Stick Blade Tape

You always start on the back of the blade, as it'll be less likely to roll up once hit with a puck. You should always start at the heel and go to the toe, too, as supposedly it's less "drag" on the ice in the natural shooting technique. Otherwise, how closely you put the strands is completely up to you. Personally, once I went to my "inline" tape job, I haven't done an ice tape job since. Basically the inline way is to just put three strands of tape horizontally on the front of the blade and 1-3 strands on the back. Nothing on the bottom, as it creates drag that you might not want since you'll want to move your blade as quickly as possible.

BladeTape

Originally Posted by ItechWarrior

BladeTape

@Itech Maybe I'll try those out on my second stick. I didn't tape it up because breaking sticks are very rare in this league, so I wasn't worried about taping it up as a back up just yet.

Thanks for your help guys! Before I saw these responses I saw a video on how Lalime tapes his sticks, and I did it similar to his. After trying this way out on Wednesday, I'll try out the inline way next and figure out which way I prefer it. @Synesthe do you put the 3 strands on the front, low near the bottom or midway up? And do you use the thick strips of tape or thin?

Here's a picture: (top stick, though it's after a few games of use)



Right after this photo I retaped my other sticks to match the inline way. All that tape just seems too heavy to me, for whatever reason. Got used to the inline tape job years ago and just can't turn back. Not to mention there's really very little reason to have so much tape on your goalie stick. I play the puck quite often, and the inline job does its job just as well, and doesn't create drag and is lighter than the traditional way.

Totally agree with Itech - Blade Tape. I ran a piece of their grip tape along the bottom then blade tape front and back. They were running a special of misprints for $7.00 a set. I found it lasts longer than advertised.

If you just use blade tape, or Syns method dont you find that the edges break and splinter quicker and easier than if they were taped? I used a layer of vinyl on the bottom edge of my stick to try and help drag

Nope, not at all. Seems to be about the same, really. I mean, you're on ice, so the only way it's going to splinter is if it's hit by a puck, which it'll do either way. A little tape isn't really going to protect your stick that much better than nothing at all. You'd really have to put a few layers on to get any real level of protection, and at that point it's prohibitive due to weight.

Originally Posted by synesthete

You'd really have to put a few layers on to get any real level of protection.

Have you seen my tape job? lol