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| Basic Tips on How to Choose and Maintain a Lacrosse Stick |
A lacrosse stick is comprised of a shaft, head and a pocket.
The head is where you pass and catch. There are many choices out there for heads and they vary from design and price.
The pocket can either be traditional (leathers) or mesh. Lighthouse Lacrosse recommends Hard Mesh for its consistency and low maintenience. Traditional (leathers) require constant maintenance and will inconsistent stick depending on the weather. The leathers will also break and restringing is a nightmare.
The shaft or handle, is usually made of aluminum, but can be also be wood, titanium, scandium, or any other composite.
Most shafts are made of aluminum. With the advent of Titanium the shafts became lighter and stronger. They also became very expensive.
Beginning players should use an aluminum shaft until they are proficient and know they will stay with the sport. An aluminum shaft will cost $20 or so.
Many of these companies also make pads, gloves, etc..
STX – Gloves, shoulder pad, arm pads, rib pads
Brine – Helmets, Gloves, shoulder pads, arm pads, rib pads
Warrior – Helmets, Gloves, shoulder pads, arm pads, rib pads
DeBeer – Gait helmets, Gloves, shoulder pads, arm pads, rib pads.
Harrow – Gloves, shoulder pads, arm pads, rib pads
Cascade – Helmets (the top seller)
Riddell/Onyx – Helmets
We have had many parents buy kids sticks that the player was not ready to use. Many of the highly advertised sticks have features like “pinched” that will not help your son get better it may actually make it harder to catch the ball.
Your son can’t pass or shoot unless he is able to catch the ball or pick it up off the ground. Some of the newer more expensive sticks are designed for players at a very high level. Just because Casey Powell may play with a certain stick does not mean it is the best one for your son.
THE POCKET
The depth of the pocket has a lot to do with how well you can pass, catch and shoot.
DEEP POCKET
GOOD – better ball retention, easier to cradle and make stick fakes.
BAD – more whip and harder to throw accurate passes. Forces inexperienced player to push to pass rather than push pull (the normal throwing motion). Passes and shots will go low and/or into the ground
SHALLOW POCKET
GOOD – Very quick release when passing or shooting. More consistent with aim.
BAD – Harder to cradle, ball may drop out of stick. Can’t shoot as hard as you need to release ball quicker and stick is harder to handle.
It is very important that you get your stick strung so you are comfortable with the pocket. Too often we see a new player that is playing with a stick strung too tightly and they struggle or strung too loose and they keep throwing or shooting into the ground.
SOMETHING IN BETWEEN A DEEP OR SHALLOW POCKET IS GOOD.
Reprinted from LighthouseLacrosse.com
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