Method and apparatus for custom fitting a hockey stick and other sports equipment

Abstract

A hockey stick is generally formed of a shaft and a blade. The shaft is hollow throughout and supports a grip area at one end and a blade at the opposite end. The shaft handle includes a grip and the blade includes a hosel at the opposite end. Similarly, the blade has a heel at one end and a toe at the opposite end. The blade edge profile is flat and provides full contact along the playing surface at all distances from the body of the player. When the player moves the stick forward or backward along the surface, the blade will maintain full horizontal contact with the playing surface. Increasing the surface area of the blade on the puck benefits the player's puck handling skills, providing better puck control, increasing shooting and scoring opportunities, and providing a learning tool to aid in the development of the player. The blade generally wears along the length of the edge between the heel and the toe.

Description

RELATED CASES [0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application No. Des. 29 / 185,853 filed on Jul. 3, 2003 and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 371,032 filed on Feb. 20, 2003 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 309,839, filed on Dec. 4, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,078 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 819,843 filed on Apr. 7, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,957 which is a division of U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,078, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present invention relates to a flat profile, lie specific hockey blade and a method for custom fitting a flat profile, lie specific hockey blade to an individual. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Commercial hockey sticks generally have a fixed straight shaft and a blade having a fixed lie, loft and curvature. The blade is formed with a universal lie angle and a rocker bottom. A manufacturer essentially s...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] The blade edge profile is flat and provides substantially full contact along the playing surface at all distances from the body of the player. In contrast to the prior art, the blade edge rests on the surface between the heel and the toe. Therefore, when the player moves the stick forward or backward along the surface, the blade will maintain substantially full horizontal contact with the playing surface. Increasing the surface area of the blade on the puck benefits the player's puck handling skills, providing better puck control, increasing shooting and scoring opportunities, and providing a learning tool to aid in the development of the player. The blade generally wears along the length of the edge between the heel and the toe.

[0019] The lie angle of the blade may be adjusted after each trial skate to achieve maximum blade contact with the surface thereby increasing puck control and shooting of the individual player.

Problems solved by technology

When a player with a prior art hockey stick rests the blade edge on the surface, the blade edge pivots about the heel area causing the blade to wear along the heel.

Adjusting the hockey stick to fit the individual player is limited to cutting the length of the shaft to a more appropriate length.

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