creates friction against gloves for noticeably better grip. The tack makes it easier to keep the puck glued to your blade when dangling.
During shots, improved grip keeps your hands locked into proper shooting position. That means you can flex the stick and transfer power more efficiently through the shaft. More control equals better accuracy firing pucks top shelf.
Ultimately, grip allows you to handle the puck better in game situations. You can pull off dekes quicker, cradle passes smoother, and shoot pucks harder thanks to hockey tape.
Absorbs Vibrations and Shock
Hockey is a high impact sport. Any time you connect with the puck during a pass, shot, or one-timer, it sends vibrations up the shaft. The repeated vibrations can make your hands and arms go numb temporarily from the discomfort.
Without tape, those vibrations transmit directly into your hands and cause a painful stinging sensation. But hockey tape helps reduce stick vibration drastically.
The tape’s cotton fabric acts as a cushioning barrier that absorbs vibration. Less shock and vibration reaches your bare hands, so you avoid the dreaded “stingers” from heavy puck contact.
Hockey tape also reduces impact shock when receiving hard passes. The tape diffuses the impact so your hands aren’t left red and buzzing after catching rocket feeds from teammates.
Having that vibration damping allows you to better control pucks off passes. Your hands won’t be rattled or stung, meaning you can cradle cleanly or quickly shoot in stride.
Allows Customization of Stick Feel
Ask a dozen hockey players how they like their tape jobs, and you’ll probably get a dozen different answers. Every player has unique preferences for the thickness, contour, and feel of their taped stick grips.
The great thing about hockey tape is that it allows full customization to match your needs. Add fewer layers for a thinner, tighter grip profile. Or build up tape layers to make a thicker, softer grip – the choice is yours.
You can also shape the contour completely to your liking. Some players tape evenly from top to bottom, while others create a taper effect. There’s no right or wrong way, as long as it feels right in your hands.
Dialing in the exact tape thickness and contour improves comfort while also enhancing puck control. Your customized grip gives you the confidence to wheel in games.
Prolongs the Life of Your Stick
We’ve already covered how hockey tape protects your blade from fractures and moisture damage. That blade protection directly translates into greater longevity for your sticks.
But taping also preserves the grip and shaft area too. Without tape, repeated rubbing and friction from gloves slowly wears down the graphics and materials over months of play.
Fresh tape provides a replaceable sacrificial barrier that takes the brunt of that wear and tear. Simply re-taping often saves the shaft surface underneath from degrading quickly.
Compared to frequently replacing busted and worn out sticks, regularly re-taping your shaft is an easy and inexpensive way to add months or even years of extra usable life.
Allows Teams to Color Coordinate
Another benefit of hockey tape is that it comes in a rainbow of colors. Teams often use colored tape to coordinate during practice or represent different player roles.
For example, teams may designate blue as offense and white as defense. Tape colors can also be used to identify power play units – the first unit tapes their blades red while the second unit tapes green.
During games, the color coding helps players quickly identify who to pass to or who’s jumping into the rush. It brings an extra visual element to team play and strategy.
Colored tape also allows players to rep their team’s official colors. If your team’s jerseys and socks are red and black, wrapping your stick in matching red and black tape just looks slick.
So don’t be afraid to get creative and add some color to your hockey tape jobs – it can help your individual style and team play.
As you can see, hockey tape has many benefits beyond just making sticks look cool. It offers protection, enhances performance, and prolongs equipment life. While humble, hockey tape is one of the most useful items a player can have. So tape up and take your game to the next level!
Benefits of Using Hockey Tape
At first glance, hockey tape may seem fairly basic – just some sticky cloth used to wrap a stick. But this simple product provides a variety of helpful benefits that can improve any player’s performance.
From pros making millions down to peewees, hockey players of all levels rely on tape. It affects everything from grip and control to shot power and accuracy. Let’s dive into some of the top reasons to keep a roll of hockey tape handy in your bag.
Protects Your Stick Blade
Every hockey player knows the pain and frustration of a broken stick. Those fragile composite shafts and blades don’t come cheap these days. A cracked or shattered blade means an early trip to the bench to grab a backup stick. Or worse, you’re out there defenseless without a stick, watching helplessly as the other team scores.
Quality hockey tape helps prevent these stick tragedies from happening. Wrapping tape around the bottom half of your blade safeguards it from chips, fractures and moisture damage during play. The tape absorbs damaging impacts from pucks and ice while sealing out water from the composite materials underneath.
