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Dynamic strain profile of the ice hockey stick: comparisons of player calibre and stick shaft stiffness

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Abstract

The goal of this research was to develop a method to quantify the dynamic strain profile (DSP) of an ice hockey stick shaft and assess the potential influence of player skill and stick shaft stiffness on DSP during slap (SS) and wrist shots (WS). Seventeen adult males performed shots with two different stick stiffness’ on synthetic ice. Subjects were subdivided as high (HC) and low calibre (LC). Dependent measures included strain measures from five strain gauge pairs along the shaft length recorded at 10 kHz. In general, this approach was sufficiently sensitive to clearly distinguish between shot types (strains SS > WS), player calibre (strains HC > LC) and stick models (strain flex77 > flex102) as well as to identify within stick deflection differences along the shaft. This strain based analysis has a time and spatial resolution undetected by common motion capture based systems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Bauer Hockey Corp. for providing hockey sticks and funding for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Education and Kinesiology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    A. Hannon, Y. Michaud-Paquette, D. J. Pearsall & R. A. Turcotte

Authors
  1. A. Hannon
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  2. Y. Michaud-Paquette
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  3. D. J. Pearsall
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  4. R. A. Turcotte
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Correspondence to A. Hannon.

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Hannon, A., Michaud-Paquette, Y., Pearsall, D.J. et al. Dynamic strain profile of the ice hockey stick: comparisons of player calibre and stick shaft stiffness. Sports Eng 14, 57–65 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-011-0072-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-011-0072-5

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