The Science Behind the Slapshot

Many aspects of the game have to deal with science, but in particular shooting the puck. Whether it is a snap shot, also called a wrist shot or a slap shot they both deal with the nature of science. The hockey puck is the fastest object in the sports nation, because of the amount of force that is put into every shot. If the puck is hit at the right spot and has enough force behind it, the puck can go up to 100mph or more. But it also depends on how strong the player is and the amount of power the player puts into their shot. A slap shot that goes a 100mph or more requires technique, stature, and power that is transferred from the player to the puck. The weight transfer comes from the back of the skaters legs, travels through to the stick in the players hands. As the game has developed over the years, so have the sticks, from wooden to fiber glass. With wooden sticks it was hard to get a hard shot off without your stick breaking, but with the new light weight fiber glass sticks that weigh little to nothing makes it a lot easier to get a hard shot off.

            For example Boston Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara, a 6’9, 255 pounder has won the hardest shot competition numerous times with shots going 105.4, 105.9, and this season’s new record of 108.9mph. When Chara took that 108.9mph shot his stick did break. If a shot that hard struck a person it could easily break or shatter bones or can result in death. The speed of the puck happens when the player strikes his stick violently on the ice right behind the puck, and uses his weight to bend the stick and energy is stored. Then the kinetic energy of the puck after impact is equal to the amount of energy that was stored in the stick. An advantage of the energy storing in the stick is that it strikes the puck faster than the player can which causes the puck to go faster.

            So without science, really no sports could be played because every sport has science in it.  There are so many aspects in hockey that have to deal with hockey like, skating, the puck, the stick, and goaltending. There’s a lot of things that have to go into these things to, power, technique, stature, balance. So the next time you grab a stick and wonder what goes into getting that hard, fast shot it all comes from the amount of force you put into it.