The Wind Up   The wind up that is so iconic and associated with the slapshot is where the shooter brings their stick back and up above the shoulder.  When the arm holding the center of the shaft at 2 below stick is completely straight and the blade (1) of the stick is at its highest point.  From this point the stick has the highest potential energy.  As the stick descends accelerated not only by gravity but also by the strength of the player it converts the potential energy to kinetic energy.   Remember that during all of this the player is also skating forward relative to the spectators but relative to the puck he is stationary.  The amount of force put into the shot is not just from gravity and arm strength but also from the shifting of weight into mechanical energy.  So how fast does a hockey stick have to swing to reach the  velocity necessary to accelerate a hockey puck 100+ mph (160+ kph)? For this equation we will use Zdeno Chara's 108.8 mph (48.6 m/s) record shot for the equations. In order to do this we must first make a few assumptions. No friction in contact with the ice or the puck. None of the velocity of the swing is lost in the         bowing of the stick. The puck starts form a velocity of zero. Official NHL regulation pucks are 6 oz. (0.17 kg). The length of the hockey stick for someone the size of Zdeno Chara at 6'9" (2.06m) is roughly 6'6" or 2 meters. The puck and stick are only in contact with each other for 0.03s. To find the speed at which the stick swings we must first solve the impulse of force exerted on the puck: From this we can solve for the speed in radians per second: The Slapshot  The "Slap" The Follow Through Why Pucks Fly Bibliography