Hockey sticks have gone through some major technological changes in recent years. From the move from wood to composite, from two-piece to one-piece, hockey sticks have reached the furthest bounds of modern technology. That is, until now.
Recently, Elevate Hockey, a Minnesota-based hockey company, has reinvented the modern hockey stick as we know it, changing what we thought we knew about stick technology.
Going crooked
While we had thought we already knew what made up the best ice hockey sticks on the market, Andy Oman, owner and CEO of Elevate Hockey, has revealed the next revolution in stick technology: a crooked stick.
The stick is still in development and is currently only a prototype, but the design is locked in. The stick will be curved on both axes of the stick, giving the stick a crooked, rather than a straight appearance. The hope is that with this new shape, there will be more velocity, improved accuracy, and you will experience a quicker release with the new Elevate stick.
It’s about leverage
The point of having a curved stick is that there is the potential for better leverage. Having a curved stick could allow for a quicker release as well as improving a player’s overall accuracy.
Oman has been working with physicists as well as designers with more than 20 years of hockey stick design to improve the leverage of the stick, trying to achieve the perfect shape. Because it is a revolutionary shape, however, it is not something that would be able to be worked out right away.
Reactions
No one likes changes and the hockey world is no different. The idea of going against the norm has not been welcomed with open arms and reactions have been generally mixed. With the idea of a curved stick instead of a straight one, and that the stick is still in development, this new stick is not being adopted easily.
Recent surveys showed that 28 out of 30 tested players stated the Elevate stick had better performance than their current sticks. This means, once the stick has been held by a player, it will have a better chance of being adopted by the player in the future.
The future
The future of the Elevate stick remains unknown at this point. Since the stick is not in full production at this time, the company is still looking for investors to help not only build the sticks, but promote the sticks. There is a Kickstarter campaign running to help with funding.
Yet, the biggest challenge that Elevate Hockey will face in the future is not necessary in the funding, but instead in the ability to convince players that they need to adopt the stick. The stick would also have to be approved by the NHL for use since it has a different design than the current standard.
Change in any sport is not something that can happen easily or overnight. But if the Elevate stick is as impressive as it seems like it might be, showing players what they could get from the stick might be enough to get the stick in the right hands to get the company off the ground.
Technology is always on the move. With the Elevate stick, this technology might change how we play hockey in the future.
Leave a Comment