A good composite stick is a serious purchase \u2013 and a piece of equipment that works on wet, often sand-dressed surfaces and in contact with a hard ball. The good news: a few simple habits are enough to make it last longer and keep its properties. Here is our guide to care and storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hockey pitches come as non-filled, sand-dressed or sand-filled surfaces, and sand works on a stick like sandpaper. After training, remove sand and any other debris from that particular pitch from the head: wipe the stick with a damp cloth \u2013 especially the head and the lower part of the shaft \u2013 and dry it off. While you are at it, glance at the head: light scuffs are normal marks of play, but deeper chips are worth keeping an eye on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The grip is the only point of contact between your hands and the stick. A slippery or worn-through grip ruins ball feel and forces a tighter hold. There is no fixed replacement interval \u2013 wear depends on the product, moisture, your hold and how often you train. Replace the grip when you notice the signs: slipping, fraying, peeling or a loss of comfort. You can choose between chamois grips, which also work well with sweaty hands, and synthetic PU ones. Wrap from the bottom of the shaft upwards, with light tension and a small overlap \u2013 following the grip manufacturer's instructions. All our grips and tapes are in one category: Grips & Tapes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bottom edge of the head \u2013 the part that rubs against the surface most \u2013 can be protected with stick tape. It is a cheap way to let a replaceable layer take some of the abrasion: the tape wears out, the stick stays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Composite \u2013 fibreglass, carbon or aramid, which we covered in our post on stick materials<\/a> \u2013 does not like extreme temperatures. Avoid storing the stick for long in a hot car in summer or in freezing conditions in winter; follow the manufacturer's temperature ranges and recommendations. Store the stick in a dry place at room temperature: a room, a hallway, a locker at the club. Do not leave it in the boot overnight, do not lean it against a radiator and do not dry it on a heater. In transport, extra protection comes from a stick sleeve or a stick bag<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three signals: a lengthwise crack in the shaft or head, a clear change of sound on impact (a dull, \u201chollow\u201d noise) and a loss of stiffness \u2013 the ball stops \u201ccoming off\u201d the hit the way it used to. If that sounds familiar, have a look at our range of Hockey Sticks<\/a>. Our guide will help you choose a new model: how to choose a stick<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Got a question about a specific model or a small chip on the head? Email us at sklep@fieldhockeyzone.com \u2013 we will tell you whether tape is enough or it is time for a new stick.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How to clean your stick after training, when to replace the grip, how to store a composite stick and how to tell it is time for a new one.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poradniki"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fhz.idea4me.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tape on the head<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Storage: enemy number one is the car boot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What not to do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When the stick is due for replacement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n