I get asked a lot of questions on how to string up a goalie stick. (I should really come out with a DVD for this. It’s pretty simple. But I got this question recently from a goalie in Baltimore. It’s really hard to answer goalie stick questions via an email or a blog post but hopefully you get the picture.
Jonathan –
Answer: Brice I’ve got that same stick with the twelve diamond and it broke in beautifully so I think you may be doing a couple of things.
1) When you string it up don’t tie off the bottom of the pocket. Leave the string at the throat out.
2) Don’t string the pocket straight to the sidewalls and then let them out. Try and string the sidewalls with some distance between the mesh and the head that looks like a normal pocket. This way the sidewalls don’t set too early and then are too hard to redo.
3) Also, don’t string the pocket straight down the sidewalls. This never works in my opinion. You may be stringing every hole, or every other hole, but then when you let the sidewalls out they look screwy. On mine, about halfway down the sidewall I actually skip a hole in the mesh. It makes the mesh sit in the head of the stick better.
(Note: This is really hard to explain via an email. I hope this is making sense.)
4) Before you string up the stick, soak your new mesh and stretch it out. Then when you’re done stringing it suspend the head between two chairs and put a weight in it. Let it dry overnight. I usually put three balls down the center of the pocket and then put a weight on top of the balls so that the pocket stretches just where I want it. As it dries over night you’ll get a nice deep pocket and the mesh will already have been wet so it shouldn’t shrink much the next time it gets wet.
5. After all that, then tie up the string at the throat.
Hope that helps Brice. Let me know if you need anything else and I’ll be glad to help.
Jonathan – The Goalie Guru
www.inseasonhome.com
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