Hands on the stick

So, this is the boring part, but we need to go over it. Where do we put our hands on the stick? In the men’s game, players learn to place their upper hand on the stick so that the butt or bottom hand hits their elbow. They do this so that they can snap their bottom hand in the area in front of their chest as they point their stick at their target.

The same can be said for the girls game. Just like the men’s game, the grip is with the bottom hand. How many times have you seen a player run along the field with the stick in one hand to avoid defenders.

The bottom hand on your stick is the dominant control. The upper hand must remain adjustable so that it can slide up and down the shaft for tight cradles and shots as needed.

Upper Hand Grip:
When players grip with the upper hand, there are two styles: block and taper. The block look is when the player grips with the fingers and thumb square on the stick. The difficulty with this grip is that it does not allow the wrist to rotate fully and the stick to extend over the wrist. The taper grip looks a little like a golf grip. The hand is tilted up so that the shaft sits along a line from the bottom of the palm to the first finger knuckle of the hand. This grip allows the fingers to give greater flexibility and rotation. The thumb rests along the side of the shaft and not over it. To find the best grip, put the upper hand on the shaft and rotate the stick so the head is down by your ankle and the butt is up by the waist behind your arm. The fingers will fit on the stick at a tapered angle.

This is how it looks for the women’s game:

Note, in the quote above, moving the ball with a quicker, faster release.

Chicken Wings:

Lots of times players will use their shoulders and arms to throw the ball. When doing this, they let their upper arm’s elbow set up behind their shoulders and push the stick like one pushes an obstacle. This reduces the effectiveness of the pass/shot because all of the energy is coming from the shoulder and not from the longer arm muscles. When setting up for a pass/shot, the elbow should be parallel to and never behind the shoulder. The way to think about it is the upper hand leans away from the target like the pitcher in a baseball game and then rolls forward with the shot.

Elbows hanging out leave the head of the stick vulnerable to checks.

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