The Truth About Hockey Stick Flex

Most hockey players believe that if you cut your hockey stick it will become stiffer and thus avoid buying extended length pro stock sticks, fearing that their 85 flex stick will feel like 100 flex when cut down.

This belief stems from brands indicating, on the back of retail sticks, how the flex would feel like when cut down. Even though this method was well-intentioned, it led to hockey players misunderstanding the relationship between the length and flex of a stick. While it is true that cutting a stick will make it feel stiffer, it is also true that increasing its length will make it feel more flexible.

That’s right! Flex is only a matter of leverage. A shorter stick means that there is less distance between hands, thus less leverage, so the stick feels harder to flex. A longer stick means that there is further distance between hands, thus more leverage, so the stick feels easier to flex.

As the flex rating on pro stock sticks is based on where the retail length is, an extended 72” 85 flex stick will feel a lot more flexible than a standard 66” 85 flex stick even if they both are 85 flex. If cut down by 6”, the extended stick would feel the same as the standard 66” stick, regardless of whether one was cut down and the other wasn't. In fact, all sticks of the same flex and length will feel identical no matter by how much they were cut down. What matters is the stick’s final length, not the amount it was shortened.

The key takeaway here is that when shopping for your next hockey stick, you shouldn't hesitate to buy an extended length out of concern that it will feel too stiff when cut down. It will feel the same as any other stick of the same flex and length even if the extended length stick needs to be shortened.