Think of it like a protective case for your mobile phone, but for your stick blade instead. Preserve your blade and you can avoid the headache of constantly replacing busted twigs throughout the season.
Enhances Grip and Control
Having proper grip and control of your stick is absolutely essential in hockey. A slippery taped grip makes it tough to stickhandle quickly, cradle passes cleanly, or get good leverage on shots.
This is where the friction and tackiness of hockey tape saves the day. The cloth surface provides noticeable “grip” against your gloves for better leverage. Your hands stay locked into the precise positions needed for stickhandling and shooting.
You can pull off dekes and dangles with ease. Passes hop right off your blade to teammates instead of bobbling off the heel. Wristers and slappers have more control and precision. Simply put, grip brings confidence to your hands.
Absorbs Vibration and Shock
Hockey involves a ton of impact as sticks strike pucks and each other. All that vibration can make hands, arms, and even teeth go numb temporarily. Scientists call it “hockey stinger syndrome.”
Tape acts as a shock absorbing barrier between your hands and the composite stick shaft. The cloth dampens vibrations from reaching your bare skin directly. That means less stingers and discomfort during play.
Reduced vibration also allows you to control and cradle passes better. You won’t be left with vibrating, stung hands after catching hard feeds from teammates.
Players often add extra grip padding beneath tape to further isolate vibrations. Less shock equals better performance and fewer painful hand stingers.
Customizes Stick Feel
Ask a group of hockey players how they prefer their tape jobs, and you’ll get different answers from each person. Everyone has their own preferences for grip contour, thickness, and feel.
The great thing about hockey tape is that it’s fully customizable. Add layers to make the grip fatter or thinner based on personal feel. Shape the contour tapered or consistent top-to-bottom. Dial in the exact specs you want.
Finding your ideal grip thickness and contour improves overall comfort, confidence, and control. Your hands feel “at home” gripping a taped stick tailored to your needs.
Prolongs Stick Life
Tape doesn’t just protect your blade – it extends the lifespan of the entire stick. Friction gradually wears down composite shaft graphics and materials over time. Fresh tape provides a sacrificial barrier that saves the shaft surface underneath.
Rather than frequently replacing your sticks, just re-tape regularly to add weeks or months of extra life. Tape is an inexpensive way to protect your investment and avoid buying new twigs often.
It also fixes small chips and cracks as they appear. The tape essentially “casts” the damaged section to stabilize it and prevent further spreading. Just a simple re-tape can fix minor issues and keep your stick rolling.
Allows Visual Customization
Hockey tape comes in a rainbow of colors, allowing you to customize sticks to match team uniforms or personal style. Goalies often decorate their sticks with fun designs using colored tape.
During games, colored tape helps identify different player roles and positions. Blue for defense, red for offense – easy visual cues. Coaches also designate tape colors for different power play units.
So go ahead, get creative and make those sticks really stand out. Personalized tape jobs are all part of the hockey ritual and culture.
In summary, don’t underestimate the value of a simple role of hockey tape. It brings many subtle but significant benefits that improve protection, performance, and playability. Smart players make taping up with quality hockey tape part of their pre-game routine.
Protect Your Stick Blade
In hockey, players put a ton of wear and tear on their stick blades. All those shots, passes, pokes, and blocks add up. Mini fractures form, slowly spreading and weakening the blade’s structural integrity over time. It’s like a ticking time bomb waiting to shatter your blade into pieces.
Fortunately, quality hockey tape provides cheap “blade insurance” against these cracks and breaks. Simply wrapping tape around the bottom half of your blade keeps it playing like new for longer.
Here’s a closer look at how hockey tape protects your stick blade.
Absorbs Impact
The main way hockey tape protects blades is by absorbing impact. Modern sticks are made from advanced but fragile composite materials. They transfer energy amazingly but lack durability. Impacts that wood or aluminum could shrug off will seriously damage composites.
Each shot, pass, dump in, and blocked puck gradually takes a toll on composite blades. The tiny forces add up over time, creating an inevitable breaking point.
Hockey tape helps extend that breaking point by absorbing some of the impact. The tape’s cloth surface cushions the blade from direct contact. Less force travels into the fragile composite underneath, reducing the risk of fractures and chips.
Reduces Vibration
Hockey tape also safeguards your blade by reducing vibration. Vibrations within composites can gradually weaken and fracture the matrix of fibers and resins. This effect is called “material fatigue.”
