The Best Hockey Sticks For Attackers
Scoring goals is both the hardest and the most fun things to do in hockey. Hockey is a fast paced, intense invasion game where goals can be scored from anywhere at anytime (in the D of course).
The position that tends to get the most opportunities for this are attackers, also known as forwards. Attackers spend a lot of their time in the D and usually get plenty of opportunities to score goals. So, if you’re reading this we’re guessing you are one of those players…. If so you’re in the right place for some expert advice on which hockey sticks would be best for you!
We’ve come up with some of the most common “types” of attackers we could think of… see if any of them sound like you!
The Big Hitter
Do you hit the ball a lot? If so, a high carbon hockey stick is definitely on the cards.
The benefits of a high carbon hockey stick is that you will have higher powered shots with less vibration, meaning you will be getting maximum power from your shooting.
The potential downside to these sticks can be that your first touch could suffer due to high carbon sticks being slightly more “rebounding”.
A great option for a high carbon hockey stick would be a Mercian Elite CKF90 Ultimate Hockey Stick or an adidas Fabela Kromaskin .1 Hockey Stick
The Goal Poacher
There’s always one of the attackers who is always near the goalkeeper getting those scrappy goals!
If deflections and flicking are more your style then you may wish to look at a slightly lower carbon stick but with a later bow. If you are the type of player who enjoys using their 3D skills and flicks the ball a lot then the late bow sticks will certainly help you with getting the ball in their air with ease.
We would recommend taking a look at the Y1 YLB90 as this stick has a late bow but not super high carbon content meaning you get the 3D ease but not too much bounce on your first touch.
The Specialist
For the flicking specialists out there that really pride themselves on their Penalty Corner skills such as drag flicking, there are also specialist stick designs from numerous brands such as Adidas, Y1 and Grays.
These sticks have specific concave designs featuring very late bows to make it as easy as possible to generate as much power through your drag flicks.
You do need to bear in mind with sticks such as these it can be more difficult to control the ball whilst performing other skills due to their super late concave bows. A great example of a specialist stick is the TK 1.2 Hockey Stick or the Mercian Elite CKF90 Ultimate Hockey Stick
The Dribbler
If ball carrying and elimination is more your thing, then having a slightly straighter stick could be higher on your priority list.
Hockey sticks used to be a lot straighter than they are nowadays. However every brand will have mid-bow hockey sticks in their range and is still one of the most popular bows on the market.
With a mid-bow stick comes brilliant consistency, both in dribbling and in hitting the ball. If ball carry is a big part of your game then a mid-bow stick will be a brilliant decision. Here are a selection of excellent mid-bow hockey sticks we would highly recommend:
Mercian Evolution CKF85 Mid Hockey Stick
Osaka Mid Bow 40 Pink Hockey Stick
TK 2.1 Control Bow Hockey Stick Black/Blue
Ultimately when it comes to picking a field hockey stick, we would always recommend coming in store to try out all the sticks in person, as it will give you 100% confidence you have got the right stick for you. We have our 200sqm hitting area here for you to do exactly that, but if you’re unable to reach us in store, we’re always a phone call away or you can message us on all social media accounts for some extra advice!
If you are interested in learning a new goal scoring skill, have a look at our video below from Scottish international hockey player, Kerry-Anne Hastings, for a step by step of a backhand shot.
