Question: My son play goalie for his high-school LAX team and stand about 6ft I was wondering what you would recommend his stick length to be, a balance of being able to maneuver in the net yet interfere with passes.
Answer: Mark my stick is 46″ in length and I’m 5’8″. This is the shortest I would ever go.
At that length it is 68% of my total height. My recommendation is to keep total stick length (including head) between 68 and 73% of total height in inches. Start on the high end, and then go shorter in one inch increments until you find the right length for your son.
For a six foot tall goalie that would mean 52.5 inches on the long end and 49 inches on the short end.
I wouldn’t trade length for cutting down passes if it makes stopping the ball awkward. This is remnants of old school thinking that a goalies stick should be able to cut down passes like a defender would. A goalies primary objective is to stop the ball. At six feet your son has good height already to help knock down passes without sacrificing body position. But you should never add inches to cut down passes if those inches restrict the goalie from stopping the ball or dodging and passing out of the cage.
Hope that helps! Let me know how it goes.
Jonathan – The Goalie Guru
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This is good advice for a guy goalie, but my stick can only be a max of 48″. I’ve always felt this was too short for me. Do you have any advice to up my game w/o breaking any rules?
Lexus how tall are you?
i’m on the same path with alexus. i need a new shaft and started with a boys longpole and cut it down to the maximum height. i need a new shaft now and the other goalie i am with has a boys shaft. i dont know if i should do what i did last time or do a boys regular shaft. also i want to compensate for the weight, it cant be too light or my head will weigh it down too much.
i’m on the same path with alexus. i need a new shaft and started with a boys longpole and cut it down to the maximum height. i need a new shaft now and the other goalie i am with has a boys shaft. i dont know if i should do what i did last time or do a boys regular shaft. also i want to compensate for the weight, it cant be too light or my head will weigh it down too much. oh and i am 5’5”
Julia I’m not sure what your question is here. Shorter is usually better. If you’re 5’5″ you can go pretty short. As far as weight goes I know what you mean about balance. That’s just a personal thing. If you want to get super-technical, weight different shafts. Do some math and figure out what different shafts are going to weigh at the length that you need and then pick one that you feel is going to give you the weight and balance that you are looking for.
i like to use a regular attack shaft it is real easy to move with and get around. the longer the shaft the more off balence a feel.
hi im 5 ft and i play goalie for my u15 lacrosse team. my name is kevin and i was wondering how long my goalie stick should be. Also i have a question about my pocket. My neighbor gave me his old stick with a nice head but the pocket isnt the greatest. How can i make pocket better so that it would stay new with out going to its old position when i play with it? Thanks so much.
Kevin
Kevin your stick should be somewhere between 41 inches and 44 inches long. Start with it at 44 and see how that feels and then work your way down an inch at a time if you want to go shorter. Don’t forget, you’re going to grow here, so to keep your parents happy I’d leave it at 44 inches so you aren’t buying new shafts every six months.
As far as the pocket goes, if it’s pretty old it may have lost it’s “life”. Old mesh just gets sort of brittle and dry. If the pocket itself is ok you can sometimes relace the sidewalls and the shooting strings to bring it back. It does sound like your mesh may be dead though. You may want to look into stringing a new pocket.
Let me know how things go Kevin
Jonathan –
Jonathan-
When you say 68-73% of height, I assume you mean for the shaft only without the head attached, correct? My son has started playing goalie and I want to get him a better-than-average stick. He’s 12, about 5′ tall, and maybe 80 pounds. Can you recommend a stick and head for him (I don’t know if your corporate relationships allow you to recommend specific products).
-Larry
is it legal to use an attack shaft as a goalie?
Yes, that’s totally legal. There is no
length limit on a goalie stick.
Jonathan –
My daughter is 5’5″ and is a high school goalie. We just bought her a new goalie stick and are trying to find out if there are regulations as to how long her stick can be, and can’t find information anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hey there Michelle. Here’s the rule from the latest NCAA Rule book.
Goalkeeper Crosse
SECTION 3. The goalkeeper crosse must be made of the following basic materials: composite, metal alloy (handle only), rubber, wood, gut, leather, fiberglass, nylon, plastic or any other synthetic material. (Recessed metal screws may be used to affix the head to the handle.)
The head of the stick shall be triangular in concept and shall be affixed to the handle in such a way that it shall basically be in the same plane as the handle.
The pocket of the stick shall be strung with six or seven longitudinal leather and/or synthetic thongs and crosse lacing, or be mesh.
The crosse shall not have sharp or protruding parts or edges, and shall not be dangerous, to players in any way.
The crosse’s overall length shall be not more than .9m (35-1/2″) minimum and 1.22m (48″) maximum.
You can download a free copy through our site or go rite to the NCAA site at: https://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/WLC11.pdf
im 6’5”.. anyone want to do the math for me?
normally i play with a 40” (shaft only… uncut) krypto pro diamond on a nemesis… any suggestions? thanks! 🙂
Erins Dad, I understand the concept of getting the greatest percentage of mass to the end of the stick, but this only benefits the clear if the goalie is strong and the pocket doesn’t have much of a whip in it.
Having a heavy headed stick can really hurt a goalie moving to the ball though. The better the stick is in “balance” the better it will rotate in her hands to make saves. So make sure you’re not giving up too much of one thing to get another.
Coach Edwards –
im a high school goalie that stands 5’10 and i use an attack shaft
Perfect. You might be able to work with a shaft that is about two inches longer. Eventually it becomes a stick balance thing and you may have an easier time rotating that stick on off-stick hip shots.