When bare composite blades strike pucks and ice, it sends shockwaves of vibration through the shaft. After thousands of impacts, the amplified vibrations begin to break down blade fibers.
Proper taping dampens those harmful vibrations. Less vibration reaches the blade, meaning less weakening of the internal structure over time. The blade maintains its pop and performance for longer.
Seals Out Moisture
Water and composites don’t mix well. Hockey tape keeps your blade nice and dry during games. It creates a waterproof seal around the bottom edges of the blade face.
Without tape, melted ice would seep into the composite materials each shift. Soaked blades become warped and misshapen over time as the composites swell and break down.
The adhesive backing and tight weave of hockey tape prevents moisture from penetrating into the blade core. No water absorption equals no structural damage.
Stabilizes Existing Damage
Hockey tape can also stabilize existing chips and cracks in your blade. Fractures typically spread slowly across the face of the blade during use. But a fresh tape job isolates the damaged area and prevents growth.
Think of it as a cast or splint for your stick. The tight tape wraps immobilize the area, keep moisture out, and provide rigidity around cracks. It buys you more time to keep using your stick safely.
So next time you see cracks forming, don’t trash your blade just yet. Try wrapping over it tightly with fresh hockey tape first – it just might get you through the rest of the season.
As you can see, hockey tape provides crucial protection for fragile, expensive composite blades. Don’t take the risk of playing with a naked blade. Regularly taping up preserves performance and prevents costly stick replacements.
Improve Grip and Control
Having proper grip and control of your stick is absolutely vital in hockey. Without it, forget about stickhandling swiftly, passing crisply, or shooting accurately.
Luckily, a quality tape job gives you all the grip and control you need. The tacky, friction surface keeps the puck glued to your blade while handling. Let’s examine how hockey tape improves your grip game.
Enhanced Leverage
Tape gives you better leverage on your stick, allowing maximized power on shots. Without grip, your hands slide around, preventing optimal flex and energy transfer.
The cloth gives noticeable friction against gloves for a “locked in” feel. You can really lean into the stick, engaging the full flex profile. More flex equals more velocity rifling pucks top cheese.
Extra grip also lets you get more muscle behind passes. Sauce crisp tape-to-tape feeds to linemates even from awkward positions. Dialed-in leverage makes every pass a laser.
Superior Control
With enhanced leverage comes superior overall control. You dictate exactly where the puck goes thanks to a gripped-up stick.
Snipe top corners on nets at will. Zip passes through heavy traffic right to a teammate’s wheelhouse. Roof backhands top shelf where mama hides the cookies. The puck obeys your every command.
Having that grip and control breeds confidence with the puck on your stick. You feel capable of pulling off any maneuver or shot in your bag of tricks.
Quick Hands
Grip also enables quicker hands for flashy dekes and dangles. You can deftly manipulate the puck however you want in tight spaces.
Spin-o-ramas, between-the-legs moves, behind-the-backs – execute them all with ease thanks to a tacky taped grip. Dance around defenders as if your hands are Velcroed to the stick.
Let your creativity run wild in the O-zone, stickhandling defenders into pretzels. Even the goalie becomes helpless against your silky mitts.
Superior grip transforms you into a human highlight reel. When your hands feel at home, incredible things happen with the puck on your stick.
Don’t play with a slippery twig – get a quality tape job and unlock your true grip potential. Your hands will thank you, not to mention teammates receiving your crisp feeds!
Absorb Vibration and Shock
Hockey involves endless vibrations and impacts against sticks. All that shock can make your hands buzz and go numb during games. But hockey tape absorbs vibration to provide soothing comfort.
Here’s a closer look at how tape reduces unpleasant stick shock and stingers.
Cushions Impact
Composite sticks perfectly transfer energy from your hands into the puck. The downside is that energy also flows back into your hands with each impact, causing discomfort.
When bare sticks strike pucks or other sticks, it sends painful vibrations directly into the hands. But tape acts as a cushioning barrier to diffuse shock.
The cloth tape dampens impact before it reaches your skin. Less vibration makes its way into the sensitive nerves of your fingers and knuckles.
Prevents Stingers
This vibration absorption prevents temporary pain and numbness known as “stingers.” Ever finish a slapshot and have your hands buzzing and tingly? That’s a stinger.
Repeated impacts and vibration cause nerves to get overstimulated and stop firing properly. Your hands go partially numb until the nerves “reset.”
