A player’s stick is often considered his most personal piece of equipment. Adding your choice of hockey tape to your stick makes it uniquely yours. Taping a stick should be done with cloth hockey tape.

Taping a stick can help:

• Offer better control of the puck whilst stick handling
• Prevents your hands from slipping off the stick
• Allows for a better grip when shooting, stick handling or checking.

The reason the blade is taped is to both protect the stick as much as reasonable can, but more importantly help cushion the puck and keep it on the blade while handling the puck. Some players prefer to use white tape on their blade as they believe it helps them see the puck better. Other players prefer black tape in an attempt to try to hide the puck from their opponents. Players should stay with either white or black tape for their blade. We recommend this as there are increasingly more and more colours becoming available, although there is nothing wrong with the coloured tape itself, Black and white tape are considered the best. 

The handle should also be taped to provide a better grip, creating a knob of tape at the end that will keep the hand from slipping off the end of the shaft. It also makes it easier to pick up the stick when dropped on the ice. The use of colour here is strictly a personal preference.

Some players like to tape down the shaft where they place their lower hand. Tape on the middle of the shaft can interfere with sliding the down hand up and down and should be used only if gripping is a problem.

Key Points:

• Pick colours that you like or mix them to make it more personal. If your stick is in a big pile of sticks, your taping choice can help you quickly identify your stick.
• Take care of your stick and it will take care of you.