Coach Edwards shares advice with a women’s lacrosse goalie on how she can alter her stick. He describes the trade-offs involved in changing the pocket of the lacrosse stick and critiques the pictures of the goalie’s Eclipse stick to help her change it to suit her clearing and passing needs. Coach Edwards also shares a tip on how goalies can buffer the ball and describes his preferences when it  comes to lacrosse goalie stick brands.

1:03 – Coach Edwards shares his choice lacrosse sticks.
1:30 – Why many female goalies benefit from the Eclipse.
2:00 – The good and the bad about the Nemesis.
2:22 – A critique of a lacrosse goalie’s stick and how to improve it.
3:06 – A small trick that will help goalies buffer the ball.
4:06 – A small sample of what Lacrosse Goalie University has to offer.
4:34 – There are trade-offs when you alter your stick’s pocket.

Introduction

Hey guys, Coach Edwards here with LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com, and this week I’ve got a great question from Lauren. It says,

Hey Coach Edwards,

My name is Lauren, and let me just start off by saying I have just found your website today and I have already learned so much, from fixing my stance to finding out how deep a goalie pocket should be. I’m in 10th grade and I’m a goalie, and I’ve only been playing lacrosse for about three years now, so I’m not an expert. I was wondering what kind of mesh and stringing would be the best to use with my stick. I recently got a brand new stick with hard mesh with a really shallow pocket to help me clear, because I’m a smaller person, but sometimes when I make saves in games in practice the ball bounces out. I don’t want to make the pocket deeper because I know that will affect my clearing, so I was hoping you could tell me what to do.

Lauren in Long Island

I’ve gotten a big following in Long Island lately, this is pretty sweet.

Coach Edward’s Choice Lacrosse Sticks

So Lauren from Long Island, I just wanted everybody to know Lauren sent me some photos and I will post them below this video and you’ll see what her stick looks like. There’s a couple of things there. She’s using an STX Eclipse, which I’m a big fan of. I like the Eclipse. I like the Nemesis. Under Armour this year, the World Lacrosse Championships had a really good-looking head, I have not used it.

The Eclipse Is A Great Stick For Women’s Lacrosse Goalies

I’m a fan of the Eclipse, especially for girls. There’s no flare to the sidewalls, they don’t taper in in the back. They go kind of straight back. What ends up happening is that gives a little bit of a wider pocket, so when that pocket is shallow it allows more of a length to the stick so the ball can work its way up the pocket. That helps for a nice, easier clear, especially with a shallower pocket and tighter shooting strings.

The Pros And Cons Of The Nemesis Stick

The Nemesis, because the sidewalls taper in, gives a little bit of a solid pocket. You can string up a Nemesis and pretty much use it right away, it’s got a fantastic pocket, but it is a little deep and you need to be a little bit stronger to be able to use that effectively.

Critique of Lauren’s Lacrosse Stick

You’ll see in Lauren’s photo – I don’t mind the string job here. It’s pretty solid. It’s pretty crafty with those extra sidewall lacings, which I don’t mind, but it is quite shallow, Lauren. So what I’m going to tell you is I know you don’t want to give up clearing ability, but that pocket is so shallow that I think that you can probably move that bottom string at the throat at least two diamonds, maybe even three diamonds down. You’re going to have to do some adjusting with the shooting strings and with your sidewall lacing so that you can still have the same type of release but you’re going to have more pocket in the stick.

Tricks To Buffer The Ball

The other little trick to do is – this is just something small, a little bit of an advanced trick, but instead of getting in the cage and having your stick like this and having your pocket already basically back and set, what you do is you punch the pocket forward so that the pocket is reversed. This gives just a tiny amount of buffer, of cushioning, when the ball hits the stick, just tiny. It’s just a little tiny trick, it’s not a big deal.

When your mesh is super stiff, when it’s like this and it’s hardened like a teaspoon, when you punch it this way it needs to take a fair amount of pressure in order for it to get back so you can then cradle that stick and throw the ball. Just a little tip. You could do that and it will help giving up on some of those rebounds.

Lacrosse Goalie University

Your stick is way shallow. You can get by with loosening that up pretty well. I’ve lost my ball stop in this one. For my Lacrosse Goalie University members, I’ve gone into much further detail into this inside of Lacrosse Goalie University. So if you want to check that out I go into a lot more detail that I can’t really go into here in these short little clips.

The Trade-Offs Of Altering Your Pocket

Lauren, this is a great question, and you’re smart to realize that because you’re smaller, and probably sometimes a little weaker, you need that shallow pocket to get that long pass. But you are compromising, it is a trade off. Rebound control versus passing distance. You’ve just got to decide, are you giving up too many rebounds or are you getting your stick on the ball but you’re making up rebounds, which are really frustrating? Then lessen up that pocket.

When you go to make a pass, are you getting that ball out there? Again, it’s a trade-off. There are also some technique issues that you can work on in terms of making that pass and getting those hands up away from you. Again, for Lacrosse Goalie University members, I’ve done a lot of that. I’ve talked a lot about that inside of Lacrosse Goalie University, so you can check that out there.

Conclusion

Lauren, good for you. We’re into December now. The season is right around the corner and you’re going to want to get that stick in gear. It’s just a great question. If you’ve got a question about your stick or anything lacrosse goalie related, I’m your guy. I’m CoachEdwards@LacrosseGoalieTips.com.

Do me a favor, leave me a comment below. Don’t be shy. I’m surprised – I get e-mails all the time but nobody leaves me comments.

Leave me comments below so we can keep this going. It gives the blog Google juice. I love it. Then Facebook, tweet it, send it off to people you love and trust, and I’ll be happy to answer your question in a future episode. I’m Coach Edwards at LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUinversity.com, and I’ll talk to you real soon. Cheers.

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