Quality tape reduces the intensity of stick vibrations to help avoid these bothersome stingers. You finish plays with responsive, pain-free hands.
Maintains Control
Another benefit of reduced vibration is maintained puck control. When your hands are rattled or numb after impact, controlling passes and shots becomes difficult.
But with hockey tape muting vibrations, you receive hard passes cleanly without the sting. You gather rebounds off pads without the awkward bobbles.
Your hands stay calm, allowing you to instantly cradle, shoot, or dish the puck after contact. Silky soft mitts require vibration-free hands!
Adds Extra Padding
Some players double up tape or add extra grip padding to further isolate vibrations.
Products like Lizard Skins provide a comfortable foam base layer. Tennis racquet tape also absorbs shock well before hockey tape goes overtop.
More layers means enhanced vibration damping for ultra-comfortable stick feel. Reduce shock and prevent painful stingers game after game.
Don’t let annoying vibrations throw off your hands. A grippy tape job keeps discomfort at bay and control at the forefront.
Customize Your Stick Feel
Every hockey player has unique preferences when it comes to the feel of their stick. Luckily, hockey tape allows full customization so your grip feels “just right.”
Let’s explore how tape lets you dial in your ideal specs.
Find Your Grip Size
Hockey tape allows you to wrap the shaft to your perfect thickness. Some players love a bulky, thick grip for maximum cushioning. Others prefer a thinner, tighter grip for optimal control.
Just add or reduce layers until you find the ideal grip girth. More wraps make it fatter, fewer makes it thinner. Play around until you settle on a size that feels best.
Finding your ideal grip width helps maximize both comfort and performance. Your hands feel right at home from the first faceoff.
Shape the Contour
Tape also enables shaping a personalized grip contour. Most build up layers evenly top-to-bottom for a consistent feel.
But you can also create unique grip shapes. Some players taper it thinner toward the top or bottom. Others shape personalized ridges or grooves in specific areas.
Shape it however you want – thick in the middle, thin on the ends, ridges for fingers – get creative! Custom contouring improves overall grip feel.
Dial in Texture
Don’t forget, tape comes in various fabric textures as well. Cloth, synthetic, silicone – each creates a different sensation against gloves.
Cloth offers soft, tacky grip at the cost of durability. Synthetic mixes grip with cut-resistance. Silicone provides moisture-resistant tackiness.
Dial in the exact texture you want in a grip. One isn’t necessarily better than the others. It comes down to personal preference!
Finding tape with that “just right” blend of cushion, grip, and texture unlocks a whole new level of stickhandling confidence.
In hockey, comfort breeds confidence. Don’t settle for an “okay” feeling grip. Use tape to customize the exact stick feel you need to perform at your best!
Prolong Stick Life
Composite hockey sticks don’t come cheap these days. So making your sticks last is smart money management. Regular taping is an easy way to extend the lifespan of your twig.
Here’s how tape adds weeks or months of extra life to your stick.
Protects Graphics
Friction gradually wears down those flashy graphics and materials on composite shafts. As you play, gloves slowly grind away the decals, paints, and epoxy coatings.
But hockey tape forms a replaceable barrier that takes the brunt of this abrasion. Simply re-taping often saves the shaft surface underneath from degrading quickly.
Fresh tape gives the graphics lasting protection shift after shift. Your stick constantly looks and feels brand new.
Reduces Chip Damage
Hockey tape also protects your shaft from chipping. Chips commonly develop along the lower section where contact happens frequently.
These small damages then spread wider and deeper over time. Composite chips accelerate fracture growth like cracks in a car’s windshield.
Tape applied over chips halts this spread in its tracks. It stabilizes the area and prevents moisture intrusion. Just a quick re-tape can add weeks of life to your stick.
Fixes Minor Cracks
Speaking of cracks, tape can also repair fractures and splits temporarily. It essentially casts or splints the cracked region to stop growth.
Unchecked fractures quickly spread until the stick snaps under game forces. But wrapping tightly over cracks buys you more time to keep using the twig safely.
Tape transforms tiny fractures from a pressing issue into just a cosmetic nuisance. Don’t toss lightly cracked sticks – tape ’em up!
Why keep buying brand new composites when hockey tape lets you milk months of extra time out of your current sticks? Protect your investment with a quality tape job!
Change Color and Style
One fun perk of hockey tape is the ability to customize your sticks with different colors and patterns. Show off your style or match team uniforms – the options are endless!
Here are some ways to get creative with colored tape.
Match Team Colors
Many players use team colors to tape uniform sticks. Wrap the shaft and blade in your team’s exact hues and logos.
Red shaft and black blade for the Chicago Blackhawks. Yellow field with a green shamrock for the Boston Bruins. Show pride in your organization with proper color-coding.
Coaches often mandate stick taping colors too. Use tape to quickly ID player positions, units, or sides during games and practice.
Custom Team Designs
Take it a step further by taping unique team designs. Create stripes, color fades, or logos up and down the shaft and blade.
Get creative with colors – multiple shades of red and blue for the Maple Leafs, neon green and black for the Wild. The possibilities are endless.
Custom designs intimidate opponents and look slick. Show you mean business when stepping on the ice!
Personal Style Choices
Of course, many players prefer expressing themselves with custom tape jobs. Flashy colors, spirals, zig-zags – go wild.
Some create their own “brand” or signature style. NHLers like Alex Ovechkin and P.K Subban rock unique looks every game.
Colored tape lets you put your own spin on sticks. Show off your personality on the ice!
So don’t settle for boring – take advantage of colored hockey tape. Give your twig some flair whether representing your team or showing individuality!
Fix Cracks and Chips
Uh oh, a crack has started spreading in your stick blade. Before you trash it, try using hockey tape for an emergency fix!
Tape can temporarily patch over cracks and chips to stabilize damage and prolong your stick’s life.
Contains Existing Damage
Once a fracture forms, it slowly spreads across your blade like a crack in a car’s windshield. Small cracks become big breaks in no time.
But tightly wrapping new hockey tape over the damaged spot effectively “contains” it. The tape binds the area to isolate it from further wear and tear.
This prevents the crack from widening while you play. It keeps the fractured chunk held firmly together instead of splitting apart.
Adds Rigidity and Support
Fresh tape also adds rigidity to cracked areas, splinting them to prevent growth. The adhesive backing essentially casts the damaged spot.
This stabilizing effect keeps the crack from worsening and lets you safely keep using the blade. It becomes a purely cosmetic nuisance rather than a performance issue.
Blocks Moisture
Equally important – tape keeps water from seeping into cracks and compromising the composite stick materials.
Moisture ingress causes the crack to spread quickly as materials swell and break down. But tape forms a waterproof seal to maintain integrity.
So next time you chip or crack a blade, don’t chuck it just yet. Reinforce with fresh tape – you may squeeze out a few more games!
Prevent Blisters on Hands
Trying to play through painful blisters and raw spots on your hands is no fun. Luckily, a quality tape job prevents this irritation from happening.
Let’s look at how hockey tape saves your hands.
Soft Fabric Coating
Blisters commonly form from the friction of bare composite shafts rubbing against hands and gloves. The plastic resin coating causes irritation over time.
But taping over with a soft cloth hockey tape provides a gentler grip texture. The cotton weave lets hands glide smoothly up and down the shaft without grabbing skin.
The fabric coating essentially eliminates the abrasiveness of composites. No more post-game blisters and raw spots!
Absorbs Perspiration
Hockey tape also absorbs sweat and moisture from hands to prevent chafed blisters. As we perspire under gloves, wetness makes the skin weaker and more prone to damage.
The cloth tape actively wicks moisture away from bare skin, keeping hands dry and irritation-free. Less moisture buildup means less potential for painful blistering.
Increases Grip
Additionally, tape’s tacky grip keeps gloves locked into position better. Less slipping around inside gloves equals less potential for hand rubbing and hot spots.
Grip tape reduces the need to constantly readjust gloves mid-game. And less movement against hands means less chances for blister-causing irritation.
Don’t risk bloody palms – a simple strip of hockey tape creates a frictionless, breathable grip for silky smooth hands.
Add Extra Padding
Some players like to double up on grip padding under their tape jobs. Extra cushioning can make sticks more comfortable while reducing vibration.
Here are some ways to add padding beneath hockey tape.
Tennis Racquet Tape
Tennis racquet grip tape works great as a grip padding layer. Tennis players wrap the absorbent, cushiony tape to absorb sweat and shock.
Apply directly to your hockey stick shaft before putting hockey tape over it. The spongy tennis tape absorbs vibrations and stick shock for a more dampened feel.
Rubber Tape
Rubber tape made for racquet grips also adds vibration absorption. It creates a thick, deformable barrier that isolates impact forces.
Built-up rubber tape layers make for an ultra-cushy grip under hockey tape. It really quiets the sting of hard slapshots off the shaft.
Specialized Grips
There are also specific grip padding products made for hockey sticks, like Lizard Skins. These woven, rubberized grips wrap directly onto shafts.
The grippy, foam-like material absorbs tons of vibrations before hockey tape goes over. They provide noticeably sleeker stick feel and feedback.
Consider trying extra under-tape padding if you want maximum vibration damping and stick comfort during play.
Reduce Slippage of Gloves
Having your gloves constantly slip and slide up and down your stick grip is annoying and hazardous. Quality hockey tape creates a “sticky” surface that keeps gloves locked in place.
Let’s look at how tape reduces glove slippage.
Creates Friction Against Gloves
Bare composite shaft surfaces tend to let gloves slide around easily. But hockey tape provides noticeably more grip and friction.
The cloth fabric gives a slightly “tacky” feel against gloves for enhanced traction. Gloves basically stay Velcroed in place as you move hands up and down.
Less slick surface means less need to constantly readjust your grip. Gloves stay firmly gripped to the stick during play.
Absorbs Moisture
Tape also helps absorb sweat and moisture from hands that makes gloves slippery. Wet gloves glide against slick shafts.
But the absorbent cotton of hockey tape wicks away perspiration. By keeping gloves and hands drier, it prevents sliding around in your grip.
Improves Control
Reduced slippage translates directly into improved puck control and stickhandling. Gloves staying in place allows maximized leverage and dexterity.
You don’t have to worry about gloves suddenly sliding mid-shot or pass. Stable glove positioning breeds confidence carrying the puck.
Don’t let loose gloves hinder your game. Quality hockey tape keeps everything locked and loaded exactly where you need it!
Maintain Proper Blade Curve
A hockey stick’s blade curve is crucial for shot precision and puck handling. Tape helps maintain the optimal shape over time.
Here’s how tape preserves your blade’s accuracy-boosting curve.
Minimizes “Deadening Effect”
Repeated impacts slowly flatten and deform bare stick blades over time, degrading the curve. Players call this the “deadening effect.”
Shots lose zip and accuracy as the curve flattens out. Passes bobble off the heel more often. Performance suffers.
But hockey tape reinforces optimal curve shape after each use. The stiffness of fresh tape forces the blade to rebound back to its natural curved state.
Reduces Vibrations
Tape also reduces blade vibrations that contribute to deadening. Less blade vibration equals less degradation of the integral curve.
Think of it like memory foam – the tape absorbs shocks rather than transmitting them directly into the blade material.
Protects Integrity
In general, tape preserves the structural integrity of composite sticks better. Protecting the overall shape ensures the engineered curve stays intact.
Less cracks, chips, and material breakdown means the precision curve geometry remains factory-fresh for longer.
Maintain pinpoint passing and sniping with simple re-tapings. Don’t settle for deadened shots from a flattened curve!
Where to Buy Quality Hockey Tape
Now that you know the many benefits of hockey tape, it’s time to get some for your stick! But not all tapes are created equal. Here’s what to look for when buying:
Cloth or Synthetic Fabrics
For best results, choose a cloth or synthetic hockey-specific tape. Tapes made using cotton, polyester, or fiberglass fabrics resist wear while providing grip.
Avoid generic plastic tapes like duct tape or masking tape – they don’t withstand hockey forces or enhance grip like cloth.
Rubber-Based Adhesive
The adhesive coating on the tape should be rubber-based. Rubber adhesives bond well to sticks and withstand moisture while retaining tackiness.
Steer clear of acrylic/superglue adhesives that get brittle when dry. Hockey tape needs to flex and stick throughout play.
Major Hockey Brands
Trust major hockey companies like Renfrew, Howies, and Grip for reliable, high-performance tape. They engineer tape specifically for hockey needs.
Lesser known generic brands often cut corners in materials and adhesives. Brand reputation matters.
Specialty Hockey Retailers
Your best bet is buying from specialty hockey retailers online or in person. Stores like Pure Hockey and Hockey Monkey cater specifically to player needs.
Big box stores may lack specialized hockey knowledge or fresh inventory. Go through hockey-focused vendors.
Keep these tips in mind when buying your next tape. Quality tape leads to better performance on the ice!